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05/12/25 ~ The Fifth of December, 2025
Hi, all! It's very nice to write again!!! :))))
Recently, on the week before this one (Last week? I don't really know how to phrase it, since it is the weekend :P), I was just doing things like watching Russian A2+ vlogs and minecraft videos, along with A2 50 words for week, which I am almost done with!! (I reccomend both writing example sentences and repeating the word over and over again... Really fast way I memorized it. Also, after the first time I watched it, I rewatched every video on x1.5 speed.
But recently, now that December has started, I've began to challenge myself to review lots of A2 topics so I can hav a concrete way of being at B1 by summer 2026, or at MOST by winter 2026 (in which I take my Russian B1 test, VERY NICELY arranged by my lovely German teacher!!! <3) So for now, I'm just studying like crazy, and it has all paid off!!
...And that's because I have had my first, Actually Long Russian comnversation!!! I'm so proud of myself. I had that conversation, not with Ivan (sorry Ivan, I know you're a bit sad I haven't come out of my shell to you... I really hope to be confident in myself soon!) but with a Russian classmate of mine. I may have mentioned it before, but I'm actually slightly scared of that classmate, who I'll call Erik (also not his actual name) and I was a bit intimidated because Erik just has that scary aura, and talking to people is scary. Though, I did it, because that's what learning a language is about, and I started learning languages to come out of my shell more.
If you take anything off this, just know that if you struggle with socializing, you are not alone!! Don't make yourself feel too bad about it, but still just try. That's definetly the best thing you can do. I tried, and now I feel so much better about myself!!
Anyways, I was also helping Ivan with his English Articles, and I think he's finally gotten it down! He's struggled with that for a while, so I researched (who knew the language I speak naturally was so complex? Well, I mean, I did, but it's odd to see. I respect any english learner out there!!) the articles, since I wanted to help him more.
Well, I'm happy to have written! Until next time!!! :3
-Monika
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23/11/25
Heyyyy guys!!! It's me. Again. Next-Day monika!! :3
I didn't think I'd update this again for like, a week, but... Here we are!! I really like using this.))
Well, first thing's first: What have I been doing to practice my Russian today?
I've been listening to 'A2 50 words per week' to pick up on any A2 words I missed, I studied some conjunctions in Russian, and watched a blog about going to a restaurant. Pretty simple stuff, since I'm still tired. I couldn't really sleep much.
Speaking of not being able to sleep much, since I had gone to sleep really late, almost the time most people wake up, I slept in too long and couldn't meet my friend, Ivan, to play minecraft and practice my Russian. I'm really sad since I enjoy hanging out with him, but at least I got to sleep. I think he understands it, despite spamming me on Discord, lol
I think later I'll play some stardew valley, because I've developed a new method for learning using Stardew: So, I turn the game's language onto Russian, and I play it as notmal, and if I see a word in NPC dialogue that I want to look up, I have my Russian Notebook handy to write the word down, practice it in a few sentences, and of course, look it up in a digital dictionary.
I think Stardew Vally could ironically, be a pretty good resource for that because not only does it have NPC dialogue, which is not only a good way of brushing up on vocabuary that you can use daily, but it also has items that you can look at in your inventory, and see the names of along with a visual representation. It helped me a lot with the names of different fruits, veggies, and foods in Russian, and is also just one of my favorite games, so it interests me in a way that is better for me to learn from.
I think I also want to do drawings like this more often for my blog. Is it not the best? Of course! But it's very fun :)
If you've read this far, thanks for reading!!!
-Monika
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22/11/25
Hellooooooo, everyone! This is my first entry here, and I'd just like to talk a bit about my life as a language learner, and talk a *just* bit about what I use to learn Russian. I use a lot more resources, but I'll just talk about some today)))
Well, first up, is that I have, in fact, used Duolingo (yes, i know, ew) but I do NOT reccomend it!! At least if you're using Duolingo, suppliment things with other resources!! I rant a bit more in detail about how much I don't like Duolingo on my German blog page, but to say the least, they never explain what you're learning!! It was so confusing to learn on Duolingo!!
But my favorite sources on Youtube specifically are "Be Fluent in Russian" (Espeically his 50 words per week series) And "Russian With Max" (Especially his vlogs!) They both have podcasts too I believe, and especially with "Russian With Max", it has been rather helpful!
I also occasionally look on other websites, youtube channels, or download books online (PLEASE BE SAFE ABOUT IT!!!) to learn too, but I'll talk more about that in the future. The best way to learn languages after you get the basics down though, I think, is to learn about topics you like and to learn about things that are important to you.
A good way to do this is to make friends in the language you want to learn! If you don't know anyone who speaks that language irl, then you could look on Discord, which is how I talk to my good friend (who helps me with my Russian), who I'll just call 'Ivan'. Not his actual name, but I respect his privacy.
Talking to someone in your target language irl is the best choice, in my opinion, but for me, despite knowing someone in real life who spoke Russian, (I still do) I'm too shy to speak to him (;-;) so I just don't. Don't me like me. Talk to people, meet them! As I progress through my journey of life, I hope to be more social.)))
Anyway, if you read this far, thanks! If you check back in a bit, I might have another blog posted about my language learning journey!
For now, goodbye!
- Monika!!
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