Russian is helping my english - sorta
So, I'm coming down with a cold, which meant I skipped dance last night. :( If there's a silver lining, it is that it gave me a little time to skim one of my new books in my growing pile of Russian books.
Today's is a really cool book and I wish I'd bought it months ago: English Grammar for Russian Students.
Here's my short summary:
* A reasonably good (but not pedantically exhaustive) look at english grammar.
* A reasonably good (but not pedantically exhaustive) look at russian grammar.
* Useful comparisons between the two grammars.
* Useful strategies for translating a sentence in english to the equivalent sentence in Russian. Some of these algorithms are almost templates for programs (although it would still require a lot of grammatical knowledge).
Just in skimming this book, I've already figured out a couple of patterns I didn't completely understand. And I suspect this book is going to be read multiple times -- it is that good. In fact, it feels like my go-to place to start trying to understand a piece of grammar, with my other grammar books becoming the exhaustive treatments that I only look at when I really need to understand every little rule.
It might be useful to mention those books here, along with mini-reviews. I'm listing the books from most useful to least useful, at least in my experience thus far.
Using Russian: A Guide to Contemporary Usage (Derek Offord) - This book is too advanced for me in many places, but I really like it. Like Modern Russian Grammar, it divides its efforts between grammar and usage, but with a lot more usage and a lot less grammar. It also looks at both spoken conversation and written conversation. Kudos for its detailed lists of russian and english words that are difficult to translate back and forth. In particular, its section on prepositions is often my first place to go to now when I need to understand how a particular preposition works. It feels like a good complement for the book I reviewed, which provides the great overview but not the exhaustive reference.
Modern Russian Grammar - A Practical Guide (John Dunn, Shamil Kairov) - This one is a little better than the Wade books, I think, because it splits the discussion between the grammar details and usage. There are about 10 chapters or so about usage in different contexts. I find the usage discussions far more helpful overall for establishing proficiency.
A Comprehensive Russian Grammar (Terrence Wade) - Still more of a reference than a book you read cover to cover, although certain sections, such as the one on sentence order, are pretty helpful. A better TOC would probably help with this book. The detailed sections are useful, but somewhat hard to search. Available on iBooks, which is rare for anything in a textbook.
Oxford Russian Grammar and Verbs (Terrence Wade) - This is a short/concise look at Russian grammar. Some of its discussions are good, and some feel like I'm lost in the weeds. Much more about word construction than any other parts of Russian. At best, a pocket guide that's easy to fit in luggage.
I would say that the first three (plus today's book) are books I expect to continue to refer to over my studies, while the last is something I don't look at much any more. And all the books have slightly different discussion and examples, so they all are pretty useful to keep around.
There's a lot of places where I need to stop reading about Russian grammar and start writing Russian sentences, but these books are definitely helpful in that regard.
Today's is a really cool book and I wish I'd bought it months ago: English Grammar for Russian Students.
Here's my short summary:
* A reasonably good (but not pedantically exhaustive) look at english grammar.
* A reasonably good (but not pedantically exhaustive) look at russian grammar.
* Useful comparisons between the two grammars.
* Useful strategies for translating a sentence in english to the equivalent sentence in Russian. Some of these algorithms are almost templates for programs (although it would still require a lot of grammatical knowledge).
Just in skimming this book, I've already figured out a couple of patterns I didn't completely understand. And I suspect this book is going to be read multiple times -- it is that good. In fact, it feels like my go-to place to start trying to understand a piece of grammar, with my other grammar books becoming the exhaustive treatments that I only look at when I really need to understand every little rule.
It might be useful to mention those books here, along with mini-reviews. I'm listing the books from most useful to least useful, at least in my experience thus far.
Using Russian: A Guide to Contemporary Usage (Derek Offord) - This book is too advanced for me in many places, but I really like it. Like Modern Russian Grammar, it divides its efforts between grammar and usage, but with a lot more usage and a lot less grammar. It also looks at both spoken conversation and written conversation. Kudos for its detailed lists of russian and english words that are difficult to translate back and forth. In particular, its section on prepositions is often my first place to go to now when I need to understand how a particular preposition works. It feels like a good complement for the book I reviewed, which provides the great overview but not the exhaustive reference.
Modern Russian Grammar - A Practical Guide (John Dunn, Shamil Kairov) - This one is a little better than the Wade books, I think, because it splits the discussion between the grammar details and usage. There are about 10 chapters or so about usage in different contexts. I find the usage discussions far more helpful overall for establishing proficiency.
A Comprehensive Russian Grammar (Terrence Wade) - Still more of a reference than a book you read cover to cover, although certain sections, such as the one on sentence order, are pretty helpful. A better TOC would probably help with this book. The detailed sections are useful, but somewhat hard to search. Available on iBooks, which is rare for anything in a textbook.
Oxford Russian Grammar and Verbs (Terrence Wade) - This is a short/concise look at Russian grammar. Some of its discussions are good, and some feel like I'm lost in the weeds. Much more about word construction than any other parts of Russian. At best, a pocket guide that's easy to fit in luggage.
I would say that the first three (plus today's book) are books I expect to continue to refer to over my studies, while the last is something I don't look at much any more. And all the books have slightly different discussion and examples, so they all are pretty useful to keep around.
There's a lot of places where I need to stop reading about Russian grammar and start writing Russian sentences, but these books are definitely helpful in that regard.