РАЗГОВОРНЫЕ ТЕМЫ (Topics in embedded lessons)

I have just started looking at Evgeny’s course in which he has embedded lessons. He gives the same lesson in 5 Levels.
Beginner 1 = Level 1
Beginner 2 = Level 2
Lower Intermediate = Level 3
Intermediate 1 = Level 4
Intermediate 2 = Level 5

I hadn’t come across Lower Intermediate before. But, this is the level at which I can read and understand the spoken text.
At Intermediate 1, I can read and understand the text, but the spoken text is more difficult for me to grasp because of the speed at which it is spoken. With my family if they speak slowly and differentiate the words, I can usually grasp what is being said.

Where should I go from here? I feel as though I am stuck between level 3 and level 4. I have spent approx 400 - 450 hours to get to this level. It is estimated that 1100 hours are required to become proficient in Russian. So how should I spend the next 650-700 hours? Or rather, I should say, on what? My feeling is that I have no real structure or path to follow, but just hopping from one thing to another. I suppose it has worked quite well up to now, but I feel that I need something to push me beyond the barrier, so to speak.

I am reading, listening, writing, flash-carding, speaking, so maybe I just need to carry on, carrying on?

Do carry on. Transition from intermediate-ish to proficient takes the longest time. You’ll need over 25000 Ling-like words for that. My advice would be to start tackling real material, even if you find it difficult at first, and mixing it up with easier, lower-intermediate material.
For listening practice, watch some short videos, maybe youtube tutorials about topics you enjoy or short animation films. Don’t try to understand everything, just pick up some sentences.
At the same time, get real, not very complicated texts and upload them into Lingq.
One example: I discovered a series of books aimed at children about what to do in different situations. I bought them at litres.ru (it’s very cheap) and converted them to text using Caliber. They’re illustrated, so I change between reading them on Lingq and having a look at the original version with the illustrations. They’re meant for children, so it’s not very complicated, but it’s still a real text for native speakers. Besides, the topics are varied and very relevant for everyday life.
First book in the series: «Что делать, если…», Людмила Петрановская – скачать pdf на Литрес

If you don’t have to pass an exam, just enjoy your learning - it’s an interesting process which have NO END.
Even in our morher language we can discover something new every year - that’s wonderful, isn’t it?
And so much we can discover in a new language almosr every day.
Language study is a very creative task, that’s why I like it so much!
And your level will raise if you go on with the language, it will be automatocally, don’t care a lot about it.
Good luck!

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By the way, who would like to try my course РАЗГОВОРНЫЕ ТЕМЫ (Topics in embedded lessons), you can go there following this link:

Thank you for your advice. I have made use of the following resource which covers a wide variety of topics. Free Russian audio lessons - Study Russian with free audio and video They include transcripts which I have uploaded to LingQ and downloaded to my MP3 player. The author has now created 50 Podcasts with full text, which she is selling for 19 Euros. So, I think I will use these for my next phase of learning.

Thank you for your comments. I agree that Language study is creative and therefore enjoyable. I am very pleased with my progress so far and I am sure that I will improve, as you say, automatically, as I continue with this process.

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Difinitely on listening. 70% listening, 10% reading, 10% making notes and 10% speaking.

The ratio of listening to reading would imply listening to audio without comprehension. What is the value of listening without comprehension? I have real difficulty with this. I just don’t enjoy it, which is why I have concentrated on at least trying to understand the gist of what is being said by reading, flash cards, then translating and then listening. It is a time consuming and sometimes tiring activity, but I cannot see any way round this. If I could learn by osmosis, that would be great!

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You don’t have to follow the percentage, if you dont like listening it won’t work for you.
Just ask your self, what was the thing you’ve made the biggest progress with, and go for it.
Dont try to emulate other person’s methods because we all have different temperaments.

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I agree that comprehensive listening should be at the very top, at least that’s how I view it. I’ve done a lot of reading on LingQ, and a lot of listening, but not enough. I’ve only done just over 200 hours of attentive listening. My goal is to be able to get to 800 or 1000 hours of listening. I still struggle with listening, especially new content.

I am where you at; intermediate 1 is quite a jump from beginner 2. In beginner 2, a lot of words were easy because they were common. At the intermediate stage, there’s a lot more colorful words that are more difficult to learn for me.

I find if I don’t like the lesson or I struggle with it, I return to it later and just try something else.

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