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Author Topic: Russian Cursive  (Read 7431 times)

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Offline mendeleyev

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Russian Cursive
« on: September 15, 2011, 11:34:02 AM »
By now you've discovered that except in signs and books, Russians never PRINT letters opting instead for CURSIVE writing. That is ingrained from the days of children's garden (kindergarden) and you'll find it true everywhere.

You've also discovered that much of the alphabet looks different from print to cursive, making it impossible to read notes and letters if you haven't learned the cursive alphabet. Then there is the added difficulty of Russian printers often mixing printed and cursive letters in signs as a matter of style.

So, lets get some help.


Watch carefully as you will see that it is necessary to add a "loop" between many letters to keep the apart. On the video above you'll see that first at the :52 second mark when the writer uses a tiny loop between the A and L in writing the word "alphabet." Miss that loop and nothing you write will be readable.

You of course will also notice that the writer makes two copies of each letter, upper case and lower case. That is because (1) Russians use proper grammar and in this language it makes an important difference; and also (2) because there are some letters where the upper and lower case look entirely different from each other.


I'd suggest taking a piece of paper and copying this over and over while watching the video for practice.


Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Cursive
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2011, 11:36:37 AM »
Next lets practice using this video. It allows you to see the printed letter at the top right corner as you practice making the cursive in the centre of the screen. Cool music in the background too!



Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Cursive
« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2011, 11:48:49 AM »
Okay, once you're begun to practice the alphabet (I recommend doing the letters all 4 ways--Upper and lower printed and Upper and lower cursive) twice a day for 90 days. After that it will be forever ingrained in your mind and you will do it with ease.


Now it is time to practice what you've learned so far with a few very simple Russian phrases.

Pull up this video:
The very first word that appeared was the cursive version of informal "hi" or привет. Sure looks different in cursive, doesn't it?!

Second phrase was "How's it going?" which we say as "Kak Dela?" Did you see the tiny loop she inserted between the e and l of как дела?






Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Cursive
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2011, 11:49:24 AM »
Here is a great tool in learning to form each letter: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/LRC/RU_writing/index.htm

Offline leeholsen

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Re: Russian Cursive
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2011, 03:26:37 PM »

also, i bought some years ago; the russian textbook that they use at my old college - Univ. of Houston; i believe their workbook practiced cursive.

i'll check it and if it does; i'll post it. i'm sure you can buy a copy of the internet.
Eat 'em up Houston Cougars !

Offline leeholsen

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Re: Russian Cursive
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2011, 12:40:26 PM »
ok,

following up. yes, the workbook shows how to practice Russian cursive in the Univ. of Houston Russian course textbook i have. i'm sure you can buy them used off the internet/amazon if you want as i dont think its the current textbook anymore.

its called - начало - the beginning and the textbook isbn is: 0-07-365515-5 and workbook isbn is: 978-0-07-230951-5, 2nd edition. i think there's some cds you can get too, but cant remember for sure; been too long since i bought the book.

hope that helps anyone wanting to wtie Russian cursive and good luck to you, reading it and speaking it is quite enough for me,  :)
Eat 'em up Houston Cougars !

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Russian Cursive
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2011, 07:34:26 PM »
Lee, начало is excellent. It is one of our RUA resources and they have some internet resources for practice and listening. Like Golosa or similar, make sure to get the accompanying workbook because the text was designed for the workbook to carry the practical side of the information. Good deals via Amazon and Ebay.

Offline Juvenal

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Cyrillic Alphabet
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2012, 07:53:29 PM »
What is the easiest way to learn the Cyrillic Script, my mind keeps reverting back to the Latin script when I see B, H, etc and when seeing Э's i seem to instinctivly want to grab a caluculator and start converting euors.

Any tips and tricks for learning it without having to torture my brain with endless repition?
"Who watches the watchmen?" - Juvenal

Offline Larry

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Re: Cyrillic Alphabet
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2012, 08:00:24 PM »
I recommend highly "Beginner's Russian Script" by Daphne West. It's about 100 pages.  One might wonder why it takes 100 pages to teach you an alphabet with fewer than 35 characters.  But it contains more than just the letters.  And it covers both printed and handwritten Cyrillic.  It's available on Amazon, at no more than $10. 

Offline Juvenal

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Re: Cyrillic Alphabet
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2012, 09:36:31 PM »
One might wonder why it takes 100 pages to teach you an alphabet with fewer than 35 characters.

No need for me to wonder... The latin alpahbet is so ingrained in my mind and all the languages I can read and write in uses it, so i need a different approach

Thanks for the recomendation, read the reviews and ordered it.
"Who watches the watchmen?" - Juvenal

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Cyrillic Alphabet
« Reply #10 on: October 16, 2012, 09:45:04 PM »
Excellent recommendation, Larry! A very fine book and it packs a whale of a helpful punch yet is easy to understand and in paperback form. It makes the alphabet and cursive scripting easy, but teaches so much more in the process.

For practice while waiting for the book to arrive, here are some helpful links:

http://www.russianforeveryone.com/RufeA/Lessons/Introduction/Alphabet/Alphabet.htm

http://www.brown.edu/Departments/LRC/RU_writing/index.htm


Practice sheets:

http://russian.lingualift.com/ru/files/docs/russian-writing-cursive.pdf

http://ilrussian.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/script-practice-sheets.pdf