Sunday Serenity #367

This is an ongoing series from my Bucket List
of things I desperately want to do before
I loose the rest of my vision

My Bucket List
#9 Learn Russian 
well enough to read their literature, 
comprehending nuances like a native speaker

..continued from last week's #8 Visit Russia

Around the same time as I began yearning toward the landscapes of the Russian novels, it also occurred to me that I was missing a whole other dimension in the stories by not being able to read them in the author's native language.  Especially the poetry, but even in prose the music of the spoken language is lost as well as the word connotations that add layers of meaning.

When I entered college in my late twenties, Russian Language was one of the first things I tried to sign up for but I was entering for Winter term and had to wait for Fall term to take a language.  By the end of the fall term I was hooked on Russian and by the end of my second year of Russian Language, my professor was encouraging me to pursue further studies in Russian and consider adding another language or two.  He said I had a talent for language and if I'd gotten an earlier start--say in my early teens or sooner--I might have had fluency in half a dozen by then.  

Ah, the paths not taken.

Monument of Vladimir Nabokov
in Montreux

Well as I was exploring the Cyber Monday Week sales I stumbled onto a massive slash in the Rosetta Stone course.  Still a bit steep for me but I was sure I'd never find another near my range for a long time, if ever.  So I took the plunge.  My Christmas present to myself.

For several years after dropping out of college, I tried to continue on my own with the Russian text, English/Russian dictionary and flash cards from my classes.  I advanced some in the reading and writing but it was less than a year before I started loosing pronunciation.  I could't 'hear' it clear in my head anymore.

This is the first item in this Sunday Serenity Bucket List series that has been even remotely in my reach and by buying Rosetta Stone Russian, I have reached for it and taken the first step toward it.

My Bucket List

#1 Hot Air Balloon Ride
#2 Play on a real drum set
#3 Swim with dolphins
#4 Visit Shakespeare & Co. Bookshop in Paris
#5 Visit the Library of Congress
#6 Attend a Performance of Beethoven's Symphony #9 by a top notch Orchestra

#7 Visit Hawaii

#8 Visit Russia