Здравствуйте друзья!

That is Russian for "Hello Friends!" Hooray for Canadians! I was reading an article this morning that showed that researchers in Toronto found that bilingual people have a delayed onset of dementia of up to 4 years. I think that's well timed with my efforts to delve back into the cultural and linguistic studies that I started before Peak.

I knew that I was getting out of the learning that I've invested so much time and financial resources in, but I think that there are going to be those times of the year when exceptions are made. I enjoy this process of learning a new language. It isn't something that seems to come easily to me, so I enjoy having to think and concentrate on it. Also, language is something where you can tell immediate progress. If you start listening to native speakers and you find yourself able to understand more and more of what they are saying, there is a certain sense of accomplishment.

So yesterday, Buddy and I decided that after I go through my Russian indulgence for a year, we're going to move on to French. Number one, it will be very easy to find people with whom to practice our new language; Kim and Liberty both immediately came to mind. Also, I love me some French music. Impressionism is one of my favorite things ever, both in art and music. Plus, Buddy had two years of French in high school so there will probably be a lot of things coming back to him. It will be fun to do it together.

But for now, I'm focusing on my Russian. On language I have two books, two audio books and a podcast to which I subscribe. On culture, I have a book that is sort of a "hit you over the head with facts" book. I also have a book that is really a historical essay that uses the past to explain the foundations of Russian culture. I really like it. Another book like that is a bit of a hybrid between the two. Finally, I have a book about the history of Russian music.

Obviously I'm not reading all of them at once. I am using all the language books together, however. The podcast and audiobooks are great for proper pronunciation, while one of the books is great for daily conversation and the other has more formal grammatical rules. It's a great approach for me.

Yea for brain usage!