I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. At the age of near-thirty, I've finally decided to learn Russian. Of course, learning a language isn't as easy as it used to be for me. The complicated vowel and consonent clusters that sound so beautiful and elegant coming out of my tutor's mouth make me sound like a Wookiee. And I've only barely begun to study cases, which I'm told are the bane of any Russian student's existence. I need to get learning and I need to get learning fast. Kyrgyzstan is fast-approaching and I don't even know how to count past ten. How will I possibly interview people for my research? Better yet, how will I pay my rent?
Based on some rough calculations (four wasted years of university; one year studying Japanese; and two years of studying Uzbek), I could have spent SEVEN YEARS learning Russian and be near-fluent by now! Of course, as an undergraduate I never could have predicted that I'd want to spend months of my life eating mutton and drinking chai in Central Asia, but that is beside the point. I'm dedicated now, even if it may be ten years too late.
Which reminds me, it's time to hit the knigi.
