>>66917NOOOOOOOO not the car technique!
Take lessons. Only effective way to begin. It is a mouthful - much more so than Western languages. My suggestion is don't do it unless you seriously intend to go there or make use of it. If you have any doubts at all, do Spanish, far easier and much more useful. It certainly won't try your patience as much as Russian will. One of the harder languages, but also possibly the most expressive I can think of. The alphabet isn't an obstacle at all, in fact you could probably read fairly well in only a few weeks or maybe even less. Spelling is a breeze compared with Western languages. Learn to roll your Rs and the various other sounds (a couple are not in English). Finally make sure after attending some lessons to confirm your interests, get a dictionary. After maybe 2 years consider a holiday there. Russia requires a visa in advance, so there is a lot of planning (although it is usually worth it). If you are a Yuppie do not go there. It is dismal; but if you are sardonic and bitter then, hey, maybe that's your thing. But do NOT learn a language unless you intend to take it seriously or if you are doing it just as a fad. My God if I had a nickel for every person that learnt Japanese or Russian just to be cool I'd probably have several hundred bucks, maybe a thousand