At school we almost had no listening. (listening in English). And where would it have come from? Sometimes Riola Mikhailovna could bring a modest record player with a worn record. “How do you do? How are you? I get up at seven o’clock every morning. I wash and dress myself and do my morning exercise, then I have breakfast and go to school” — came from the record. Perhaps it was English speech, and perhaps not. Simply good English pronunciation of a Soviet person.
And how important it is at the initial stage to try to understand a foreign language. But…, what was, has passed. I consider that I could not develop in myself so-called automatic hearing, and that is not my fault. But I succeeded in another thing: I learned to write quickly and correctly. Riola Mikhailovna showed on the blackboard the classical writing of English words: “without lifting the hand.” Now, of course, no one uses this. And then it was great! Fast, beautiful, in English!!!
She also taught us to read texts fluently, with intonation (arrow up — voice “up,” arrow down — we finish the sentence, we lower the voice). At the end of ninth class an exam was coming. I was ready 100%. But I had to wait for those who were very strong in English. They sat first, and they kept me “for dessert.” Well, the usual thing, they were waiting for the commission from the district education department! “Show” we always needed like a gulp of air!
And Yurka Vertebny, my classmate, learned English poorly, but he made cribs well! He also nudged me to prompt him while he was preparing to answer! Some “inventor”! In a little pocket English-Russian dictionary the size of a palm, he managed neatly to make a page-by-page alphabet, cutting and writing at the needed page an English letter! Well, I don’t know if those reading these lines have understood me correctly, but this wonderful little dictionary he gave me after the exam, and I still keep it! Such things happen!