Russian Language Answers
I'm Russian but have been living out of the country most of my life. My mother still speaks it whilst I have forgotten how to speak most of it. I understand it. Have the accent, and can read. I just forget the words when I come to speaking it. Me and my mother aren't close so I can't practise with her, and there are no Russian language classes available near where I live. Any Ideas?
The best way to learn Russian is to be immersed in it. Maybe you could get a vacation and travel to Russia and live there for a while. You should be able to quickly restore what you used to know when you are among native Russian speakers every day.
If traveling is not an option, try to meet as many Russians in your area as possible and make every effort to speak Russian with them. Depending on where you live, there may be Russian immigrants. Try to look for them at the universities, churches, and Russian stores if you have any in your area. You can also search for them online on sites where many people go to find others by interest:
http://www.meetup.com - Local meet-up groups
http://www.craigslist.org - Local events and groups
Also, find an online language exchange partner. Use free software like skype ( skype.com ) to communicate with Russians online. It is free to download and free to talk when you connect with others via a computer. You can talk free over the internet with anybody anywhere in the world.
A good place to find a language exchange partner is on sites where Russians learn English and other foreign languages. Here's a few of them:
http://www.italki.com
http://www.livemocha.com
Russian penpals
http://www.sharedtalk.com
http://www.mylanguageexchange.com
We hope you will speak fluent Russian soon!
Good luck.