I will ask my brother if he'd be interested in any of the steps lined out above. He graduated from the Army Language school in Monterey, CA and Russia was the language he learned. Went to West Germany and translated clandestine Russian broadcasts for monitoring during the Cold War, so he knows it pretty well. He recently was writing emails back on forth to someone in Russia who complimented him on his grasp of the language. Not sure if he'll have time, but I'll at least ask. He has the literary ability, also.