How quickly to learn russian

8 steps to learn Russian like a pro

1. Prepare yourself psychologically

2. Focus on the grammar, grammar, grammar.

Ok, sounds boring, but getting to grips with Russian grammar is important. If you are not sure about how to go about this, sign up for language classes in your town. If it’s not possible, don’t worry – there are many Russian tutors online that offer different approaches. Find the one that suits you.

3. Learn basic words

To be able to talk at least some Russian, you needs to learn a list of basic words and phrases. Every language has a core of common vocab and Russian is no exception. Find a good exercise book that presents these words clearly and learn them fast. Don’t go for the quantity, go for the quality: Learning 100 words well is better than vaguely mesmerizing 1,000 and not knowing their meaning. Small steps, don’t get overloaded!

4. Try online courses and apps

There are several online tools to help you learn Russian. Check our guide here and choose one that’s best for you. For instance, consider the Lomonosov Moscow State University’s lessons by Skype: They cost 16 euros ($18.8) per class and can be as intensive as you wish.

5. Watch Russian movies and TV shows

Learning Russian pronunciation is not easy, but nothing is impossible. Try watching Russian movies or TV shows on Youtube, for example. They will not only help you with pronunciation but also open your mind to the realities of life in the country. Many Hollywood films are dubbed in Russian so you can watch them as well. Russia has a great cinematic history, so watch movies!

6. Study Russian in Russia

7. Make Russian friends

Yes, nothing new here. Friends will teach you all the slang and swear words and show you how to party like a Russian. Finding a Russian girlfriend or a boyfriend, as everyone knows, is also a good idea: Pillow talk can be very effective method!

Hugh Mc Enaney, educator, voice actor, and author, originally from Ireland, lives with his family in Moscow and agrees that one should aim to mingle as much as possible with the natives. “I’ve met many great Russians in bars and restaurants and clubs and had chats about all kinds of stuff. Naturally, my Russian level goes up tenfold after a few drinks, or my confidence certainly does anyway,” he told Russia Beyond.

8. Talk with strangers on trains and public transport

“Get out and meet the local community, there are enough of them. Don’t be shy and, as I say to my English students, make mistakes. They are not mistakes, they are simply opportunities for learning and growth,” says Mc Enaney.

If using any of Russia Beyond’s content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.

8 GREAT ways to learn Russian online

Legion Media, Getty Images

The ‘AБВ’ of Cyrillic

1. Real Russian Club

Free Youtube Videos + Paid Courses

Daria, the bouncy redhead behind ‘Real Russian Club’, has a knack of making even the most basic of beginner lessons exciting. Stories, and not grammar tables, are the focus of the Real Russian Club. Her YouTube videos on the Cyrillic alphabet, basic Russian phrases and general vocabulary will get you from zero to pre-intermediate in no time. For intermediate, everyday Russian, tune in to her free ‘Slow Russian’ podcast. Thanks to Daria’s PhD in Russian history, a ton of fascinating cultural and historical insight is also woven into the language learning.

2. Babbel

Free for students

This language app delivers results. It’s no frills word drills, bite-sized grammar rules and phrase builders make learning easy-peasy. Usually, it costs around 10 Euros per month, but now it’s free for all students during lockdown. The speed with which this app will have you speaking Russian is impressive, but it comes with drawbacks. An app can’t teach you whether it’s appropriate to call a middle aged woman devushka (“girl; young woman”) or the distinction between saying dobriy dien (“good day”) and den dobriy (“day good”). These subtle, but important, features of culture and language can only be learnt from an actual Russian.

Getting to Know the Genders

3. Russian Pod 101

$1/month

Are YouTube videos too fake for your taste? Then sink your teeth into all the nuance and richness of Russian through the in-depth descriptions and countless exercises on ‘Russian Pod 101’. Its textbook-like approach to teaching is thorough. Its catalogue of lessons runs into the thousands and covers all levels, from beginner to C1. The material is also culturally relevant; you won’t be taught how to say absolutely ridiculous, outdated sentences like in an old textbook. It is a shame however, that the audio recordings weren’t all done by natives. While the English co-hosts try hard, only a Russian can teach how to roll an R properly.

4. RU-LAND CLUB

Free YouTube Videos

There’s no time for balabolka in RU-LAND’s four-minute youtube videos. The host, Nika, covers all the pesky parts of Russian, like exceptions to rules and endings in her no-nonsense lessons. If you’re stuck at the semi-conversational stage and just need to solidify your understanding of a few tricky grammar rules or brush up your vocabulary, RU-LAND will get you speaking faster than you can say zdravstvuyte (“hello”)!

5. Learn Russian RT

100% Free

Unlike other Russian language resources, which claim to be free, but are really “freemiums”, the ‘Learn Russian’ site by RT truly is free. And because it is funded by the Russian government, there are no hidden costs.

Though less fancy and colorful than other sites, the quality of its explanations and exercises is on par with those provided by the leading language schools. The exercises on this site are especially good for cementing difficult grammar though loads of repetition. For conversation practice, the endless recordings of real-life situations are unbeatable!

Talk Like a Local

6. Easy Russian

Free Youtube Videos + Paid Courses

It’s worth learning Russian simply to have an awesome teacher like Masha! Fresh, beaming and funny, her YouTube lessons don’t feel like lessons at all. But even though the channel is called ‘Easy Russian’, beginners won’t have much luck without English subtitles. All her vlogs are almost entirely in Russian and despite the fun, they can get intense. Her hit videos include topics like her love life and leaving America. Advanced students can enjoy hours of edutainment and beginners, well, they have something to look forward to.

7. Elena Jung

Free Youtube Videos

DIY protein shakes and how to sharpen a knife aren’t things that usually come to mind when you think of learning a foreign language. Somehow, Elena’s videos on these very things are unbelievably helpful for learning Russian. Plunge head-first into real Russian; the kind you’ll hear in a kvartira (“apartment”), not from an outdated textbook and roll up your sleeves for some DIY-ing with Elena!

8. Coursera: Russian as a tool for successful communication

100% Free Course

This course is a challenge. It’ll turn all the rules you’ve learnt on their head; it’ll force you to critically analyse the way you speak and then change your Russian, for the better. Developed by The National Research Tomsk State University with native speakers in mind, this course is only for the most competent students of Russian. Unlike other advanced courses, the focus of this course is refreshingly forward-looking. The professor running this course is no grammar nazi; quite the contrary, she challenges the old and looks to find the best in modern Russian.

If using any of Russia Beyond’s content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.

Some Rules How to Learn Russian Quickly and Effectively

You have been studying Russian for several months already, but still you are not able to say a single word, and watching movies is so out of the question? Maybe, you are studying Russian the wrong way.

Let’s talk about simple but effective rules, which will help you to talk in Russian only after few lessons!

Rule No. 1. Learn Russian with the help of dipping method. Listen to radio, watch films, search video lessons in Russian. Intermediary language prevents you from concentrating on the language you are learning, consequently, it slows down the process of learning Russian. If you want to speak Russian or understand this language, communicative approach will give you much more than any grammar textbook.

Rule No. 2. Try to learn by heart phrases, not separate words. You learn grammar together with the phrase. How to use this or that word in this context and this situation, how to build sentences, how to ask question – everything abovementioned doesn’t come with grinding at rules, but by memorizing frases, being in use in Russian language the most.

Rule No. 3. The aspect of language you pay the most attention to while studying will be developed the most. For instance, if you only complete grammar tasks, decline words, conjugate verbs, you will be a master hand at this. However, you will never be able to speak, if you don’t try to speak. Do you want to watch Russian films? Watch films! Do you want to talk with Russian trippingly? Try to talk, find a teacher or conversationalist and practice, and you will talk! It is impossible to play musical instrument if you only watch how the others play. You need practice!

Rule No. 4. Contribute at least ten minutes in Russian lessons, but do it every day. If you hear Russian speech and try to talk, the result will be not slow to arrive. Repeat the material you’ve learnt, try to talk with Russian. Frequency is very important in the process of learning language.

Rule No. 5. Find motivation. If you don’t know what you need Russian language for, you’ll to be through with your lessons very soon. Reading Dostoevsky in the original? Great reason to learn Russian! Travelling through entire Russia singly? Excellent, you need at least basic phrases to survive. Watching Russian comedy shows and understanding Russian mentality? Wonderful motivation. Or, maybe, you want to find your love in Russia? Or to impress your distant Russian-speaking relatives? Find your own personal motivation, and you will not give up on learning Russian language!

Listen, speak, read, and become a part of our big Russian-speaking family!

How to Speak Russian

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Learning how to speak Russian is no small feat, but if you put in the time and effort you will be richly rewarded. Russian is a beautiful and complex language with over 150 million native speakers. [1] X Research source Here are some helpful ideas to aid you on the path to fluency.

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Mnemonics for the trickiest letters in the third group: [7] X Research source
В looks like the reels of a video tape, and sounds like one rewinding: V-v-v-v-v.
Н sounds like N as in nail, and looks like two planks nailed together.
Р is an R that has lost a leg and started Rolling downhill. (This sound is rolled in Russian.)
У is a pair of fireworks about to launch; the crowd says oooo when it sees them.

Learn Russian Language Fast – Speak Quickly

How To Trick Your Brain into Speaking Russian Fast

Ты говоришь по-русски?

If you understand the above phrase, wonderful, apply what I’m about to say to your next language. If you’re just now getting the results back from Google Translate, we have work to do. Chances are you’ve been studying Russian longer than you would’ve liked. Maybe you’re taking it easy, a word a week, a verb conjugation a year. Regardless of your reasons, we both know what you truly want is to speak Russian now. You might say, “But there’s satisfaction in the struggle.” And you’re right, maybe in the deep underpinnings of struggle lies a hint of satisfaction. But you and I both would gladly give up the struggle for the greater satisfaction of speaking Russian eloquently and fluently this very moment. So pay close attention to what I’m about to tell you, because it’s a surefire way to get you speaking Russian fast.

You already speak Russian

You speak every other language too. You see, a lot of language learning is pinned on the belief that you will learn to speak a new language. But this assumes that you presently don’t speak the language and, to follow the train of thought, it suggests that you’re inadequate. But you’re not inadequate. You speak every language at native fluency. You have the same mouth, the same brain, the same wit, and the same ability, to speak Russian as all the mouths you’ll walk by this afternoon, spewing Russian through their lips. “But the words won’t come out”, you might say. Well, you’re probably convinced that Russian is hard, because for one reason or another, that’s what people told you. But believe me, what people say is bologna, and you should distance yourself from anybody who speaks of something being difficult, be it languages or anything else. Russian is easy, as are all languages. After all, you already speak every language. So instead of fixating on the future, start believing in the present. Because presently, you speak Russian.

Let yourself go

Act the part

From here on out, your mother-tongue is Russian, your name is Vladimir(a) Vladimirovich, and you’re from the bright and sunny town of Moscow, where you teach Russian at the Uni. I’m not joking. Really embody this part. Walk like Russians walk, eat like Russians eat, speak how Russians speak. For example, if you come to Moscow you’ll notice that a lot of Russians say так when they do things. Pick up a glass, так. Stub your toe, так. Sneeze, так. I don’t know what it means either. But go around saying it. Say it when you’re alone. Say it to a friend. так так так. Then talk to yourself in Russian. Think in Russian. And speak confidently in Russian to anyone you meet. There’s no such thing as making a fool of yourself. There’s only having a goal and doing what it takes to achieve it. Samuel Beckett said, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” So go get ‘em, Vlad. Fail better.

Forget grammar

Grammar is dumb. Really, it’s one of the biggest wastes of time when learning a new language. Grammar develops naturally through using language. Worry about acquiring vocabulary, and speaking, rather than learning how to conjugate verbs. Language is entirely idiomatic. Start speaking, and stop learning about how language is spoken.

Flood your brain with Russian

Especially if you’re a beginner, you want to flood your brain with Russian every day to develop a tolerance for the language. Listen to news broadcasts in Russian, watch television in Russian, write love letters in Russian. When you learn a new word, say it to yourself a dozen times. The method that has worked best for me is a sort of stop, translate, and go, when reading Russian newspapers. For example, I open the Deutsche Welle in one tab, and in another tab Google Translate. Then I start reading. When I come to a word I don’t know (which, if I’m a beginner in a language, is almost every word) I copy it from DW and plug it into Google. Then I pound the speech button like no tomorrow. Fifty to a hundred times, I hear the word, say it to myself, hear it again, draw it in my head. Doing this with ten or fifteen words every day adds up. And not only do I learn those specific words, but I begin to recognize patterns in the vocabulary and develop a sense of the language’s rhythm. I design an architecture of the alphabet through my in-head drawings of each word, and by end of day I feel the language alight like a dove on my brain, to rest for the night. Eventually I start dreaming in the language, and then I know my method’s working. The key to getting better is to flood flood flood your brain. Your head should feel like an ocean when you finally get to sleep. And when you wake up you’ll walk into the kitchen and ask, “Что на завтрак?” Your mother will gasp, “Who are you!” Just make sure you identify yourself before she calls the police. “Sorry mom, I guess I speak Russian now.”

Use metaphors

Simply thinking of language learning in an interesting way will change the whole process for the better. You can make up a metaphor that best suits you, but here are two that I follow:

Language learning is thawing a snowball

Say we’re learning Russian. Every Russian word we hear, or every letter we write, is a little breath or ray of sun, that warms our brains, and thaws the Russian snowball in our heads. Give the snowball enough warmth, and it melts and begins to pour through our lips like water.

Language learning is a wall of damp sand

Imagine Russian is a wall of damp sand. We can scratch at the sand with our fingers, and then a little more, until after a while the sand becomes too weak to support itself, and the whole wall comes tumbling down. That tumbling down is fluency.

Get goofy

That’s right. Be as goofy as possible when learning Russian. Because goofiness = fun. Pop on an ushanka and grey beard and head to your local супермаркет (supermarket) for some smoked kielbasa. Don’t be afraid to speak the language. Find yourself a language tandem. Write to a pen-pal. Use the language daily. And remember, you are your best language teacher, and the more fun you make your lessons, the more enjoyable the struggle will be, and the happier you’ll find yourself throughout.

This post was brought to you by Andrew, currently studying Russian and Liden & Denz