Starting is always the most challenging part of learning a new language. If you’ve ever learned a foreign language, you know how frustrating a learning process might be. What do you want to do when you face a problem? To give up. What do you need to do? To keep going. Difficulties are where your personal and professional growth begins.
I'm not going to lie. Learning the Russian language is not a piece of cake. Nowadays, you can learn Russian online or attend Russian classes; learn Russian for free or pay for Russian resources; learn Russian alone or have someone help you learn Russian. The choices are endless. But what is the key to becoming a fluent Russian speaker? To begin your language learning journey, follow these three steps, either in Russian or other languages:
Our language instructor Piotr, a native Russian speaker, and his eager American student James, will guide you on the journey of learning Russian.
In this article, Piotr and James use an easy-to-follow dialogue to answer the following questions about Russian:
Don’t get discouraged by this long article. It’s a well of valuable tips that will bring you a step closer to speaking Russian like a native.
- Welcome to our class, James. Today, I'll be teaching you how to start learning Russian, albeit you’ve been learning the Russian language for some time now.
- Привет, Piotr! I always look forward to our Russian lessons. It always feels like I just started. Russian is quite tough for us English speakers. Is it worth all the effort? Sometimes I wonder why I decided to learn Russian in the first place... Why do people learn Russian, Piotr?
- James, chill. Your Russian language skills are not that bad.
- Yeah... I've been trying to complete this beginner Russian level for months...
- Well, Russian can't be learned in a month or two. If you need reasons to learn Russian, here are five just off the top of my head.
- You do love lists, don't you?
- Yes I do, James. So, out of all languages out there, why Russian?
- Still not convinced? A lot of people turn to Russian for romantic reasons – to communicate with their significant other from Russia or to find one in Russia.
- Why on earth didn't you open with that? Now, I'm motivated.
- Oh, James, I know you love Russian culture, so you can't fool me. But well, you do have higher chances of meeting a Russian girl if you speak Russian and know some basics of Russian culture.
- Or, as I call it, Russian flirting.
- Why, oh why, is Russian so hard to learn?
- There you go, ladies and gentlemen, it's Whiny James! But to answer you, let’s start with a definition. What is Russian?
Russian is an East-Slavic language (along with Ukrainian and Belarusian) that belongs to the Slavic languages group in the Indo-European language family. It is an official language of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, and Belarus and the lingua franca of 15 former republics of the USSR. What this means is that there are lots of native Russian speakers as well as those who can understand Russian and speak it fluently.
- A Slavic language… English is Germanic, but it’s still in the Indo-European language family. We’re close neighbors.
- If Russian were your neighbor down the street, German or Dutch would be your next-door neighbors. Do you see where I’m leading?
- Their similarity?
- Bingo! So, why is Russian hard to learn? Let me share four key difficult and four easy things about the Russian language.
- And there you have him, ladies and gentlemen, it's Listing Piotr!
- Russian may seem difficult for an English native speaker for a very obvious reason. It's less similar to English than Germanic languages (e.g., German, Dutch, Swedish) in both structure and grammar. It's also further away from the Romance languages (e.g., French, Italian, Spanish), which share Latin-borrowed words with English. So, here are the key difficulties you’re likely to face when studying Russian:
- A.K.A. everything, from A to Я (from A to Z)
- Right, the alphabet. Cyrillic is tough. Why do you guys need a whole new script?
- The reasons are historical. The Cyrillic alphabet takes roots in Greek writing, with some unique Slavic sounds added to it. In brief, while English is based on Latin, Russian is based on Greek. It gained the status of the church language of the Kyivan Rus' (modern-day Ukraine) back in the 10th century and spread over the region.
- Yeah, the Greek alphabet is also confusing. And this whole alphabet thing is really tough. With every other language, I could just pick up a book and start reading. With Russian, I have to learn all of these characters.
- Good thing you're not learning Mandarin or Japanese. Those languages have over 50.000 different characters.
- God all mighty! Cyrillic is still confusing, though.
- Let me prove you wrong.
- You love doing that, don't you?
- I do. Could you read the following Russian words without knowing Cyrillic letters?
- Well, мама is мама. It's universal, like "taxi". What about those weird-looking letters?
- There are only a few. I’d group the letters from the Russian alphabet like this:
Table #1
| English letters = Russian letters | a (a), э, e (e), к (k), м (м), о (o), and т (t) |
| Russian letters that look different but sound the same | б (b), в (v), г (g), д (d), з (z), и (i), x (h), й, (y), л (l), н (n), п (p), p (r), c (s), y (u), and ф (f) |
| Unique letters | ы, ь, ъ, ё (jo), ц (ts), ш (sh), ч (ch), щ (shch), ю (yu), я (ya) |
- Ok, so reading can be mastered with time, but Russian cursive is killing me. I keep writing in block letters. People must think I’m a kindergartener.
- I feel your pain. At times, I struggle with reading Russian cursive myself.
- Boy, I just need one of those children’s workbooks and an instructor teaching me how to hold the pencil to write Russian words.
- Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. If you want to learn Russian cursive, this video will help you:
- All in all, the Russian alphabet is even easier than the English one. Russians read what they spell and spell what they read – no mysterious drop-out or silent letters.
- Ok, Piotr, I’m half-convinced I can learn Russian cursive. But I'll never ever get hold of the noun gender thing, though. Who on earth needs to think of inanimate objects as masculine or feminine?
- Actually, that’s not unique to Russian grammar, my friend. First, let’s travel a bit through the history of the English language. English used to include three strongly developed genders and only started dropping them in the 13th century. More so, English still resorts to masculinity and femininity for poetic reasons. Do you remember Roxette’s song “Listen to your heart when he's calling for you?” The English heart is masculine. English has lost gender to simplify the language system. What about languages like German or Spanish? They still have it. Just like Russian, they assign genders quite randomly.
- I never looked at it this way… What's the gender of the Russian сердце?
- Neutral.
- This one makes sense. There’s no way I’ll ever remember the randomly assigned gender, though.
- This random is not completely random. Let me share some rules in the table below:
Table #2
| Feminine nouns | Masculine nouns | Neutral nouns |
| Ending in -a/-я (ya) or soft ь | Ending in -й, soft -ь, or any consonant | Ending in -o/-e |
| сумка – handbag фотография – photograph тетрадь – notebook | кошелёк – purse / wallet билет - ticket словарь – dictionary | окно - window кольцо - ring платье – dress |
- Can you try to complete these lists of Russian words from the video?
The good news is that agent nouns (humans) have their gender assigned accordingly:
One of the difficulties lies in adjective-noun agreement as we also have the adjective gender in Russian:
Table #3
| Feminine adjectives | Masculine adjectives | Neutral adjectives |
| Ending in я (ya) | Ending in -ый/-ой (yi/oy) | Ending in -e (ye) |
| красная сумка – a red handbag | кожаный кошелёк – a leather wallet | серебряное кольцо – a silver ring |
- It all sounds super easy when you’re explaining it, Piotr. I wish it were that easy when I'm trying to flirt and end up mixing genders of Russian nouns and adjectives. I typically end up with a lame pick up line like Ты очень симпатичный девушка or У тебя очень красивая ноги.
- Well, James, you need to work on both the genders and the pick up lines. Go over the ones we discussed in the flirting class.
- Now, we’ve approached something daunting in Russian grammar.
- Oh, boy. Russian noun cases?
- Exactly, James. On the positive side, Russian nouns have fewer cases than nouns in some other languages (Hungarian has 17!). On the negative side, Russian's 6 cases are pretty challenging. Why are they more difficult than in English? English is an analytical language, while Russian is a synthetic language. What is expressed using prepositions in English is done using inflections in Russian. I’ve made a table to demonstrate how it works.
- Of course, you did. You love Russian grammar tables.
Table #4
| Cases | Masculine | Masculine | Feminine | Feminine |
| Nominative (subject) | кот – a cat | Иван - Ivan | книга – a book | Анна - Anna |
| Genitive (possession) | кота – of a cat | Ивана – Ivan’s | книги – of a book | Анны – Anna’s |
| Accusative (direct object) | кота – a cat | Ивана –Ivan | книгу – a book | Анну – to Anna |
| Dative (indirect object) | коту – to a cat | Ивану - to Ivan | книге – to a book | Анне – to Anna |
| Instrumental (instrument/company) | (с) котом – with/by a cat | (с) Иваном – with /by Ivan | (с) книгой – with/by a book | (с) Анной – with/by Anna |
| Prepositional (with a preposition) | (на) котe – (on) a cat | (об) Иване - about Ivan | (в) книге – (in) a book | (об) Анне – about Anna |
- This doesn’t look like Russian. There should be tons of exceptions to the rules to confuse Russian learners.
- You know Russian better than you pretend to, James. Before sitting down to cram all case rules, you need to familiarize yourself with the topic. Analyze a plethora of Russian sentences to find the cases and their impact on nouns first. Anyway, we’d need to devote a few Russian lessons to all these nuances. What's important at this point is to understand how gender works. The rest comes with experience and practice.
- With practice and with Piotr. I'd say, С Петром учить русский легко (It’s easy to learn Russian with Piotr).
-Спасибо, Джеймс. I'd then say, Русский Джеймса улучшается с практикой (James’ Russian is improving with practice). Your Russian language skills are indeed getting better and better.
- I was keeping this one till the last minute. Every foreigner hates Russian verbs.
- If you ask me, I’d just give it up at once. I mean there are so many rules, and you change the Russian verbs for every person.
- That’s true. More so, we do this for every tense form: present, past, and future. It's good we only have three. Unlike in English, where you add "s" for the third person singular in present and have no changes for past and future, you need to remember the complex Russian conjugation. It holds true even for modal verbs (Russian мочь /can). Would you check this video with two of its forms?
Как русский язык может помочь вам тренировать ваш мозг (How the Russian language can help you train your brain)
Как вы можете заметить, я в лесу (As you can see, I’m in the woods).
- Let me guess – you want me to work with a conjugation table.
- Am I that easy to read? We’ve started with a very complex verb, though. In the table, you see how easy it is to conjugate regular Russian verbs ending in -ть (t’).
Table #5
| Person | Verbs ending with -ть (t) | Verbs ending with -ить (it) | Irregular verb мочь (can) |
| Infinitive | работать (to work) | говорить (to speak) | мочь (can) |
| 1st per.sing. | работаю (I work) | говорю (I speak) | могу (I can) |
| 2nd per.sing. | работаешь (you work) | говоришь (you speak) | можешь (you can) |
| 3rd per.sing. | работает (he/she/it works) | говорит (he/she/it speaks) | может (he/she/it can) |
| 1st per.pl. | работаем (we work) | говорим (we speak) | можем (we can) |
| 2nd per.pl. | работаете (you work) | говорите (you speak) | можете (you can) |
| 3rd per.pl. | работают (they work) | говорят (they speak) | могут (they can) |
- I think I’m at a point where I can conjugate all verbs in the 1st person singular only:
- That’s a great start, James. В скором времени ты заговоришь по-русски (You’ll start speaking Russian soon).
- Заговоришь? Isn’t that будешь говорить? If I understand this correctly, you’re using future for the Russian verb. I’m confused.
- Right. That’s another pitfall – the Russian verb aspect. Let’s just say we have two of them: perfective and imperfective. What you describe using tense forms in English is done using aspect in Russian:
The Russian aspect is formed with prefixes. We’ll discuss more of this during our class on the Russian verb conjugation.
- Hmm... Now I’m wondering whether it’s Я буду учить русский or Я заучу русский.
- The correct prefix is вы in this case - Я выучу. Of course, Ты выучишь русский Джеймс! (You’ll have learned Russian, James!). You'll become fluent in Russian this year if you take our Russian classes seriously.
- Why do I say Russian is easy to learn? Here are four easy-peasy things about this language:
- I suspect they're only easy for you, Piotr. Native speakers don't see difficulties in their native language.
- Let me try to prove you wrong here.
- Here comes the sweet part for those who have managed to overcome all difficulties of the Cyrillic alphabet. Now, you can start enjoying the learning process. Unlike in English, you’ll encounter no special reading scenarios. Neither will you need to ask people to spell words naming each letter separately. Russian speakers write the word exactly the way it is pronounced and pronounce it exactly the way it is written.
- It’s so easy I get lost in the second sentence.
- Drop your sarcasm, James. I agree that some Russian speakers talk fast, so it might be difficult to follow them. If you ask them to slow down and enounce each letter, you'll recognize all the words.
- Heh, I guess you have no spelling bee contests in Russia, then?
- We don’t. Russians might mix -и (i) and -е (e) or -a (a) and -o (o) in unstressed positions, but there are no silent letters.
- Hurray! Something I can master, at last.
- I bet you knew more Russian words than you even suspected when you just started with our Russian course. Albeit pronounced slightly differently and, of course, written using Cyrillic letters, many of them are shared internationally: both because of the common origin and technological aspect. Here’s a list with a few examples:
Table #6
| Area | Russian | English |
| technology | интернет компьютер браузер видео фото | internet computer browser video photo |
| food | рецепт фрукты салат кофе шоколад | recipe fruit salad coffee chocolate |
| tourism | турист паспорт океан аэропорт такси | tourist passport ocean airport taxi |
| arts and culture | опера театр музей балет литература | opera theater museum ballet literature |
| professions | актор политик менеджер журналист музыкант | actor politician manager journalist musician |
| sports | футбол баскетбол хоккей волейбол бокс | football basketball hockey volleyball boxing |
| education | студент профессор экзамен университет класс | student professor examination university class |
- I need to write down all these words and see if that's enough to speak Russian.
- A great strategy for failure, James. I'm sure you're just kidding.
- Jokes aside, I can learn Russian vocabulary and even Russian grammar, but I'll never achieve the perfect Russian pronunciation.
- You'll do this if you practice Russian regularly, communicate with native Russian speakers, and attend Russian language courses.
- Right. I'll also be listening to Russian songs. They're a musical nightmare, but good for practicing.
-Why not.
- Спасибо за информацию Петр (Thank you for the information, Piotr). By the way, информация is also on this list.
-Не за что Джеймс! (You’re welcome, James!).
- Why is Russian sentence structure so easy? Because it presupposes free word order. Russian inflections allow us to move words within the sentence without changing the overall meaning.
- Hmm…How is it useful?
- Well, first, you don’t have to remember the correct order of words. Second, you can play with the placement of words to stress certain parts of the sentence. Third – I doubt you need that – you can use this feature to rhyme in poems.
- Sure I need this one. I'm a romantic, remember? And poetry is a great pick-up approach.
- As you’ve brought up flirting again, here's how you can emphasize different parts in I like you:
- That’s info I might want to remember. Learning Russian grammar opens so many romantic doors.
- That's why you learn Russian, isn't it? What's also great is that you need no special word order in questions. Intonation makes all the difference:
Ты мне нравишься. = Ты мне нравишься? (I like you / Do I like you?)
- I guess I need some practice to get the native Russian speakers' intonation.
- Practice makes perfect. Check this video where two Russian girls are interviewing people about their book preferences:
Какие книги вам нравиться читать? (What kind of books do you like to read?)
- So, I could say, with not much difference, either Какие вам нравиться читать книги? or Какие вам книги нравиться читать?
- Absolutely.
- I've got myself a flirting line ready: Ты мне нравишься. Какие тебе нравиться читать книги? Мне нравиться Толстой и Набоков (I like you. What kind of books do you prefer? I like Tolstoy and Nabokov). I think I’m good to go.
- The more Russian you learn, the more your flirting is becoming more and more exquisite, James.
- Hold on, Piotr! Did you say prefixes were easy?
- They're a game changer, James. Russian is a very logical and structured language in this sense. So, how do prefixes help you?
1) You don’t need to remember much of the Russian vocabulary – you have one word and change the meaning or its shade using affixes.
2) Unlike in English, Russian prefixes have a clear meaning ascribed to them. Once you've figured that out, you’ll sound like a native Russian speaker.
- I bet Russian has loads of prefixes then. Russian vocabulary just can't be easy.
- We do have more than 20 prefixes, but they can be mastered, for sure. Let's use an example of the noun ход (movement). While the root remains the same, prefixes result in quite a few words:
- That’s impressive. Kinda like English phrasal verbs.
- Spot on, James!
- I remember playing around with the verb писать and its prefixes. I was practicing this funny Russian sentence that just had it all:
Я хочу описáть одну ситуацию. Я собирался подписáть договор с учителем, но не знал, как правильно написáть имя на русском. Я не мог дописáть договор. Вписáть свое имя кириллицей сложно. Мне надо записáть его на бумаге и носить в кошелке
(I would like to describe one situation. I was going to sign an agreement with a teacher, but I didn’t know how to spell my name in Russian. I could not finish the agreement. Filling in my name in Cyrillic letters turned out to be difficult. I need to write it down on a piece of paper and carry it in a pocket)
- You’re good at explaining things in Russian, James. Если бы ты вел языковой канал на YouTube, я бы подписáлся на него (If you had a YouTube channel to teach languages, I’d follow you).
- I hope this isn't your trick to get me into the Russian Subjunctive and the бы particle, Piotr.
- The Russian Subjunctive is super easy. You can see it as the #5 easy thing in my Russian language's "easiest stuff" list.
- Yeah, right.
- People often ask me, “Piotr, why is learning Russian so hard?”, “Piotr, how can I learn Russian fast?” or “Piotr, what should I do to sound like a Russian native speaker?” I’ve been teaching Russian for years, and I’m ready to share some wisdom with you, my friend.
- You sound like an elderly, white-bearded sage, Piotr.
- Actually, I am one. So, here are the rules that'll help you learn Russian and learn languages at large:
- First and foremost, see Russian learning as cardio. While you’re breathing properly and keeping the pace – you’re moving. It’s tiresome, you want a break, you’re dreaming about a chocolate muffin, but you’re not giving up. You do it regularly and without exceptions or self-pity. As soon as you allow yourself a lazy week – you’re off track. Your legs become uncontrollable, your heart is jumping out of your chest, and you can't do half of what you used to.
- Chocolate muffin...
- I do need to motivate students to help them learn Russian. Anyway, as long as you make a plan and follow it closely – you’ll notice progress in your language learning journey. Pause it – and you’re not even standing on the same spot but losing what you’ve learned already. This seems unfair, but it’s exactly how it works.
- I totally relate to this metaphor. But... How much time should I spend weekly to learn Russian?
- There’s no one-size-fits-all recipe. My German teacher used to say, “Remember the Rule of Seven: to learn a new word, you have to use it in context seven times. That would be five times for genius learners and nine times for slow learners. So, you have to follow the Rule of Nine”.
- No way you just said that.
- Oh, but I did. Of course, I’m not calling you a slow learner. What I’m leading to is a) we all have our own pace, and b) we need a lot of repetition to remember stuff. Learning Russian is exciting, but it's not a bed of roses.
- You're being so poetic today, Piotr. Don't tell me that learning Russian involves learning how to speak like this.
- Don't worry, that's just me. Learning Russian requires devoting to it at least an hour daily. Don’t let a day pass without a couple of new words, an audio podcast, or a song in Russian – anything you have access to.
- My grandchildren will go to school before I master Russian at this pace.
- And Whiny James is back, ladies and gents. You’re a smart guy. Also, mind these three axioms when learning Russian:
- Easier said than done. I just cram dozens of Russian expressions and wonder why I never remember them the day after.
- One more shoutout to my German teacher, who forced me to do 20 grammatical exercises a day.
- I see you’re slightly traumatized by your language learning experience. Do you have flashbacks in German?
- I wouldn’t say traumatized. It’s just that the process was too mechanical and grammar focused. I had no access to videos or entertaining content in German, only hardcore grammar.
- That’s the reason you use flirting videos to teach me. Great to know where that's coming from.
- I believe the best way to learn Russian is balance: 50% fun stuff and 50% boring (educational) stuff. Here are three rules about how to approach your Russian learning process:
- I do love cooking.
-Perfect. Combine this passion with language learning. Find a recipe and review it carefully first, writing down Russian words and expressions. Then, start cooking and following the steps, like in this video on Russian pancakes.
Начинаем готовить. Два яйца, добавляю соль и сахар и перемешиваю хорошо, чтобы у нас яйца хорошо взбились. Ориентировочно одну минуту. Сейчас можно добавить молоко.
Let’s start cooking. Two eggs, some salt and sugar. Whisk the mixture to reach smoothness of the eggs. You’ll need about one minute. Now, pour in the milk.
- The method goes well with just anything. I mean if you’re interested in DIYs, you’ll find plenty of videos as well. They will usually be easy to follow, and the native speakers will speak at a slow pace. So, it's a good way to learn Russian… now, can you perhaps think of some tips, James?
- Well... My approach isn't that creative. I just practice recording myself as I read a Russian text. Then I listen to the Russian audio file to find any mistakes. I need to admit I hate listening to my voice, though.
- That’s a great approach toward learning Russian. You might also want to compare your older recordings with the most recent ones. You’ll feel motivated by the progress, for sure.
- The language always reflects the people’s mentality and way of life. It's not a mere set of phrases and grammatical rules – it is a whole new world. To feel the language, you need to "touch" this environment. Check this episode to see what people think about the characteristics of the Russian people and culture:
А вот, предположим, могли бы назвать какие-то отличительные черты в характере русском? -Конечно. Ну, может быть, касаемо не всех, но для людей, которые к нам приезжают – в том числе иностранцев – мы кажемся, наверное, закрытыми. Как в общение, так и эмоционально, конечно же.
Could you perhaps name some typical Russian mentality traits? -Sure. Well, it might not apply to everyone, but I think those who come to Russia, including foreigners, consider us closed, both emotionally and in terms of communication.
Танцы. Танцы сразу приходят в голову: балет. Еда: ну вот недавно была Масленица, если не ошибаюсь. Блины, красная икра.
Dances. Dances are something that immediately comes to mind, like a ballet. Food: we’ve just recently celebrated the Butter Week if I’m not mistaken. Yes. Pancakes, red caviar.
- If I may add, Russians are always overdressed and never smile. I know it sounds stupid, but that’s my perception. Oh, Russians also love vodka and pickles.
- Heh. These aren't 100% accurate, but you’re not far from a solid understanding of the Russian culture, James.
- Proud of myself.
- Now, to the serious stuff. What happens if you learn Russian mechanically? It becomes boring and detached from reality. What do I suggest for learning the real language, spoken in the street, office, and at the home of the Russian people?
- Are dating apps a good source of authentic materials?
- A perfect one, James. I believe you’ve been applying your knowledge from the flirting class vastly in this department. Jokes aside, that’s a good place to learn Russian, of course. You're speaking Russian, telling jokes, and learning how to impress Russian-speaking people in a foreign language. That’s a powerful boost.
- The short answer is yes. I can’t stress that enough: learning should be fun. Boring learning is never effective.
- I tried watching movies in Russian, but it's way too difficult. Then, I tried English subtitles. Failed anyway.
- Congratulations, James! You’ve made two out of the two most severe mistakes:
- Hmm… Then what am I to do?
- The solution is to watch a Russian movie with Russian subtitles. This way, you read what you hear. It helps you:
a) Understand what you’ve misheard
b) Learn new words easily
c) Understand more of the content
I’d recommend the following streaming platforms where you can find numerous animated cartoons, series, and films in Russian, a lot of them available with subtitles:
Old Soviet films are the best: you get love, empathy, and humor topped off with Russian clichés. I'd recommend these classy six:
You’re bound to fall in love with these three if you're into dramatic, romantic comedies. These movies star the best Soviet actors and make you experience a range of emotions:
This cult film is the Russian Home Alone. Every family watches it on New Year’s Eve. Make it your tradition as well. Your Russian will say thank you.
With their star-studded casts, these two Soviet comedy crime movies are two of the funniest of all time. If you want to become familiar with the Russian sense of humor, watch both. They're timeless.
- Heh, “бриллиантовая рука” sounds fun.
- They’re all hilarious. Many expressions from these movies have gone viral, like this one from Операция «Ы» и другие приключения Шурика:
Я говорю, кто не работает, тот ест. Учись, студент!
I’m saying the one who’s not working is eating. Remember that, student!
- The setting is also interesting.
- Well, the film is 50 years old. It puts lots of things into perspective, though. I’m sure you’ll understand more about the region if you track its development through the years.
- We’ll see.
- If you want some newer "must sees" to learn Russian, here’s the top three:
- I’ve heard about "Leviathan". I don't think my level is enough for this movie, though.
- Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get everything. And don’t stress yourself by noting down every single word. Treat your movie time as your immersion time. You’ll be amazed by how much more you understand the next New Year’s Eve when you watch Ирония судьбы или с легким паром for the second time. Then, imagine what will happen when you do this for the fifth time.
- Challenge accepted. I’m getting a subscription to a Russian movie website first thing after the class. Learning Russian while drinking beer on the couch. Living the dream.
- Finding good books and not getting lost in the pool of available ones isn't always easy. Here are my top recommendations for beginners who are trying to learn Russian:
- Спасибо за рекомендации (Thank you for the recommendations). Do you think I might also try long reads? I’ve been dreaming to read Dostoyevsky's Преступление и наказание in Russian, but am I ready?
- A good question. You can always try the parallel text version first, like Reading Crime and Punishment in Russian: A Parallel-Text Russian Reader. If this feels easy – dive into the original version. Finding a Russian book on Amazon is not a problem. They even have a free Kindle edition for some. What you need is motivation.
- I hate piling up books. Kindle will boost my success at learning Russian. Plus, it means I’ll always have a Russian book with me on the go.
- Fantastic.
Learning a foreign language is as interesting as it is challenging. It requires strong motivation and dedication. There will undoubtedly be ups and downs. One day, you’ll feel elevated after understanding a short story by Pushkin without a dictionary. The next day, you’ll be discouraged by not comprehending a single word a Russian native said on the street. The key to success is to be prepared. Remember, nothing happens overnight. Hard work always pays off in the end, regardless of the reverse logic in the Russian fairy tales about lazy Yemelia.
Our English student, James, does his best to master the Russian language. He's sarcastic and whines a lot, but that’s how he copes. What he does is he uses all the resources his teacher Piotr gives him. So, follow James:
Do you know what the best news about learning Russian is? You’ll need to devote less and less time to every subsequent language. See your Russian learning journey as a trampoline to learning other languages.
