For example, many community colleges in the United States offer continuing education language classes that are open to anyone. Some universities also offer online language courses. You can check individual schools’ online programs or find a variety of courses through platforms like Coursera and edX.
Many language learning books and software packages include a variety of supplementary media to help you learn the language, such as recordings, videos, and interactive online quizzes and workbooks.
If you’re more of an audio-visual learner, YouTube offers a wide variety of videos for helping you learn Russian.
Duolingo Memrise Busuu Beelinguapp
Some apps, like HelloTalk, Tandem, and Speaky, can help you connect with native speakers of a variety of languages. Depending on the app, you may have the ability to communicate via text alone or through voice and video calls as well. Websites like Mylanguageexchange. com are also a great way to connect with language-learning partners.
In an immersion program, you plunge right into learning the language by actively using it. Instead of being introduced to various linguistic concepts gradually through instruction in your first language, you will receive most or all of your instruction in Russian. While some immersion programs involve going abroad, you may also be able to find immersion classes or schools in your area. Do a search using terms like “Russian immersion program near me. ”
“Hello” is “Здравствуйте” (Zdravstvujte). “Goodbye” is “До свидания” (Do svidanija). To introduce yourself, say, “Меня зовут . . . ” (“My name is . . . ”). [5] X Research source For example, “Меня зовут Джэнайфр” (“My name is Jennifer”). You can also learn words and phrases that might be useful in specific contexts. For example, if you’re traveling to Russia by air, it’s helpful to master phrases like “Где можно получить багаж?” (“Where can I get my luggage?”). [6] X Research source
Most of the Cyrillic letters correspond roughly to the letters in the Latin alphabet, but not all of them have exact matches. For example, the Cyrillic letter В, в looks like a Latin B, but is pronounced like the English V as in “vet. ” The Cyrillic letter Щ, щ has no Latin equivalent. It is pronounced like 2 “sh” sounds together, as in “wash shirts. ”
Most Russian consonants come in either a “plain” or “palatalized” form. In general, the palatalized sound is much like the plain form except that it sounds as though it has a “y” sound after it. To understand this, think of the difference between the way the combination of “p” and “oo/u” is pronounced in the English words “poor” versus “pure. ”[8] X Research source You can tell whether a consonant is pronounced in its plain or palatalized form by looking at the form of the vowel that comes after it. For example, мэ is plain (pronounced like “meh”), while ме is palatalized (pronounced “myeh”).
For example, English nouns change form slightly depending on whether they are singular or plural (e. g. , “child, children” or “cat, cats”). Russian nouns have a much wider variety of forms depending on factors like gender, number, and case. Most Russian words are built on “roots,” the meaning of which can be changed by adding various prefixes and suffixes. For example, the root лёг forms the core of verbs like положить (“put” or “lay,” as in “lay something down”) and лежать (“lie down”).
For example, to say “It is cold,” you would say “Холодно. ” In English, the subject is “It. ” In Russian, the subject is expressed through the form of the verb to create a complete sentence. Word order can also differ between Russian and English. For example, in Russian, the subject may be introduced at the end of a sentence rather than at the beginning. You would translate this structure as a passive sentence in English, even though it is technically active. [12] X Research source For example, “Сашу представила Маша” literally means “Masha introduced Sasha,” but the subject (“Masha”) is at the end in order to emphasize to the listener that this is new information (e. g. , in response to the question “Who introduced Sasha?”). You could get the general sense by translating it as “Sasha was introduced by Masha. ”
Even taking 15 minutes every day to quiz yourself on a vocabulary list or some verb forms can be helpful! Some language learning experts say that it takes a total of 10,000 hours of study and practice to become fluent in a new language. However, the amount of time you need to spend studying Russian depends on your schedule, your individual learning style, and the level of fluency you want to achieve.
For example, you might create flashcards with the different noun cases and review those once a day for a while until you get them down.
