In Russian, “Hello,” is “Zdrastvooyte” or Здравствуйте “Thank you” is “Spaseeba” or Спасибо “Goodbye” is “Da sveedaneeya” or До свидания! “My name is. . . " is “Meenya zavoot. . . " or Меня зовут. . . “Please” is “Požalujsta” or Пожалуйста [2] X Research source “Where. . . ?” is “Gde” or Где
Knowing that every letter you see has the same sound helps you speak new words quickly. For example, in English, the letter “c” can sound like the letters “k” and “s” depending on what word it is. In Russian, you always know how to pronounce a word because there is no question about how each letter might sound. Keep in mind that the Russian alphabet is Cyrillic, which means its letters look very different from English. You might want to study a chart of the Russian alphabet in order to start understanding the letters you see. Focus on vowel sounds when learning pronunciation because these are the letters that lend meaning to most Russian words. You want to stretch out the sound of each vowel, such as when you are calling to someone from the other room and you say “Mo-o-o-m!"[4] X Research source
The Russian word for “rug” is “covyour. ” Use “covyour” every time you would say “rug”: “Did you wipe your feet on the covyour?” or “Your covyour looks lovely in this room. ” You might put up sticky notes on household items with the names in Russian. Every time you pass that item, you will remember to call it by its Russian word. Use this technique in every place you go regularly—in your car, your locker, your office, etc.
For example, there is a section of Russian verbs that is borrowed from English, such as “parkovat” (to park) or “adoptirovat” (to adopt). Parkovat looks like this: парковать Adoptirovat looks like this: адоптировать
In Russian, the phrase “A cat caught a mouse” can be spoken in six different ways and still be correct. The most common word order of a Russian sentence is subject-verb-object, although grammar rules allow this to be rearranged in nearly any order imaginable.
For example, the last letter of a noun in Russian determines what the gender is. [7] X Research source The main exception for this rule occurs when a noun has a physical gender, like a human or animal. The word “Папа” looks like it should be feminine. But the word is “daddy,” so this noun is considered masculine. [8] X Research source
For example, in Russian, only one present tense conjugation is used in any present tense scenario in English. In English, you could say I go, I do go, I am going, I have been going. In Russian, there is only one conjugation for all of these. However, don’t get bogged down in grammar rules. You will understand them naturally as you begin to speak Russian.
Having a basic knowledge of grammar structure and vocabulary is preferable when living in total immersion. This way, you are able to understand most of what you hear, and grow in understanding much more quickly.
It is better to know people before you move to a new country. They will help you find a place to live, make friends, stay safe, and so on. You might want to visit before making the decision to move there.
Look at the course offerings of your local university or community center by visiting their catalog online or giving them a call.
Keep in mind that while this arrangement is free, it doesn’t mean it will be easy. Your partner may not be good at teaching, and vice versa. You should study when not with your partner so that you don’t forget what you learn each time. Use any study method you know of, whether a Russian language textbook, workbook, website, app, and so on. Have your partner teach you verb structure, vocabulary, and quiz you on everything you learn. Try to have as many conversations in Russian as you can.
You can look into changing your computer, tablet, and smartphone language settings to Russian. Whenever you see an option to translate a website, choose to translate it into Russian.
Try changing the language settings on your social media to Russian. For example, you can change your Facebook language to Russian by clicking “Settings,” then “Language” in the upper right hand corner after signing in. [12] X Research source Learning the sounds of the Russian alphabet is helpful for reading the language.
You could also try texting or having instant message chats with a Russian speaker to test your Russian writing skills.
The trouble with using a website instead of a class is that you have no clear instruction about where to start and where to go next so that you’re not learning in a logical, organized manner. Language-learning websites are free, but they can be confusing.
UCLA offers business and literature podcasts in Russian. These are good options for increasing your exposure to spoken Russian.
Apps make language learning mobile.
For example, you could ask your friends on Facebook if they know anyone who speaks Russian who would be willing to teach you on video chat.
Join the group, and as soon as you have permission, post a public message about your desire to learn Russian from someone in the group.
