There are many reasons why you should learn Russian. First of all, Russia is a beautiful place to visit. As the biggest country in the world, there’s a lot to see and do. However, only 5% of citizens know how to speak English, so you’ll want to know your way around Russian to make the most of your trip. Learning Russian also expands your career opportunities. For example, the American government is always looking for Russian speakers to work in organizations like the CIA and the FCC. Not to mention the fact that the country is one of the world’s largest exporters of raw materials, including natural gas, gold, and petroleum – making it an ideal language to learn for business.
The best part is that not many people learn Russian as a second language, so studying it will definitely give you an edge while looking for a job. Plus, you can use Russian as a stepping-stone to other Slavic languages such as Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and Czech.
When two languages are very similar, you might be able to learn one of them just by watching TV shows or reading the newspaper. For example, French people can understand some Spanish without studying. However, that’s not going to happen with Russian, as it’s a unique and challenging language that differs from its Slavic siblings. This way, students will need a proper course structure, and language learning software offers meticulously detailed study plans.
Language learning platforms that come with speaking exercises are also excellent to perfect your pronunciation. You’ll listen to native speakers slowly explaining how to make certain sounds and take advantage of speech recognition software to tell you where you need to improve. Additionally, these apps offer interactive exercises to help you memorize the Cyrillic alphabet and vocabulary. Last but not least, language learning software comes with grammar lessons that explain the complicated declensions and help you understand the vagueness of Russian verb forms. As a great bonus, some language learning apps provide interesting information about Russia’s fascinating culture – perfect for getting trip ideas and entertainment recommendations.
LinguaLift’s founder was always determined to find the best method possible for teaching his students new languages. After moving to Korea to teach English, he found his answer. The main problem students face is not the lack of material, but the absence of direction. To answer this need, he created LinguaLift, a language-learning app that offers thorough courses where students are provided with a personal roadmap created by their tutors. LinguaLift provides courses for five languages: Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, Spanish, and French. Although this may seem like a small number, each program is meticulously built with tons of cultural content and grammar explanations. LinguaLift’s subscription costs $17 a month with yearly installments and provides access to all courses. Better yet, students can try the first three lessons of all programs completely for free before purchase.
Used by millions, Busuu is a well-known and well-loved language-learning application. Based in the UK, this platform ensures an engaging experience by providing a decent variety of exercises. There are 12 courses available, and all of them are built taking into consideration the language’s and country’s cultural aspects. In other words, besides teaching vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, Busuu also provides hints on how to properly behave when speaking with the natives. What’s more, Busuu offers a limited free plan that you can use forever. That being said, a paid subscription is necessary to have access to Busuu’s full potential, such as the ability to interact with other people using the app. The price can be as low as $5.41 per month, and there’s a 14-day money-back guarantee to test the premium plans.
Pimsleur was one of the first self-instructional language learning courses to hit the market. Back in 1963, Dr. Paul Pimsleur released his very first reel-to-reel tape with a Modern Greek course. Nowadays, Pimsleur offers programs for more than 50 languages. Though the time of reel-to-reel tapes is long gone, there is one thing that Pimsleur maintained: the Pimsleur method. By combining graduated interval recall, the principle of anticipation, core vocabulary, and organic learning, Pimsleur helps people speak a language in no time. It’s possible to get the various learning language courses by purchasing each level of the program, or by subscribing to a monthly billing cycle that provides full access. Either way, unless you get the CD version it’s possible to use the software both on desktop and mobile, or to download the lessons in MP3 format for offline use.
There’s a reason why most people think of Russian as one of the hardest languages to learn. If you aren’t fluent in any Slavic language and are starting from scratch, there’s a lot you’ll need to learn. Cyrillic and Latin alphabets are quite different, and you’ll have to learn 33 new letters (as well as their sounds). Thankfully, Russian is a phonetic language, meaning that you pronounce words the same way you spell them. However, pronunciation can be quite complex because it uses sounds that you don’t find in English. Even letters that both languages share, such as D or P, have different pronunciations. On top of that, Russians are known for using a lot of slang – even the President uses it when addressing the media – making it more challenging to understand the locals.
Russian declensions are complicated, too. Unlike English, Russian has six declensions (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental, and rental) that change the endings of adjectives, pronouns, or nouns according to three criteria – case, gender, and number. On the flip side, verb conjugation is easier, as there are only two verb forms: perfective and imperfective. Still, this comes with the downside of being too vague, and students usually find it difficult to understand if a sentence is referencing something that happened in the past, present, or future.
There’s no way around the fact that language learning apps will give you a good head start. But the best way to learn Russian quickly is to immerse yourself in the language, which you won’t be able to do by just doing exercises for one hour a day. So, we recommend supplementing your studies with some entertainment.
Russia is the country with the highest education level in the world, and books are extremely cheap. This means there are many Russian books for you to bury your head in. You can’t go wrong with the classics, so we suggest reading The Brothers Karamazov or Anna Karenina in their original form. Although you can find Russian movies on streaming services, Russia is more well known for its traditional entertainment venues. Stage Russia is the best place to stream plays, ballet, and opera shows with English subtitles – perfect for honing your listening and speaking skills while having fun.
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