The easy way to learn Russian: a 4-step method

The secret: small, regular steps

Most beginners study for hours in the first week, get tired in the second and give up. The brain can only turn a limited amount of new information into lasting memory at a time; the rest is gone the next day.

That is why the daily goal on LinguDay is 10 words. Five to ten minutes is not tiring, fits into any day and adds up to about 300 words a month. Easy comes from doing a little every day.

Start with pronunciation

If you don’t know how to say a word, it’s harder to remember it. On LinguDay every Russian word has its pronunciation written in letters you know, and you can listen to it in a natural voice.

The Cyrillic alphabet looks unfamiliar at first but can be learned in a few days. On LinguDay every word’s pronunciation is written in Latin letters and you can listen to it.

See words in sentences, not alone

A word memorized alone is quickly forgotten; a word that is part of a sentence is remembered with its meaning. Every word comes with an example sentence, and short conversation lessons show words in real dialogues.

There are currently 9 Russian conversation lessons; the introduction and everyday conversation lessons are free.

Keep moving without forgetting: short reviews

Trying to recall what you learned a few days later is the most effective way to make it stick. The daily test asks about words from recent days and shows which ones need review.

So you learn new words without losing the old ones. Your progress page shows your learned words and study days.

Tips for learning Russian

• Stress and the reduced “o”

  Russian stress moves from word to word, and an unstressed “о” usually sounds like “a”: молоко is “malakó”. Consonants can be hard or soft, and the soft sign ь marks a softened consonant.

• Genders, cases and no articles

  Russian has three genders and six cases, so word endings change with their role in the sentence. On the bright side there are no articles and no “to be” in the present: Я студент means “I am a student”.