Information & Chat > Russian & Ukrainian Language. The Cyrillic Alphabet.
Best Russian language resources
pup zemly:
Please share other useful links and we'll include them in the Resources directory.
Jared2151:
Excellent link :-*
mendeleyev:
RUA resources:
Learn Russian by reading Cyrillic Signs http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=2257.0
Word of the Day: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=3482.0
Anatomy for Big Dummies: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=6648.0
Russian Phrases: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=5809.0
Learn Russian by listening to Russian Music: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=4897.0
Questions about the Russian Language: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=7127.0
Learn to Count in Russian: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=7127.0
Reading a Menu in Russian: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=9476.0
Russian Cognates: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=6875.0
Russian for Travel-Finance-Food: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=5989.0
Russian Keyboard layouts: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=4084.0
Russian Fonts on the computer: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=3172.0
Helpful books and printed materials (Best quality textbooks that are easy for "normal people" to handle/understand):
Beginners Russian by Anna Kudyma, Frank Miller and Olga Kagan, is perhaps the first course designed for use either as one person at home or as a classroom text. It can be purchased at Amazon or Ebay. Go thru the 24 chapters in the workbook with online support and UCLA says that one can go to the FSU by themselves, navigate directions, purchase items and tickets, order food, read signs, read newspapers at a basic level and hold your own in most conversations.
- Learn Russian the Fast and Fun Way (Fast and Fun Way Series) by Thomas R. Beyer Jr. Ph.D. — Considered the most common text/workbook used in community colleges in the USA for beginning Russian classes. Excellent! You will learn to read, write, listen and speak with correct grammar. Note: If you find it on Ebay or Amazon make sure the cassettes or CDs come with it. It’s a textbook and workbook all in one large soft paperbound and is great especially as the listening and speaking practice is invaluable. With audio included with the work book you can do this at home.
As far as books, the most complete text I recommend is Beginner's Russian from UCLA. Use google to find free links to audio and video supporting the texts. You can purchase good used texts on Amazon and Ebay, etc, and those are the heart of the retention and practice.
In my opinion this is one of the rare University texts that an individual could successfully use for self study--that is possible solely because of the large amounts of free audio and video found on the internet to support each lesson.
- Golosa: A Basic Course in Russian, Book 1 (3rd Edition) by Richard M. Robin, Karen Evans-Romaine, Galina Shatalina, and Joanna M. Robin. Here is the link that supplements Golosa grammar and allows you to listen to the audio files--if you have the textbook and workbook, these audio files will add tremendously to your learning! http://www.gwu.edu/~slavic/golosa/
George Washington University site for free Golosa support materials: http://www.gwu.edu/~slavic/golosa/
St Lawrence University Golosa supplements site: http://it.stlawu.edu/~rkreuzer/golos21.htm
Auburn University, Golosa exercises: http://www.auburn.edu/~mitrege/russian/exercises/golosa-index.html
A Google search will many other Golosa materials sites (free). Texts can be anywhere from $10 to $110+ depending on condition. Well worth any investment.
- The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Learning Russian, 2nd Edition (Complete Idiot’s Guide to) by Christopher Froehlich. Great for grammar in a way we idiots can understand it.
- Live From Moscow/Russian Stage One — probably one of the best at University level, yet with the ability to use it by yourself at home. Hardback textbook and large paperback workbook with 2 CD’s and one VHS. Combines visual, audio, video, and you’ll learn to read, speak and write as well as hear/see as you learn. However, it’s been discontinued from active printing and if you buy it on Ebay or Amazon, make certain that the VHS, CDs (or cassettes) are included with the text and workbook…otherwise the learning value diminishes quickly. Getting hard to find the complete package. There is a stage Two for advanced students.
- The Everything Russian Practice Book: Simple Techniques to Improve Your Speaking And Writing Skills (Everything: Language and Literature) – Paperback (Jan 2007) by Nina Wieda
- Colloquial Russian: The Complete Course for Beginners, by Svetlana Le Fleming & Susan E. Kay
- Colloquial Russian 2: The Next Step in Language Learning is next in the series. (Introduction to spoken and written Russian. Includes a course book containing dialogues, grammatical notes, exercises and cultural information, together with two cassettes with recordings of some of the dialogues and exercises. The Russian text is written in the Cyrillic alphabet throughout.)
- Teach Yourself Russian Language Life and Culture, by Stephen Webber and Tatyana Webber (Very interesting introduction to Russian society and culture. Covers a wide range of topics, including literature, music, language, art, architecture, cinema, theatre, science, the media, politics, education, health, work, leisure, transport, family and religion. It isn’t a language textbook, though each chapter does include a list of useful Russian words and phrases, and further examples of key vocabulary appear in the main text. This book also contains a guide to additional reading, useful websites and places of interest. If you’re learning Russian, or just interested in Russian, this book is essential reading.)
- Teach Yourself Russian, by Daphne West
(A good, clear introduction to spoken and written Russian. Includes a course book containing dialogues, grammatical notes, exercises and cultural information, together with two CDs with recordings of most of the dialogues and some of the exercises. Excellent for beginners.)
- Teach Yourself Beginner’s Russian Script by Daphne West – learn how to write cursive Russian since it’s very different from printed Russian lettering. Many of you know that Russians rarely print, they write everything from love letters to grocery lists in long-hand cursive. Cyrillic cursive is very different from printed letters. Very helpful book!
- How To Learn Any Language: Quickly, Easily, Inexpensively, Enjoyably and on Your Own by Barry Farber. From member TwoBit, a Russian speaker who recommends this as the best book on the topic of learning languages.
- The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks, Paperback) .
Video Courses
[ Specified attachment is not available ] A great way to start learning Russian as a beginner is to watch the Russian lessons on YouTube by Victor Dmitrievitch Huliganov. (Those who understand Russian will understand the play on his last name.) His lessons are a combination of serious learning and humour, and most will find this a good combination to learn quickly. Each lesson is concluded with a joke or poem and then a song (yes, he does the singing!). On a serious note he is a highly regarded professor, but very eccentric and very, very funny with his accent and use of humour.
All the lessons of Series One and Series Two are now available on YouTube. You can search them by his name or by RL 101 and RL 102. The RL 101 series teaches the alphabet and the concepts behind it and the RL 102 series is for beginning grammar.
Start here with the introduction to learning Russian: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSPFB4D01Lk for the introduction. The first lesson is here: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlJw08uMvE4
Online courses - free study
www.russianforeveryone.com
http://www.russian-language-for-lovers.com/russian-lessons.html A free online beginners course, features include sound and translation tool.
www.russianpod101.com http://www.russian-plus.comwww.learningrussian.net/
[ Specified attachment is not available ] http://speak-russian.cie.ru/time_new/eng/
http://russianforeveryone.com
http://www.trymango.com
http://www.russianlessons.net
http://listen2russian.com
www.masterrussian.com
http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/russian
http://learnrussian.elanguageschool.net
http://www.open-of-course.org
http://speakrussian.blogspot.com (Known as “A Spoonful of Russian” this popular series no longer provides updates, however the existing material is excellent.)
http://www.ielanguages.com/russian.html
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4296321/Foreign_Service_Institute_Russian_FAST_Course (Russian FAST is the Foreign Service Institute course)
http://www.bridgetorussian.com/
Online courses - paid subscription
http://listen2russian.com One of the best and highly recommended by the Mendeleyev Journal. Includes an online textbook, downloadable resources, and voice tools to listen and practice.
http://www.russianpod101.com/ This is a very complete yet simple course. The features are awesome and include a way to record and check your accent, grammar checker, pdf downloads of each lesson, and great sound resources. One of the best! Pricing is FREE for a short beginners course, then $8 monthly for the next level and the premium service is just $25 per month and there are discounts for the longer you study.
Mango Languages: http://mangolanguages.com/ Mango is a well respected online language-learning system that teaches actual conversation skills.
Michel Thomas Method Russian course--recommended by RUA members Stubben and Herrie. http://www.michelthomas.co.uk/
The Russian Accelerator program is just what the name implies--a fast way to learn. This amazingly simple but effective method usings a combination of "contextual learning" with flashcards, short videos and native speakers. http://www.russianaccelerator.com/
http://learn-russian.language101.com/ Recommended by RUA member Nicknick. Several lessons are free to allow you to try the course.
http://www.byki.com (From the Transparent Language family, an excellent resource. Free and paid instruction available)
http://www.livemocha.com/
CD's and associated resources:
Pimsleur (Google the Internet and select the best source for your needs.)
Rosetta Stone (Google the Internet and select the best source for your needs.)
Dictionaries (bound)
The Oxford Russian Dictionary: Russian-English English-Russian, by Della Thompson .Ediitor (Excellent, up-to-date Russian-English, English-Russian dictionary containing over 45,000 words and phrases.)
Dictionaries (online)
The Russian Dictionary Tree is produced by the Slavic Languages Dept at Cornell University. http://russian.dmll.cornell.edu/rdt/
http://www.learnrussianfree.com/vocabulary/word Great suggestion from RUA member Lee from Houston.
Word of the Day
Transparent Languages: http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/russian.htm
Word of the Day with explantions on grammar from a very capable professor of Russian at Arizona State University: http://shininghappypeople.net/rwotd/blog4.php
http://www.funrussian.com
Flashcards
http://ichi2.net/anki/
Keyboards
www.imtranslator.com (Includes online keyboard, a dictionary and allows you to hear words spoken.)
http://www.rusklaviatura.com/
Translators (online)
www.imtranslator.com (Includes online keyboard, a dictionary and allows you to hear words spoken.)
Google Translate: http://translate.google.com/#en|ru|
Voice Pronunciation online
http://www.oddcast.com/home/demos/tts/tts_example.php Paste words and listen to Russian speakers.
http://www.acapela-group.com/text-to-speech-interactive-demo.html Paste words and listen to Russian speakers.
Grammar resources:
- A Comprehensive Russian Grammar, by Terence Wade
(Comprehensive, in-depth guide to the grammar of written and spoken Russian. Includes numerous example sentences taken from comtemporary literature and media sources illustrating the grammatical points. This book is suitable for intermediate to advanced level students of Russian.)
- The Big Silver Book of Russian Verbs. Member Hrafn highly recommends this verb book with 555 fully conjugated verbs. This includes each verb in both imperfective/perfective aspect, all tenses, subjunctive form, participles, verbal adverbs, and imperatives. It also gives the cases the verb applies as well as several sample sentences. Additionally for the "top 100" verbs, there's a whole page for the verb just devoted to phrases using that verb in both Russian and English. The beginning of the book explains the common rules of grammar, and the back contains verb exercises + irregular verbs.
It was written by a former teacher of his - an American who got his PhD in Russian at Moscow Uni and married a Russian. Incredibly intelligent man, and the second edition of the book due in October 2011 on Amazon.
- 501 Russian Verbs: Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses Alphabetically Arranged, by Thomas R., Jr. Beyer
(Great little resource!)
- The Oxford Russian Grammar and Verbs, by Terence Wade
(Excellent, clear, concise guide to the grammar of written and spoken Russian. Covers all the essentials and also the exceptions. Includes numerous example sentences illustrating the grammatical points.)
- Schaums Russian Grammar, by James Levine (http://www.amazon.com/Schaums-Outline-Russian-Grammar-Second/dp/007161169X/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t)
- Russian grammar rules explained: http://www.gramota.ru/spravka/rules/?rub=zap
Conversational Practice
http://www.livemocha.com/
http://applause-voice.com/
Test and Quiz resources
www.practicerussian.com
http://www.learnrussianfree.com/vocabulary/word - Excellent quizzes and vocabulary building.
Additional resources include:
http://www.declan-software.com/russian/wordfiles_russian.htm
http://babel.uoregon.edu/russian
http://www.uni.edu/becker/Russian2.html#photos
http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/index.html
http://www.ilearnwords.com
http://www.russianclass.co.uk
http://tasteofrussian.com (Podcasts to listen to beginning lessons)
http://www.meighan.net/alexander/Chapter13.htm Learn Ladies names
http://learningrussian.wordpress.com
Watch-Listen-Read Russian Media
Russian Remote is an online movie, TV, radio site with many free titles. http://russianremote.com/
Movie for the Weekend on the Kyle Keaton website features a Russian language film but English subtitles allow you to follow along. Its a great way to immerse yourself for listening and comprehension practice. http://video.kylekeeton.com/category/movie-for-the-weekend
Suggested Lesson Plan for beginners:
1- Daily lessons from Beginning Russian (UCLA) for consistent step by step instruction, with correct pronunciation by native speakers.
2- Practice projects, 1 day per week or weekends: Use above resources such as http://www.russianlessons.net or http://spoonfedrussian.com for supplementary homework or projects. Use the “homework” to learn to master the alphabet, how to use numbers/counting, pronounce names/titles of relatives, how to tell time, and some other basics. This supplemental homework will take you further in your ability to put sentences and phrases together.
3- Weeks ONE and THREE: Watch YOUTUBE.com for RL101 and the other Russian lessons in both the RL 101 and the RL 102 series. //www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlJw08uMvE4 Complete all the lessons, both series.
4- Twice a week, read one chapter and make notes from "The Idiot's Guide to Learning Russian." Re-read the same chapter again later in the week.
Footnote: What is the meaning of the Red Star?
As in Soviet times, it denotes something special. From an RUA member doing exceptional Russian homework, resources added to our list by an RUA member, resources operated by RUA members, resources which have made it to the Mendeleyev Journal's "Red Star" list, or resources which participate with RUA's commercial member banner exchange program.
There is no monetary or any other consideration given or received for the Red Star designation.
RUA Resource List: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php/topic,4177.msg52213.html#msg52213 (Updated October 2012. Please report any broken or missing links to Moderator.)
Here is just one suggested additon to RUA's Internet Russian learning and it's FREE!
I enjoy Natalia's "Russian by the Spoonful" but this new program, produced by a Russian lady, is even better, more organized, has FREE printable pdf files with exercises, and I could go on and on and on about it's unique advantages.
Go to the home page: http://spoonfedrussian.com/
This is a true blog so to find the first lessons you'll need to scroll down the left side of the page and click on the May archive. Lesson 1 begins with alphabet and you can work your way up from there lesson by lesson. The mp3 links allow you to listen as you study or you can download to an ipod device and take the lessons with you.
The written lessons are done in professional form so that you can bind them in a 3 ring notebook lesson by lesson and build a text/workbook as you study. Very unique and well done!
Resources for Advanced Students:
RAILS Lessons http://www.languageinstitute.wisc.edu/rails/lessons.html
http://janeytop83.wordpress.com/
Grammar: http://www.russianpodcast.eu/
Catman:
Last night I tried this spoonfed Russian and really like it. I guess there is no super easy way to learn Russian but many hours of practice.
AvHdB:
Is there a way for a disgraphic/dyslexic to learn Russian?
I did learn Dutch by myself and can handle and have done up to 8 zeroes plus a number in Dutch.
But Russian . . . ? ? ?
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