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What Is The Best Way To Learn Russian?

10 tricks that help you to move on

Date : 09/01/2022

Author Information

Anastasia

Uploaded by : Anastasia
Uploaded on : 09/01/2022
Subject : Russian

If you are reading this article, it means that you are already motivated enough and are looking for new opportunities and ways to learn Russian. Maybe you already have a dictionary in which you write 10 new words every day, you have already written flashcards and downloaded films in Russian, but you do not feel any progress. Do not give up, you will succeed, you just need to try something new.


1. Use social media. If you are an active user of them (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), you will like the following life hack. Write posts in Russian, write about everything that interests you, about the new words that you have learned. Firstly, it will help you memorize words better in context, and secondly, you will be able to find Russian friends. Your social networks will be your friend, to whom you will tell stories every day. Some of my students are looking for Russian YouTube bloggers and write questions in Russian under their videos about what they are interested in. This experience also helps to learn more words and learn Russian not from textbooks, in real situations.


2. Write letters. Do not think that I am suggesting that you write real letters and send them to Russia, hoping that someone will answer. But in Russia there are many young people who were happy to communicate in English in chats (Telegram, WhatsApp). In Telegram, you can find channels for communication in different languages.


3. Talk to the mirror. This summer I met an American woman who learned Russian on her own, speaking only to herself, from scratch to a high level. The first time she met a person who spoke to her in Russian, only after 6 months of conversations with a mirror. She studied the rules, words, and then began to talk on various topics that were interesting to her, and looked at herself in the mirror. You might think that it is strange, but the result is very good. And if it worked with her, maybe it will work with you?


4. Read and read again. Again? You, of course, have heard this advice a hundred times. I`m sure the teachers said reading is your best friend in language learning. But what if there is no time to read books? What if you can`t look every third word in the dictionary? There is a solution! Nowadays there is a lot of adapted literature, these books are much shorter and easier to read than the originals. You probably dream of reading War and Peace in Russian. Start with an adapted version, which can be found on the shelf with books on Russian as a foreign language in bookstores or ordered online (liters.ru). But if it`s difficult, the internet will help you again. Find popular Russian-speaking bloggers on Instagram and read their little stories about travel, cars, food, and more.


5. Listen to yourself. Have you read a story, post or something else, learned new words, but how to use them now? How to check if you have memorized all words and constructions correctly? My recommendation is to record your stories on a dictaphone, then listen to them and correct your texts. This is important when you are learning to tell stories, which in my opinion is the hardest part of learning a language. When you listen to your story on the recorder, you understand how to speak slowly, and it will help you learn to speak faster.


6. Write more. I have been teaching Russian to foreigners for over five years and have seen many successful cases of language learning. The secret to many students is that they wrote a lot. There are different strategies that are often used. The first way is to learn words in context, write them out in a notebook and rewrite them 5-10 times. The second way is to write sentences or stories with new words. Sometimes these sentences can be completely fantasy, they can be funny, but it will help you remember the words in context.


7. Watch and repeat. It never helps me to write words on cards and then repeat them, I am very lazy, but there are many people who do this and easily memorize words and expressions. I found another way for myself, which I recommend to my students. For example, on the refrigerator I always have a list of verbs with pictures that show what it means to cook, cut, stir, and so on. Every time I cook, I repeat these steps and say that i do in english. You can also do this, but in Russian. A list in the kitchen, a list in the room with words for cleaning, a list with words for the schedule of the day (get up, go to bed, wash) in the bathroom. If you find it difficult to find such lists in Russian, you can always find them in English and just write Russian names over the pictures.


8. Study in Russian. Russian Russian is an ideal option, of course, if you come to study in Russia and study not only the Russian language here, but also other subjects in Russian. But if you can`t, then the Internet will help you with this. Now there are a lot of resources where you can find courses in history, culture, mathematics, biology for free. If you are interested in dietetics, then you will be interested to learn more about this topic. You can listen to videos and do tasks not in your native language, but in Russian. It will be harder, but you will definitely remember a lot of words in context, because interest is the biggest motivation.


9. Listen to podcasts. If you don`t listen to podcasts in Russian yet, then you need to start. Even if you don`t understand everything at first, it`s okay. You can listen and then read the podcast scri pt. You can listen to the same episode several times. When you go to the store, work out at the gym, drive to work in the car, cook dinner - you can listen to it anytime and anywhere. There are podcasts for beginners, for example, a series of podcasts Rocket for students from A1 level.


10. Enjoy your TV show. There are people who learn the language from TV shows. They watch all TV shows in Russian and write out useful words. It is great if there is a desire and interest. But if you turn on "Game of Thrones" and do not understand anything, then you do not need to force yourself. You can start with TV shows that show real life situations and problems in the family or at work. There they repeat the problem many times in the program, and all the guests discuss it. In addition, it is a great resource for hearing real intonation and seeing the facial expressions and gestures of people in different situations. Many of my students watch the detective series "The Trail", the TV shows "Let Them Talk" and "Four Weddings." You won`t be able to learn the academic language there, but you will definitely improve your spoken Russian.

This resource was uploaded by: Anastasia