Russian is the most widespread of the Slavic languages ​​and the 6th total number carriers. Therefore, many people strive to learn Russian for work and career prospects, some people need it for education, while others want to get to know Russian culture better.

In this article we will give you 10 practical advice, which will help in learning Russian and make this process interesting and exciting.

1 - Start with the simplest

The first step to learning Russian is to master its alphabet. The Cyrillic alphabet, unlike the Latin alphabet, is based on the Greek alphabet. Because of this, many letters, although similar, mean different sounds, and some are completely unique. So, for example, the Russian letter “P” is similar to the English “R”, and the Russian “N” is nothing more than the English “N”. If you spend enough time on the alphabet and basic phonetics from the very beginning, further learning of many aspects of the language will become easier and will progress much faster.

Children's fairy tales are well suited for teaching reading; a list of them can be found on Wikipedia. They are written in simple and correct language and easy to understand. This kind of reading will help you get a feel for the basics of the language and learn how to construct sentences beautifully and correctly. More complex things are best left for later.

2 – Repetition is the mother of learning

So says the old Russian proverb. Glue leaves with Russian names on pieces of furniture, appliances, dishes and everything that surrounds you in all the places where you spend a lot of time: at home, in the office, in the car. This will help you always keep new words before your eyes and, over time, remember them without resorting to boring memorization.

3 - Write everything down

You shouldn't always rely on your memory. Especially if you are in another country and everything that surrounds you is often new phenomena. Always keep a notebook handy, or mobile phone, in which you can quickly and conveniently take notes. At the end of each day, review your notes; there will certainly be something worth remembering.

4 - Always stay in touch

VKontakte is the Russian analogue of Facebook, which in many post-Soviet countries is much more popular than its older brother. Russian-speaking users are happy to make new acquaintances with foreigners, which can be very useful for language practice. Thanks to communication on social networks, you can quickly improve your knowledge spoken language, and learn someone else’s online culture. In addition, sometimes friends and acquaintances during such informal communication can explain some phenomena and concepts much better than teachers.

5 – Cinema and music

For many the most in an interesting way learning another language is watching movies and listening to music. In the case of the Russian language, it will be an excellent help official channel of the Mosfilm concern, where all the old Russian films are collected. The channel has a separate playlist with films with subtitles.

Far From Moscow is an excellent platform where you can find a lot of Russian music from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries. All genres and trends are represented here, and there is a lot of content that can be legally listened to and downloaded.

These resources will help not only improve your language skills themselves, but also find new topics for conversations with friends.

6 - Read in Russian

Reading develops language skills very quickly. Try to read as much Russian as possible, such as news sites and Russian-language blogs. This way you will improve your language skills and be able to delve more deeply into the Russian mentality, culture and everyday life. In the end, it’s just interesting to read how the same events are written about in different countries.

7 - Never refuse invitations

Russians sometimes seem not very friendly and cold, but this is only until you find yourself at their home. If you are invited to a party, or just for tea, then rest assured that you will be treated to the best food and the most unusual stories will be shared with you. Such lively and relaxed communication - great way improve your speaking skills, learn new things about the culture and make friends.

8 – Visit a Russian-speaking country

Complete immersion in the language environment is the most the right way start speaking Russian quickly. In the vastness former USSR The Russian language is very widespread, it is not necessary to go directly to Russia - you can find cities in other countries where Russian is one of the main languages ​​of communication. Such a place can even be found in the European Union. For example, the city of Daugavpils in Latvia: for 80% of its residents Russian is their native language, and 96% of residents speak Russian fluently. In Daugavpils, standard modern Russian without any accent is used as the main language for communication, which makes this city a very attractive place to study it.

If possible, it is better to live not in a hotel, but in a family where the main language of communication is Russian. Many language training programs provide this opportunity. This way you will never fall out of the language environment, and you will be forced to speak Russian, which will certainly bear fruit over time.

9 - Find someone to talk to

Finding an interlocutor for whom Russian is a native language is not so difficult. You can use social networks, but if you are in a Russian-speaking country, be sure to find someone to spend time with. This will not only help you make new friendships, but will also help you get involved in learning the language faster.

The main thing to remember is that if your goal is language, then you should not forget about the need to write down and remember everything new. Analyze your meetings every time, learn new words and expressions. Thus, with each subsequent “lesson” you will feel more confident, which means you will be ready for more difficult things.

10 - Find a new hobby

Do you like to cook? Ask your friends to teach you how to cook some traditional dishes. Are you into music? Learn several traditional songs and several popular modern Russian compositions. Dive deeper into Russian culture. This will make you an even more interesting conversationalist and allow you to better understand the Russian mentality. This way you can find faster mutual language with Russian-speaking people and you will be able to gain much more conversational experience.

Russian culture and the language, which is an integral part of it, are incredibly interesting and, therefore, attract many. We are confident that the tips we have given you will simplify the process of learning Russian. If you are interested in courses to learn this language, which provide a unique cultural experience and practice, be sure to check out the information on our website. Don't be afraid of difficulties and learn Russian!

Speech is part of a person’s image. According to statistics, speech accounts for 25% of the impression of a person. The interlocutor pays more attention to literacy and beauty of speech, diction and voice. Let's talk about how to learn to speak beautifully and competently in Russian and English.

Even if you only have to communicate with family members and neighbors, good speech will be useful in life. When communicating with you, people will listen to your opinion and consider you an excellent conversationalist.

A competent conversation will help in your career, increase the level of importance in the eyes of colleagues and ensure respect. Correct, beautiful and competent speech will be helpful for speaking at meetings, conferences and other events.

A person who holds a leadership position or is applying for one must have competent speech skills. The manager is the face of the company, and only with the help of competent speech can he conclude contracts, find partners and lead the team. Poor vocabulary causes a lot of trouble at the wrong time.

Step-by-step action plan

Let's consider a time-tested algorithm, using which you will quickly master the art of competent speech at home. Having reached certain heights, share your knowledge and experience with loved ones. Such skills will not hurt.

Video tips

Using this algorithm, learn to speak beautifully and competently in Russian or English at home. As a result, your interlocutors will consider you an educated and intelligent person. By speaking correctly and beautifully, you will achieve success in life.

Learning to speak Russian competently and correctly

Russian language is difficult. It is not surprising that it is not easy for even a native speaker to master the correct and beautiful speech. Fortunately, there are no unattainable goals, it’s enough to set a goal.

Video instructions

If you don’t like studying on your own, sign up for collective public speaking courses. By studying in a group, you will quickly polish your speech, which will become a source of pride.

We speak English correctly

The English language pushes the boundaries of the picture of the world, however school methodology training does not give the desired result. It is intimidating with its level of complexity and does not provide the knowledge necessary for conversation with a foreigner.

Learning to speak English correctly is easier than learning to spell. The main thing is to remember the pronunciation of words and learn to form sentences.

Skills for learning English

First of all, I will highlight the main character traits that will be needed to successfully achieve the goal. Then we’ll look at effective techniques and ways to master English speech.

• Regularity . Only a serious approach will bring results. Study regularly to expand your vocabulary and combinations without forgetting the material you have learned.
• Honesty. Not every person boasts a penchant for independent learning. If you doubt that you will be able to organize training yourself, use the services of a tutor. With its help you will learn faster English speech at home.
• Perseverance . A character trait necessary to achieve a goal. Learning to speak English is not easy. You will have to learn the words, remember the translation, and use them correctly in sentences. What can we say about pronunciation? Audiobooks and the Internet will help with this.
• Motivation. Remember, even a person without positive characteristics can achieve success. Enough desire to eclipse negative qualities, since a thirsty person will easily overcome an obstacle for the sake of a goal. Even laziness won't hurt.
• Self-control . To make training effective, control yourself and objectively evaluate the results. Only you can determine when to repeat material and when to move on.

Where to start studying

In none of the above points did I ever mention the need to have certain talents in relation to this language. This proves that, if desired, everyone can master English speech.

Why do you need to speak correctly and competently?

If you learn to convey your thoughts competently, correctly and beautifully, you will always be heard, regardless of the volume of your voice. This truth was proven by the ancient Greek sophists, who were engaged in teaching.

You will need

• 1. a reference book on Russian grammar by any author (fortunately, they are now available in abundance);
• 2. Dictionary Russian language edited by Dahl or Ozhegov.

Instructions

The most difficult thing is to master Russian spelling. Open the appropriate section of the Russian grammar reference book. It is better to study spelling in the following order:

Noun (its change according to gender, number, case);

Adjective (its change by gender, number, case, interaction with a noun);

Verb (conjugation, mood, perfect and imperfect form, tenses, changes in gender, person, number);

Pronoun (its change according to gender, number, person);

Adverb, gerund, participle, conjunction, preposition, interjection.

Pay special attention to the declension of nouns and the change of verbs by tenses, types and moods. These are the basics of Russian grammar.

Learn punctuation. This is necessary for mastering writing. B are often used. They contain punctuation marks (commas, dashes, colons). Read in your grammar reference book what the differences are. The Russian language is also a treasure trove various kinds interjections and rhetorical questions, which, as a rule, end with characteristic punctuation marks (question mark, several question marks, exclamation point, combination exclamation point with interrogative).

The vowel sound "ё" is always stressed.

In all other cases, you need to check the placement of stress in an explanatory dictionary of the Russian language.

It is important to replenish vocabulary. Read more Russian classical literature. Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mikhail Sholokhov are especially good for this.

It is also necessary to communicate with native Russian speakers who are fluent.

Perhaps you never had an inclination for the Russian language, or you persistently skipped dictations at school. However, the ability to write correctly is necessary in many professions, and not everyone is qualified to be a secretary. If desired, deficiencies in education can be quickly made up for.

Instructions

Take school textbooks and manuals off the shelf. Of course, there are people with an innate ability who, without knowing a single rule, can write perfectly. However, most still have to learn in which cases adjectives have one and in which there are two “n”. If you really want to learn, then with intensive training you will be able to master the program in a couple of months. Write down the rules that you most often make mistakes in a notebook so that you always have them at hand.

Many foreigners would like to speak Russian, do business in this country, and read Russian classics in the author’s language. But most do not know how to learn Russian. We will help such people.

Where to start learning Russian

There are many ways to learn a language. You can study with a tutor, you can sign up for language courses. Some prefer distance learning of Russian on the Internet or via Skype, while others go to Russia and master the language on the spot, communicating with native Russian speakers. It is worth noting that Russian is one of the most complex languages in the world. It is so diverse, emotional, sincere, colorful and completely incomprehensible to a person who is not used to it.

So, in order to find out how to learn Russian, you need to go to the library or go to book Shop. There you need to purchase a reference book on Russian grammar and an explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Dahl or Ozhegov. And then in order.

How to learn to write in Russian

1. Spelling is considered the most difficult thing in the Russian language. It’s worth starting with studying it. This information can be found in the grammar reference book.
2. How to learn to write in Russian? The next point in mastering the Russian language is learning its punctuation. This is very important for mastering written speech. Sentences in Russian are often very complex, with different signs punctuation.
3. An important fact remains the replenishment of vocabulary. Read Russian literature, communicate with native Russian speakers.

How to learn to speak Russian

If you have already tried all the above methods and read Russian well, but conversational speech still doesn’t work, it’s better, of course, to move to Russia for permanent residence. However, not everyone has this opportunity, so we will try to find the answer to the question of how to learn to speak Russian right now.

1. Try to find a tutor whose native language is Russian.
2. Be active in class. Make a list of questions that interest you. Talk not only about the topic of the lesson, but try to joke in Russian. Read additional materials.
3. Decide which way is easier for you to master the material: learn short phrases by heart, memorize dialogues, read and retell texts, write out and memorize proverbs, expressions and aphorisms. This does not have to be one of the methods; you can choose several or all at once and alternate them as needed.
4. Concentrate your attention on what exactly you want to say, and not on how to do it correctly. Don't wait for someone to start a conversation, start it first.
5. You can take a blank sheet of paper and write on it what exactly is bothering you colloquial speech. Think and write down what topics cause difficulties, what you most often forget, and what question from your interlocutor you are most afraid of. These will be your initial tasks in learning spoken language. In this case, you shouldn’t cancel your textbooks, you’ll just have additional motivation.
6. Often, when learning the Russian language, problems arise with stress in words. There are no special rules here, but there are two axioms: there is only one stress in one word and the letter “е” is always under stress. In other cases, you only need to memorize words or clarify their pronunciation in a spelling dictionary.

Jonathan Olofsson started learning Russian thanks to a funny video on Youtube. Now a twenty-year-old young man lives in Yekaterinburg, speaks the language fluently and considers his completely independently acquired language knowledge as part of a future career: “I’m thinking about becoming a teacher or translator.”

This fall, Jonathan moved to Yekaterinburg in Russia to study Russian. He already spoke the language quite well, despite the fact that he studied it on his own - with the help of a friend he met on the Internet. Learn new language he decided back in the second grade of the gymnasium.

“I wanted to find a new hobby—something I could do for a while after school,” Jonathan says.

The Russian language has become such a hobby, and this is actually an accident. It all started not with a burning interest in Russian literature, but with Youtube.

“I watched a video where people were walking around the city and doing all sorts of stupid jokes in Russian. “It’s cool to know a language that others don’t know,” I thought. And I decided to learn some Russian phrases.”

“Most of those who learn Russian want to read War and Peace and Anna Karenina in the original language, but that’s not what I was thinking about. First of all, I wanted to learn to speak Russian.”

Jonathan had an interest in languages ​​before. At home in the village of Stora Blåsjön in northern Jämtland, where he grew up, he learned some Italian - his grandfather was from Italy.

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The New York Times 12/22/2016 At school, he chose additional English, since the teaching of other languages, in his opinion, was at too low a level. At the gymnasium that Jonathan attended in Stockholm, he decided to focus entirely on music.

“Maybe I would have started learning the language sooner or later even without YouTube, but he pushed me towards it. I actually had no idea it would go this far.”

On Youtube, Jonathan also found a Russian course for beginners, according to a certain system, divided into lessons that gave a basic idea of ​​the language. He also watched tapes of other people talking about how they learned the language on their own—with great success. Jonathan memorized the Cyrillic alphabet and bought a Russian dictionary.

“Many people think that the alphabet is difficult, but in fact it is the easiest. The most difficult thing, of course, is grammar. For example, there are six cases in the Russian language.”

As already mentioned, Jonathan first of all wanted to learn how to talk. And here, too, coincidences played a role. On the Omegle chat forum, where people chat with a randomly selected interlocutor who can be changed to another at any time, he decided to talk to people exclusively in Russian.

“This is not a serious service, some strange people always appear there, but I thought I could test there how well I know Russian. And then I came across this Russian guy, Dmitry, my age. I thought it was funny and he asked if I had Facebook. But it was difficult to communicate, since his English was not good, and my Russian was not good.”

They decided to arrange a language exchange between themselves, during which Jonathan taught Dmitry English and a little Swedish, and he himself received help with Russian. They quickly discovered that they had a lot to talk about.

“We talked about politics and culture, and he talked about the life of his relatives in Soviet times. We were interested in each other, and there was enough time to talk.”

This was the beginning of a friendship, and Jonathan came to visit Dmitry twice in Yekaterinburg for two weeks. The hours they spent talking on the Internet yielded results, and Jonathan could already communicate in Russian.

“However, I realized that it is one thing to talk to a friend, and quite another to talk to others. After all, he adapted to my level. When I met his grandmother, I didn’t understand anything.”

Jonathan bought Russian language textbooks. Returning home, he began to study grammar systematically for the first time, also on his own.

Svenska Dagbladet: Have you ever thought about taking a course?

Jonathan Olofsson: In fact, I went to some meeting at the Civil School (Medborgarskolan), but the courses cost money and nothing worked out. In addition, I was proud that I managed to learn the language on my own, and I wanted to continue in the same spirit.

According to Jonathan, the advantage of the courses is faster mastery of grammar.

“In general, learning a language on your own is much faster. I found a community in Stockholm with other people studying Russian, and I went there a couple of times, but it didn’t give me much.”

Multimedia

An American who sings Russian rock

Russian service of the Voice of America 04/22/2017 However, in the end, Jonathan realized that the courses, no matter what, would help him move to the next level and allow him to better understand grammar. He decided to move to Yekaterinburg to study Russian for foreigners at the university.

His girlfriend Emma went with him - she is also learning Russian. They chose Yekaterinburg not only because Dmitry lived there. Jonathan says that he wanted to visit a “real Russian city.”

“They say Moscow is not the real Russia.”

Jonathan describes Yekaterinburg as a nice and reasonably large and lively city. He quickly became acquainted with Dmitry’s friends and also found friends with similar interests who, like Jonathan and his girlfriend, are involved in Irish folk music.

— How did you evaluate your knowledge of Russian when you moved there?

“I thought I spoke well, but I spoke better than I understood.” Now I feel like I speak fluently and understand most of what is said. I'll be level C1 soon. Mentality also plays a huge role; to speak Russian, you need to understand it, this is a completely different way of expressing your thoughts. Spoken Russian is incredibly different from written Russian.

Now Jonathan also reads Russian classics in the original language. Over time, interest in grammar also grew. Most of Jonathan's classmates will begin studying at one of the Russian universities in the fall. He himself will soon go back to Sweden, but in the future he would be happy to continue his education in the field of the Russian language in one way or another.

“Given that I've come this far, I'm thinking about becoming a teacher or translator. I really want to find use for my Russian in my professional activities.”

Here's how Jonathan learned Russian on his own:

I immediately learned the Cyrillic alphabet.

I watched a Russian language course for beginners on Youtube. There is a lot on the Internet educational materials, with their help you can really go far.

Of course, I bought a Russian dictionary.

I rearranged the menu in my phone to Cyrillic, this good way get used to reading Russian and learn new words.

I met a Russian guy, Dmitry, in a chat. We quickly became friends and talked a lot.

I watched videos on Youtube in Russian, tried to find films about music or language.

I searched for texts on the Internet on topics that interested me.

I wrote down words all the time when I was reading or talking with a friend. I also wrote down entire phrases.

I read Russian newspapers.

I downloaded an application with which you can listen to foreign radio, and in the subway I had Russian in my headphones.

On a trip to Russia to visit Dmitry, I took the opportunity to buy good textbooks.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editorial board of InoSMI.

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