How to Learn Russian Fast
Learn basic courtesy phrases., Note that Russian has consistent pronunciation., Use context to build vocabulary., Find words adopted from your language., Change the word order., Discover that there are few grammatical exceptions., Master basic verb...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Learn basic courtesy phrases.
Since you’ll probably be interacting with other Russian speakers, it is helpful to learn simple phrases.
Being able to introduce yourself and say please and thank you are important in any location.
In Russian, “Hello,” is “Zdrastvooyte” or Здравствуйте“Thank you” is “Spaseeba” or Спасибо “Goodbye” is “Da sveedaneeya” or До свидания! "My name is..." is "Meenya zavoot..." or Меня зовут... "Please" is "Požalujsta" or Пожалуйста "Where...?" is "Gde" or Где -
Step 2: Note that Russian has consistent pronunciation.
The 33 letters in the Russian alphabet are phonetic, which means they sound the way they look.
The pronunciation of these letters is the same no matter what words they are in.
This is different from English, which can have several sounds for one letter.Knowing that every letter you see has the same sound helps you speak new words quickly.
For example, in English, the letter “c” can sound like the letters “k” and “s” depending on what word it is.
In Russian, you always know how to pronounce a word because there is no question about how each letter might sound.
Keep in mind that the Russian alphabet is Cyrillic, which means its letters look very different from English.
You might want to study a chart of the Russian alphabet in order to start understanding the letters you see.
Focus on vowel sounds when learning pronunciation because these are the letters that lend meaning to most Russian words.
You want to stretch out the sound of each vowel, such as when you are calling to someone from the other room and you say "Mo-o-o-m!"
It is helpful to begin learning a language by building your vocabulary.
This way, you can quickly pick out words when you hear or read them.
An easy way to learn Russian vocabulary is to take the Russian word for something and insert it into a sentence every time you speak it.The Russian word for “rug” is “covyours.” Use “covyours” every time you would say “rug”: “Did you wipe your feet on the covyours?” or “Your covyours looks lovely in this room.” You might put up sticky notes on household items with the names in Russian.
Every time you pass that item, you will remember to call it by its Russian word.
Use this technique in every place you go regularly—in your car, your locker, your office, etc. , Like many languages, Russian borrows words from other languages.
When a language borrows a term, it is called a “cognate.” If you are an English speaker, you may be able to find words that you recognize.
For example, there is a section of Russian verbs that is borrowed from English, such as “parkovat” (to park) or “adoptirovat” (to adopt).
Parkovat looks like this: парковать Adoptirovat looks like this: адоптировать , Russian has some simple elements that, once you know about them, make it easier to learn.
For one thing, Russian frequently allows speakers to change the order of words in sentences without losing meaning.
Although the order of many phrases is usually generally accepted to be one way, a different order can still be correct.In Russian, the phrase "A cat caught a mouse" can be spoken in six different ways and still be correct.
The most common word order of a Russian sentence is subject-verb-object, although grammar rules allow this to be rearranged in nearly any order imaginable. , The great thing about Russian grammar is that there are few exceptions.
Once you learn a rule, you don’t have to worry about when it might change.
There are a lot of rules, but if you learn them one at a time, you will master them.For example, the last letter of a noun in Russian determines what the gender is.
The main exception for this rule occurs when a noun has a physical gender, like a human or animal.
The word “Папа” looks like it should be feminine.
But the word is “daddy,” so this noun is considered masculine. , In order to understand a language when it is written or spoken, you need to understand the verb forms.
Since the conjugation for different subjects (I, you, he, they, we, etc.) will sound and look different, you need to quickly identify them.
Knowing the ending of verbs for each type of subject will help you understand faster.
For example, in Russian, only one present tense conjugation is used in any present tense scenario in English.
In English, you could say I go, I do go, I am going, I have been going.
In Russian, there is only one conjugation for all of these.
However, don't get bogged down in grammar rules.
You will understand them naturally as you begin to speak Russian. -
Step 3: Use context to build vocabulary.
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Step 4: Find words adopted from your language.
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Step 5: Change the word order.
-
Step 6: Discover that there are few grammatical exceptions.
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Step 7: Master basic verb conjugation.
Detailed Guide
Since you’ll probably be interacting with other Russian speakers, it is helpful to learn simple phrases.
Being able to introduce yourself and say please and thank you are important in any location.
In Russian, “Hello,” is “Zdrastvooyte” or Здравствуйте“Thank you” is “Spaseeba” or Спасибо “Goodbye” is “Da sveedaneeya” or До свидания! "My name is..." is "Meenya zavoot..." or Меня зовут... "Please" is "Požalujsta" or Пожалуйста "Where...?" is "Gde" or Где
The 33 letters in the Russian alphabet are phonetic, which means they sound the way they look.
The pronunciation of these letters is the same no matter what words they are in.
This is different from English, which can have several sounds for one letter.Knowing that every letter you see has the same sound helps you speak new words quickly.
For example, in English, the letter “c” can sound like the letters “k” and “s” depending on what word it is.
In Russian, you always know how to pronounce a word because there is no question about how each letter might sound.
Keep in mind that the Russian alphabet is Cyrillic, which means its letters look very different from English.
You might want to study a chart of the Russian alphabet in order to start understanding the letters you see.
Focus on vowel sounds when learning pronunciation because these are the letters that lend meaning to most Russian words.
You want to stretch out the sound of each vowel, such as when you are calling to someone from the other room and you say "Mo-o-o-m!"
It is helpful to begin learning a language by building your vocabulary.
This way, you can quickly pick out words when you hear or read them.
An easy way to learn Russian vocabulary is to take the Russian word for something and insert it into a sentence every time you speak it.The Russian word for “rug” is “covyours.” Use “covyours” every time you would say “rug”: “Did you wipe your feet on the covyours?” or “Your covyours looks lovely in this room.” You might put up sticky notes on household items with the names in Russian.
Every time you pass that item, you will remember to call it by its Russian word.
Use this technique in every place you go regularly—in your car, your locker, your office, etc. , Like many languages, Russian borrows words from other languages.
When a language borrows a term, it is called a “cognate.” If you are an English speaker, you may be able to find words that you recognize.
For example, there is a section of Russian verbs that is borrowed from English, such as “parkovat” (to park) or “adoptirovat” (to adopt).
Parkovat looks like this: парковать Adoptirovat looks like this: адоптировать , Russian has some simple elements that, once you know about them, make it easier to learn.
For one thing, Russian frequently allows speakers to change the order of words in sentences without losing meaning.
Although the order of many phrases is usually generally accepted to be one way, a different order can still be correct.In Russian, the phrase "A cat caught a mouse" can be spoken in six different ways and still be correct.
The most common word order of a Russian sentence is subject-verb-object, although grammar rules allow this to be rearranged in nearly any order imaginable. , The great thing about Russian grammar is that there are few exceptions.
Once you learn a rule, you don’t have to worry about when it might change.
There are a lot of rules, but if you learn them one at a time, you will master them.For example, the last letter of a noun in Russian determines what the gender is.
The main exception for this rule occurs when a noun has a physical gender, like a human or animal.
The word “Папа” looks like it should be feminine.
But the word is “daddy,” so this noun is considered masculine. , In order to understand a language when it is written or spoken, you need to understand the verb forms.
Since the conjugation for different subjects (I, you, he, they, we, etc.) will sound and look different, you need to quickly identify them.
Knowing the ending of verbs for each type of subject will help you understand faster.
For example, in Russian, only one present tense conjugation is used in any present tense scenario in English.
In English, you could say I go, I do go, I am going, I have been going.
In Russian, there is only one conjugation for all of these.
However, don't get bogged down in grammar rules.
You will understand them naturally as you begin to speak Russian.
About the Author
Alice Fox
Brings years of experience writing about hobbies and related subjects.
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