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Russian, Learn It, Love It, Use It!!!

Updated on February 5, 2024
Russian Audio Course is a Great Supplement ot Online Learning or the Complete Russian Language Software Package
Russian Audio Course is a Great Supplement ot Online Learning or the Complete Russian Language Software Package | Source

The Russian Audio Course

If you want to get away from the classroom environment, or even have some method to reinforce your classroom learning, the next step would be to use a Russian Audio Course. The advantage of the audio course is that you can take with with you and/or transfer it to your iPOD or MP3 player, so you can listen while driving, shopping, jogging, at the gym, or wherever you might happen to be.

Downside:

The downside of the Russian Audio Course is that it is all audio and no visual content. What you miss out on by not having the video content is seeing the words spelled out, and perhaps, such as is in the case with Russian, the alphabet is different than the English alphabet. If you don't see it, you can still learn to see it, but you won't be learning how to read it.

Upside:

The upside of the Russian Audio Course is that it is an excellent supplement to the Online-Russian Course, or the Complete DVD Russian Course. In addition, it is a go-anywhere, use anytime package, and it is somewhat less expensive than the online or DVD packages. Of course, as the old addage goes, "You get what you pay for." In other words, you should expect to get less with the audio course, because you are not getting the full impact of learning Russian.

Make Learning Russian Fun

There are a plethora of methods to learn new languages, and some of them are good, some are not-so-good, and some are GREAT!!! In order to determine what method might work best for you, it might be wise to examine some of the methods and go into an explanation of how they work, so you can determine how they might fit into your particular learning style.

The First Step:

Take your very first step, and learn the Russian (Cryllic) alphabet. If you learn how each letter is pronounced, you will be able to sound out nearly any Russian word. Many of the letters are even the same as the English alphabet, but some letters LOOK like the English alphabet but are pronouned totally different. Let's take "B" for example. In English "B" is pronouned, like "buh," but in Russian "B" is prounced like our "V," or in most cases, "vuh." Of course they are both pronouned slightly differently when they come at the end of a word, but you get the general idea.

This is simplier with the Russian alphabet, because each letter ALWAYS sounds the same in every word, not like the English alphabet where "C" sometimes sounds like "K" and other times sounds like "S." By the way, "C" in the Russian alphabet ALWAYS sounds like "S" in the English alphabet.

The Second Step:

After you have mastered the sounds of the Cryllic alphabet, the next step is to start actually learing some Russian words. Now it's time to jump on which ever option you feel most comfortable starting out with, whether it be audio, online, or software. You can also find some good free resources on the Internet to help you along.

The Third Step:

Have fun, listen, learn, speak, read and comprehend.

Take the Quiz, Have Fun, Learn a Little

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Cryllic Alphabet:  If you learn how each letter in the Cryllic Alphabet sounds, you will be able to pronounce nearly any Russian word.
Cryllic Alphabet: If you learn how each letter in the Cryllic Alphabet sounds, you will be able to pronounce nearly any Russian word. | Source
Transparent Language Online Russian Course.  A great addition to any Russian audio course.
Transparent Language Online Russian Course. A great addition to any Russian audio course. | Source

Learning Russian in the Classroom

The first, and maybe most obvious choice, to learn Russian (or any other foreign language) would be to take a language course at a local college or community college. There is nothing wrong with that if you have the time and patience to learn in a structured enviornment where the pace might be too slow or too fast for you. Not only is the pace a downside, but college courses are very expnsive as a rule, not to mention the additional cost of textbooks and the need to get to and from classes. Also, the schedules of the courses might not be compatible with your work schedule. Then you need to set aside time to study and in order to keep up in a college class, the rule of thumb is 3 hours of study for every hour of classroom time. Usually a three-credit course is either going to meet for 1 hour on 3 times a week, or 3 hours once a week, but either way, you are going to have an average of 9 hours of study outside the classroom every week. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but maybe in your circumstances, it won't be the ideal thing.

The Online Russian Language Program

Logically, the next step after the audio Russian Language Program is the Online Russian Language Program. The big advantage with this over the classroom is you can study when you want and you can study at your own pace. Unlike the audio program, you now have visual helps to accelerate your learning curve. Most programs have pictures associated with the words, and they show you the words written out in the Russian (It's actually called Cryllic) alphabet. Not only do you see the word, see the letters, and see the image that goes along with them, you also hear the words, phrases, or sentences sounded out by a native Russian speaker. Even better, most programs come with an on board recording session, so you can records yourself saying what the native speaker said, and you can visually see how well your intonation matches. Most programs also have a Russian keyboard, so you can also practice typing the words, phrases, or sentences.

Transparent Language Online for Russian

Transparent Language Online will show you how the Russian word is spelled, how it is pronouned in transliterated form, the English meaning of the word, and you can also hear the word sounded out by a native Russian speaker.
Transparent Language Online will show you how the Russian word is spelled, how it is pronouned in transliterated form, the English meaning of the word, and you can also hear the word sounded out by a native Russian speaker. | Source
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Transparent Language Complete Russian Software Package.  A great supplement to the Russian Language Audio Course and the Russian Language Online Course.
Transparent Language Complete Russian Software Package.  A great supplement to the Russian Language Audio Course and the Russian Language Online Course.
Transparent Language Complete Russian Software Package. A great supplement to the Russian Language Audio Course and the Russian Language Online Course. | Source
When you visit Russia, you must visit a Russian Banya and would be a really good idea to be able to read and speak some Russian.
When you visit Russia, you must visit a Russian Banya and would be a really good idea to be able to read and speak some Russian. | Source

The Complete Russian Software Package

Last, but not least, is the Complete Russian Software Package. The biggest advantages of using the software package are:

  1. There are no fees to renew your subscriptions.
  2. You always have it to use whenever you want.
  3. You can still use it in places where you don't have Internet access.
  4. It's a great addition to use in conjunction with the online and audio courses.
  5. You can be studying in the airport while you are waiting to board your plane to go visit Russia!!!
  6. You can still be using it while you are in Russia (Don't forget your electrical travel adapter!!)

The downsides to the Russian Software Package are:

  1. It is slightly more expensive than the basic online subscription price.
  2. You can't use it while you are driving.

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Online Language Learning Course

Downsides of the Online Language Learning Course:

  1. Have to be in a place where there is Internet Access
  2. Can't use it while you are driving, at the gym, shopping, etc.
  3. More expensive than an audio course.
  4. Subscription must be renewed when it runs out.

Upsides of the Online Language Learning Course:

  1. Learn at your own pace.
  2. Can go back and review as often as you like.
  3. Less expensive upfront than the complete software package.
  4. Lots of visual stimuli and tests to access your knowledge.
  5. Can see the words written in Russian along with hearing in Russian.
  6. You can record your voice against a native Russian speaker to access your pronounciation and enounciation.

The Complete Software Language Learning Package

Downsides of the Complete Software Language Learning Package:

  1. Higher initial cost than audio or online language packages.
  2. Can't use it while driving, shopping, or at the gym, etc.

Upsides of the Complete Software Language Learning Package:

  1. Learn at your own pace.
  2. Don't need Internet access.
  3. Can go back and review as often as you like.
  4. Less expensive upfront than the complete software package.
  5. Lots of visual stimuli and tests to access your knowledge.
  6. Can see the words written in Russian along with hearing in Russian.
  7. You can record your voice against a native Russian speaker to access your pronounciation and enounciation.

Let's Summarize

Summary:

The ways to learn a new language are:

  1. Classroom
  2. Audio Course
  3. Online Course
  4. Complete Software Package
  5. Live in a Russian Speaking Country for Seven Years

Classroom Learning

The Downsides of Classroom learning are:

  1. Not paced based on individual needs.
  2. Has to fit in schedule.
  3. Homework demands.
  4. Expensive.

The Upside of Classroom learning is:

  1. You can bounce things off of your professor or classmates.

The Audio Course

The Downsides of an Audio Course are:

  1. No visual stimui.

The Upsides of an Audio Course are:

  1. You can transfer to MP3 or iPOD and learn on the go.
  2. You can use it in the gym, jogging, shopping, or wherever.
  3. You can play the CDs in the car while you are driving.

Watch Free Russian TV

Free Russian TV Online:

Want some practice listening to native Russian speakers on TV. Here's your chance to watch free Russian TV online. You can find lots of interesting Russian TV shows here, including even some Russian Soap Operas (If you're into that kind of thing!!). You can also watch Russian news here on Vesti TV. It's cool and it's free for the time being.

Want to keep up with what's going on in Russia, but do it in English, then visit RT TV, another free source for Internet TV.

Other Language Courses Available

You can get to any of these other language packages simply by going through the links to the Russian packages.

• Afrikaans • Flemish • Multi Language • Albanian • French • Norwegian • Altai • Georgian • Pashto • Arabic • German • Polish • Armenian • Greek • Portuguese • Azerbaijani • Haitian-Creole • Romanian • Bashkir • Hausa • Russian • Belorussian • Hawaiian • Scottish Gaelic • Bengali • Hebrew • Serbian • Bosnian • Hindi • Slovak • Brazilian Portuguese • Hungarian • Spanish • Bulgarian • Icelandic • Spanish (Castilian) • Buriat • Indonesian • Swahili • Chechen • Ingls • Swedish • Chinese • Irish • Tagalog • Chinese (Mandarin) • Italian • Tajiki • Croatian • Japanese • Thai • Czech • Kazakh • Turkish • Danish • Korean • Turkmen • Dari • Latin • Tuvan • Dutch • Latvian • Ukrainian • English • Lithuanian • Urdu • Esperanto • Luxembourgish • Uzbek • Estonian • Macedonian • Vietnamese • European Portuguese • Malay • Yiddish • Farsi • Mirandese • Zulu • Finnish • Mongolian

Really Serious About Learning Russian?

If You Are Really Serious About Learning Russian:

Undoubtedly, the absolute best way to learn Russian is to live in a Russian speaking country for an extended period of time. I have been told that to learn to speak a language fluently, in lieu of trainding in the classroom, audio courses, online courses, or software, it would be necessary to live in a country for seven years.

This perhaps is beyond the finanical means of many people, but let it be known that living in Russia on an average American retirment income can be less expensive than living in America (as long as you aren't living in a big city like Moscow or St. Petersburg). In the city where my wife is from the average monthly income is about $240.00 US, so we can live very well there on my retirement income since she already owns an apartment there. Just a thought, if you really want to learn to speak Russian like a Russian!!!!

Tips for Those Researching Russian Geneaology

Researching Russian Geneaology?:

Did you know that Russian naming conventions follow certain rules that might make your Russian geneaology research a little bit easier? Tradionally, ALL children are given their father's first name as their middle name? For example, my wife's name is Valentina Semenovna Maykova. Her father's first name was Semenov. My wife's son's name is Alexandr Leonidovich Maykov, because his father's name was first name was Leonid. Her daughter's middle name is Leonidovna following the same naming conventions.

Many Euoropean countries follow similar naming conventions of always using part of parents' names for children's middle names. However, it isn't quite as cut-and-dried as the Russian conventions.


This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.

© 2013 John Fisher

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