Introduction

Russian is one of the most widely spoken native languages in Europe. It belongs to the Slavic group of the Indo-European language family. The total number of Russian language speakers around the world is estimated to be from 255 to 285 million.

Russian is one of the five official languages of the United Nations, and ranks as the major world language along with Chinese, English, Spanish and Hindi. It is the native language of 142 million citizens of the Russian Federation, the world’s largest country.

As the language is widely spoken and ranked in the major languages of the United Nations there are many benefits from being able to communicate with all kinds of people in all types of situations in Russian-speaking countries and beyond.

Now if you want to learn Russian quickly? So in this blog we will look at some of the basic tips to learn Russian quickly.

1. Memorize The Cyrillic Alphabet

If you want to learn Russian, you’ll need to learn the Cyrillic alphabet — there’s simply no way around it. But don’t worry! It may look scary, but it’s not as foreign as it looks. The Cyrillic script actually shares the same ancestor with our familiar Latin alphabet: the Greek alphabet. You’ll probably notice that many letters look the same or similar, so the only hurdle will be readjusting how your brain associates shapes with certain sounds.

Plus, the Cyrillic alphabet is only 33 letters long (meaning it’s only seven longer than the alphabet you already know)! If you want a handy guide to learning the whole thing in a weekend, we’ve created a plan to commit it to memory in only two days. You can even speed up your learning time by using sticky notes!

2. Perfect (Or At Least Practice) The Passionate R

What would the Russian language be without its rolled or trilled R? For us English speakers, however, this R can be challenging as it simply doesn’t exist in English. But the Russian R doesn’t hide from anyone  you have to really get into it. The more passionate the better!

To make this sound, place the tip of your tongue against your upper front teeth. Now let out a breath of air, which should make your tongue vibrate in this position. A rolled Russian R is made up of around two to four tongue movements in this position, meaning that the tip of your tongue should quickly tap against this ridge two to four times. I personally find it easiest to roll an R when it comes after P, that is, a Cyrillic П. Practice with words вопрос (question) and проблема (problem) and don’t be shy about it! If you exhale weakly, your tongue won’t get the momentum it needs for the vibration.

3.Read everyday

While classical Russian literature is what attracts many learners to this beautiful language, Russia has many great contemporary writers, too, so if the classics isn’t your thing, you will still find a lot of fantastic reading material.

Reading is an excellent way to expand your Russian vocabulary, learn both the correct grammar and the modern speech patterns, and become fluent in understanding the Cyrillic alphabet.

Russian is the second most-used language online in the world, which means that apart from books, there are many other ways to read in Russian, including news outlets, online forums, and the plethora of fascinating websites on all sorts of topics, all in Russian!

4.Compare Russian and English

Learn words that sound similar in English and Russian and mean the same thing, e.g.

шоколад (shakaLAT) – chocolate;

футбол (futBOL) – football / soccer;

компьютер (camPUterr) – computer;

имидж (EEmidge) – image / brand;

вино (veeNOH) – wine;

чизбургер (cheezBURger) – cheeseburger;

хот-дог (hotDOG) – hot-dog;

баскетбол(basketBOL) – basketball;

веб-сайт (webSAIT) – website;

босс (BOSS) – boss; and

гендер (GHENder) – gender.

Words borrowed from the English are growing in popularity in Russian both because of their meaning (where it easier to borrow an English word than to use an archaic Russian one or to create a new Russian equivalent), and because some Russians find them more modern and prestigious. Whatever the reasons, this makes learning Russian much easier thanks to a large readily available vocabulary of English words that you simply need to pronounce with a Russian accent.

5.Immerse Yourself in Russian Culture

Immersing yourself in the language and the Russian culture is the easiest way to learn Russian and can be done from anywhere in the world, thanks to the Internet. Watch as many Russian movies, cartoons, and TV shows as possible, listen to the huge variety of Russian music, and make friends with Russians.

Some cities have specific groups for Russian learners but if you find it difficult to meet Russians where you live, then do it online and use a video chat service such as Skype to communicate. Russians are open and friendly and love to see foreigners make an effort to learn the language.