• Traditional methods are fine for some things, but we all know that traditional language learning methods are NOT effective.
• Most importantly, you need physical practice, and this is especially necessary in order to develop good speaking skills.
• It's also important to start with something simple and progress from there.
• Everything you learn needs to be 'built upon', reinforced and strengthened by seeing it repeatedly in new material that introduces new words and concepts.
• You need to have full control of your learning speed and not waste time waiting impatiently or being pushed forward too quickly.

• First, don't start by learning the alphabet. I don't understand why so many programs start with learning the alphabet. Does learning the English alphabet help someone learn to say "What do you want to do?"? And does it help them understand a native speaker when they say "Waddya wanna do?"? And can you remember 33 new things in one go? I can't.
  
  
• Second, start simple, with words like 'кто' (who) and 'что' (what), not with long, difficult words like 'здравствуйте' (formal greeting; hello).
  Starting with simple words and expressions, helps beginners master the basics very quickly. This is also the best, fastest and easiest way to learn the Russian alphabet and learn to read Russian.
  
  
• And it's not about words and grammar rules. It's about expressing ideas. "Не надо." [No need.] (Don't. / Stop it/that. / That's enough. ; No need.) Many simple expressions can be used to express various ideas and 'feelings' that are easy to learn with good examples, and difficult to figure out on your own if not pointed out in your language program.
  
  
• And you have to learn to understand things the way they're normally spoken and learn to express yourself in the same way. This is more of a 'physical' process than a 'mental' process. Memorization is the wrong method for learning any language. You need physical practice to develop the 'physical ability' to hear and say things properly.

• For beginners, and to see how the material is carefully laid out in clear steps to maximize your learning, start with our learning guide.
  
  
• For those of you wanting an 'audio program' to use while doing other activites, our 30-30 series is particularly effective. Here's the first audio in the series.
  
  
  (To read along with the audio and try the 'active text' click here.)
  
  
• Learn to type in Russian : This may sound crazy and difficult at this level, but it really is the best time to begin, and it will really help you with your learning in general. We start by introducing just 10 letters and focus on basic words and expressions that you've already learned, such as что, кто и это. Give it a try!
  
  
• For an example of intermediate material that gives you practice giving the correct ending to words, try this:   Learn Russian - Intermediate
  
  
• And for advanced learners, test your listening (and speaking) skills with this Russian radio program, with 'active text':   Russian Radio - talk show

There are many good websites to help you learn Russian, but I've yet to find one that really provides everything I need/want to learn Russian. Hopefully our site does provide everything you need/want to help you learn Russian.

MasterRussian.com is a particularly good site with lots of information but it really doesn't provide a 'step-by-step' path for a learner to follow and progress from absolute beginner to advanced.

The forum at MasterRussian.com is quite good and you can get a lot of help there from native Russian speakers. Several of the groups on Facebook for learning Russian are also good, and the members there are also very, very helpful.

If you only want free material, your best option is to use the material that we have, Free Sample Material, and these two sites are much better than any others that I've seen: russianforfree.com and learnrussian.rt.com.

If you limit yourself to these and other resources however, you will struggle to understand everything. I really like the 100 lessons provided at rt.com but they need to have at least 10 'sub-lessons' for each of them. There's simply that much to learn and master. Being told once simply isn't enough. You need lots of practice to master each aspect.

Thus, we're still left with the problem of finding a real 'step-by-step' program for learning Russian. How about the various programs for learning Russian?

Again, I've yet to find a program for learning Russian that 'has it all'. Each program has its 'pluses and minuses', so using a variety of them does provide more of what you need, but that still leaves the student 'struggling for direction' and wondering what to learn next.

Our goal is to remove that burden from the learner. We aim to provide a full range of options and choices, but with a path that is very, very clear and easy to follow. As easy as clicking 'next', 'next', 'next', until you're finished and know Russian well.

I think many of the programs like "In-Flight Russian", "Learn Russian in Your Car", Berlitz "Earworms" and others are really quite poor. I used the "Living Language" series for a while, and it was helpful but had many faults. For example, it gave a list of "100 most commonly used words" and gave 3 sample sentences for each. Nice idea, but the vocabulary used in the examples totalled more than 1000 words! The examples must also be limited to only those 100 words.

Here's the first in our "10 Words a Day" series, where the sample sentences only include the words already introduced.   10wpd - Day 1

Other well known programs like Pimsleur Russian and Michel Thomas are useful and have several good features, but again they are far from a complete program in learning Russian.

So where does that leave you, the student? Well, it left me with nothing. Actually, I first started learning Russian at the Russian Cultural Center in Jakarta. The teacher was a very nice Russian man and the course was very cheap, but they spent the first 2 weeks just on the alphabet! Luckily I started the course 2 weeks late. I immediately realized, however, that the same principles that were working so well in our program for learning Indonesian would work well for learning Russian.

That led me on a search to find such a program, but of course, I never found it. And I've yet to find anything that really comes close.

So....

In all honesty, this is it. And our goal is to continue making our program better and better. We don't spend any time or money on marketing our product and trying to sell it. We simply focus on making it easier for you and everyone else to learn Russian.

How are we doing? Well, we'll let you be the judge of that, but all our current (and past) members are very happy. One of the key factors which makes our method particularly effective, is the fact that new material is repeatedly introduced through each 'series'. It's almost like having multiple learning packages.

If you're taken to a new location, say to a friend's home in Russia, you won't likely remember how to get there again on your own after just one time. If, however, you go there many times, and more importantly, from many different directions, then everything will become familiar and you can easily find your way, on your own, in all conditions. Such is the way also with learning a new language.

If you'd like to try our program to help you learn Russian, it's very simple. For just $10 per month, you get access to everything you need to learn Russian. We've yet to have a member join and not be satisfied, but if, for whatever reason, you need to cancel your membership, it's a very simple process through PayPal.

That's an excellent question! And Yulia often used to ask me, "Why are you doing all this? It's too much work. There's already a complete system that all Russians use in school and have used for hundreds of years." My reply was that the existing methods for learning/teaching Russian grammar simply don't make sense to me. And if the same system has been used for a hundred years, then there's bound to be a better way, and I'm determined to find it.

Here's a sample table to help you learn about Russian cases. It's an Excel file that I converted to a webpage, so it has a handy 'tab' format. Check it out!!

Can anyone explain why you would want to learn a new language with ONLY audio files if you're not blind? It's like tieing a blindfold on while learning to ski. I simply don't get it.

To help those of you using Pimsleur to learn Russian I asked a friend to type out the text. We may also now provide it with the 'active text' if there's a demand.

Of course, we don't think it's the best method to learn Russian and prefer to continue developing our own material and encourage you to consider joing as a member.

There are a LOT of great Russian cartoons available on the internet, and they have a refreshing style that is different from what we're used to in the West.

They're all too difficult for beginners, but they're still fun to watch.

With the text, it's a great way to improve your listening abilities and speaking abilities by speaking aloud along with the cartoon.

		Here's a great little cartoon based on a poem from the famous Russian poet and writer, Mayakovsky. Enjoy!! What's Good and What's Bad.
		The Russian version of Winnie the Pooh is absolutely brilliant! In this one, Pooh and Piglet (Пятачок) try getting honey from a bee hive, high up in a tree. Винни-Пух

Join us! We'd love to help you learn Russian!

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If you have any questions, please send us an email.
We'd love to have you join us on our 'expressway' for learning Russian!

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