How I Would Learn Russian (If I Could Start Over)

I've been learning Russian for almost a decade and it hasn't been the most perfect process. So today, we are discussing how I would learn Russian, if I could start from scratch knowing what I know now!

Want to connect with me?
Snapchat: ayans99

My Russian channel:

Resources mentioned in this video:

Music:
Lakeyinspired - Better Days
Kevin MacLeod - Monkeys Spinning Monkeys

[pedropontes]

1. Learn the alphabet
2. Learn basic words and phrases
3. Learn the gender
4. Start learning the conjugations (Only 3 tenses)
5. Learn the case system
6. Learn vocabulary in context
7. Resources: Master Russian, Free Russian Course RT.
8. Throw yourself into the culture
9. Practice conversation

[viktortsealov]

I am a native Russian speaker and must assure you and everybody watching that your Russian, at least in this video, is perfect and astonishing so your advice is worth a lot.

[avenov]

I'm a native russian speaker but I was watching this video as if I was gonna learn it from zero w

[LinguaSerbia]

My advice related to cases: just don't learn it as a table. Learn it from the context, from actually seeing it used in sentences. Learning cases from a table killed my joy in learning any language ever. It felt much harder than any physical work.

[viewer]

My humble advice:
1) Start with fundamental grammar (genders, conjugations, cases) but don’t try to nail everything down.
2) Develop your vocabulary. It will help your understanding a great deal. You will be able to connect the dots to get an idea of what is being spoken, even if you don’t wholly understand it.
3) Listen a lot, preferably podcasts that are coming with transcript. This will improve not only your listening but vocabulary also.
4) You need to speak as much as you can but if you have nobody, talk to yourself. Explain your daily routine to yourself in Russian. Pretend you’re in a restaurant and you’re ordering a meal, etc.
5) If you don’t know where to start, buy a course book. It will provide the basics in an organized way.
6) Don’t jump from one YT channel to another. There is no perfect resource but some are smarter than the others
7) It is one step at a time. You have to be very very patient. It is like watching grass grow (at least for me).

[susankeeton]

My favorite part of learning about the Russian culture is the Soviet movies. You can find them on YouTube with English subtitles.

[emberho]

Respect to this guy. I have found this channel by chance, and I love your approach.

[bazsamester]

Ive been studying Russian for 2 years now, and I MAXIMALLY agree with everything you said. I’m also surprised RT has a Russian cours, I really didn’t know that one.
Anyways, keep up the good work, you’ve gained a new subscriber❤

[Leonardo-jzjf]

Many Soviet films are free on YouTube, even movies based on classic Russian literature are on YouTube for free and with English subtitles. For example Dostoevsky’s crime and punishment and brothers karamazov I believe are there

[joelfisk]

I'm stuck in the vocabulary phase right now. I have a young baby and am struggling to find time. I absolutely adore the Russian language now though. The movies, television, and music are simply incredible. It's like I stuck my foot in water to test the temperature and the quality just devoured me. Всем удачи!

[ratrodrigs]

Been learning russian on duolingo for 2 years didnt make much progress, met a friend from russia on a video game called escape from tarkova and every now and then id have him speak russian and id only ask in english if i didnt understand something, learned more that way

[richardcgs]

[1] You forgot one very important aspect in learning vocabulary, including when conjugating verbs: don't ignore ударение - memorize over which vowel the accent falls and the associated pronunciation rules. For example, unaccented "o" is pronounced as "a." In some few instances, moreover, a word may be spelt the same but have the accent in an alternate place with semantic effect. So take мука: with accent over the, "a, " you have flour; over the "y, " you have torture. Another example: There is a big difference if you say я хочу писать depending on whether the accent is placed over "и" or over the "a" in писать. (The latter means "I want to write;" the former, something you only may want to say with your buddies after drinking a lot of beer and you need bladder relief.) With the accent placed incorrectly, you simply may not be understood engendering a look of confusion or you'll be understood as someone speaking Russian poorly. Consider, for example, how to pronounce correctly the very simple words бабушка (grandmother) and отец (father) using Google translate. Can you hear where the accent falls in each? [2] You exaggerate the general difficulty of determining the genders - masculine, feminine, neuter; only two specific issues of complexity come to mind: (1) words ending with мякий знак (soft sign) ь, which may be either masculine or feminine, and (2) the short array of words like мужчина (man), which, by appearances i.e., the typical feminine ending "a" manifests but, nonetheless, is grammatically masculinе so we get "неграмотный мужчина" and not "неграмотная мужчина." In general, masculine and feminine in French is a much bigger headache than determining m/f/n in Russian. [3] Of course, learning the Cyrillic alphabet is a must but do not exaggerate the difficulties of doing so. Compared to Georgian or Armenian orthography, for example, the Cyrillic alphabet is a cake walk with most sounds, except notably for ы, x and щ, easily replicable by native English speakers. I would, however, recommend the learner undertake learning cursive script right after learning print script; cursive has some tricky nuances and should ideally be mastered early on.

[guillaumeleblanc]

New subscriber here, that was great advice, learning how to read Russiam was a big step forward for me. I should have been doing this from the start.

[katgifi]

Starting russian today, July 27 Saturday, will be updating everytime I make progress

[tritaporika]

Im Latvian, and my native language is also Latvian (no sh1t, ik), but i fluently speak russian language without any accent since im 7, rn i speak Russian, Latvian, English and currently learning Polish as hobby and German in school. I think this video is pretty right about that you need to start with alphabet etc, but in my opinion its better to start to watch videos in that language to understand how it sounds, then learn basic sentences, and only then start learning about text, writing, etc. Usually people learn language to talk in it, not for texting and then i would recommend to learn sentences (or try to make some) what you would use very often and then actually use them. Even if you learn 10 words from book in single day, you will still forget them if you dont use them daily, cuz ''why you need to remember if you arent using that information?'', you got the point ;)

[dannajeon]

I'm SO LUCKY to find this because I was thinking about studying Russian and you just popped up recently with this video. Thank you, I'll take all your recommendations.

[shayan]

I’m Iranian And I learned English with watching movies only… you kinda cheered me up…and I wanted to say thank you for being generous with sharing your experience 🙏

[S.Korolev]

That was a really good video, man. I mean it. High quality, no beating in the bush, great attitude. Love it!
❤❤❤

Case system is really like a difficulty multiplier, only exponential. I, as a native, don't have any idea where one can start learning it and have clear indicators of progress. It has some structure, but it is so chaotic in real life.

[KatelynMyszkowski-uodl]

The alphabet was the easiest part for me. I'm currently learning it in braille as well as print and let me tell y'all, the print version is much easier. Anyway, the genders were also pretty simple, and I love how predictable the endings are. The verb endings are also predictable for the most part, I'd say about 95 percent of verbs have the same ending rules. I have been learning Russian as a legally blind person and I'm only now starting to learn the cases. Out of the 6 cases, I would split them into 3 sections, easy, medium, and challenging.

[matildawolfram]

That's a good video! Many thanks to the author of the channel for the recommendations! The problem with many people is that they want to take a "magic pill" or get "secret knowledge" and immediately have skills and abilities. However, the truth of life is that knowledge, skills, and abilities do not come by themselves. You can't learn a foreign language without doing anything, without wasting your time and effort, just like you can't learn to ride a bike lying on a comfy couch, listening to lectures and watching videos about "modern methods of learning" on a bike. To really learn something, you have to really practice every day. You're going to fall down while you're learning, and you're going to get bumps - that's normal! The ups and downs of learning are an integral part of our lives. Motivation from success and depression from failure will always be your study companions. However, every student has problems in his or her studies that he or she lacks the knowledge to solve. It can be: poor memorization of words; no progress in language learning; the student can speak, but does not understand speech by ear; misunderstanding of grammar; incorrect pronunciation, etc. Agree that a problem you don't know how to solve is very demotivating. In order to find the answer to our question we have to spend a lot of time to read videos, articles and books by polyglots. In today's world, we have to solve problems as quickly as possible. I don't have time to study and analyze a huge amount of information. My goal is to master the basic knowledge of a foreign language as quickly as possible and already start earning money effectively in the international arena. I settled on the practical guide by Yuriy Ivantsiv " Polyglot Notes: practical tips for learning foreign language". This book is always in my bag. If I have a problem while learning a language, I quickly find the answer in this book. There are many different techniques and tips for learning a foreign language in Polyglot Notes. I have made my own individual schedule and plan for language learning. Now I know what I am going to study, how I am going to study, when I am going to study and what results I am going to achieve. No problem could stop me! With an effective language learning plan my professional skills are more and more in demand internationally every day. Friends, don't stop there! Everyone has talents that millions of people around the world need! Learn the language and make your ideas and dreams come true! Thanks to the author of the channel for the informative and useful video! Your videos motivate me.