Russian is often presented as a particularly difficult language to learn. However, it’s not true! Despite its complicated inflections and infuriating word-stress patterns, it actually has quite a small vocabulary and a logical structure with fewer exceptions than many languages. It can seem hard because of the incredibly boring and technical presentation of Russian (with a strong emphasis on grammatical rules) found in Soviet-era textbooks. One of the difficulties is finding engaging materials and materials that explain the colloquial side of the language. Here are some resources that have helped me.
Beginner Resources
Cornell University Russian Studies Department has an excellent website. Here are short video clips taken from the classic Soviet comedy Ералаш complete with transcriptions and explanations:
Children’s films, books, poems and songs are natural resources for language learning and Russian has lots to draw from. Here are some classic children’s songs, along with the lyrics.
The Soviet Union had a rich tradition of children’s animations (мультики). Try watching some with English subtitles. Чебурашка – the cult story of how a small bear-like animal with a sentimental voice arrived in Russia from Peru and made his way in Soviet society, mostly thanks to his crocodile friend Гена. The songs and jokes are universally known. Ёжик в тумане (The hedgehog in the fog) – a beautiful artistic fairy-tale that won several prizes after its release in 1975. Трое из Простоквашино (The trio from Prostokvashino) – an animation based on the children’s book of the same name. A story about how a boy leaves home to live in the countryside with his friends – a cat and dog. As a mark of its popularity, Простоквашино brand dairy products can be found in Russian supermarkets. The book is also excellent reading for Russian learners. Пластилиновая ворона (The Plasticine crow) – an inventive animation based on Aesop’s fable of the crow and the fox with a cult musical accompaniment.
Intermediate Resources
Take a look at the Anki flashcards I made to help myself learn Russian. Repetition is certainly the mother of all learning, but it should be engaging!
The state-administered Тесты по-русскому языку как иностранному (ТРКИ) are useful goals for language learners. The test requirements and sample tests can be found here.
Here are some more test-preparation resources.
Listening to audiobooks is a great way to practise language, particularly if you read and listen at the same time. It has a few advantages: hearing words and sentences pronounced makes them more memorable, it’s easier to maintain attention and it trains you not to fixate on individual words. Short stories are good to start with. Here’s a reading of Chekhov’s Мальчики. And here’s the text.
Watching films is useful, but TV series are even better as they have simple plot lines and everyday vocabulary. I found that watching episodes in Russian with Russian subtitles was the best approach to begin with. I managed to download lots of episodes of Интерны with Russian subtitles from this website (http://dxp.ru/subtitles.php) although registration cost £10 or so and was a little complicated. Some dxp subtitled episodes can be found on other torrent sites.
Advanced Resources
Studying classic Russian literature is a good challenge for advanced students. A famous poem that is excellent to study is Медный всадник Пушкина. Here’s a wonderfully mannered rendition by a well-known Soviet actor.
Listening to audiobooks while reading the text is an approach I used a lot. Some of the novels I enjoyed were Золотой телёнок – Илья Ильф и Евгений Петров, Зеленый шатер – Улицкая Людмила and Пикник на обоочине – Аркадий и Борис Стругацкие.
I found Russian TV comedy particularly rewarding as a study tool – the episodes are usually short, the scenarios simple and there’s a double enjoyment in understanding jokes in a foreign language. The series that helped me most was Интерны, loosely based on the US series Scrubs. It’s been running for ages and has over 200 episodes (as of March 2015). Most episodes are available here.
In episode 67 an American exchange student appears (played by Odin Biron) which introduces a whole cultural perspective on Russian attitudes to America. There are lots of jokes relevant to a foreigner living in Russia! Also not to be missed is the argument about Russianness here.
Another series that provides some insight into Russian social attitudes as well as lots of farcical humour is Деффчонки. All the episodes are available here. Here’s my favourite episode; it contains a discussion of what makes a suitable husband.
I hope you find these suggestions useful. Please write your comments below!
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