The Best Apps and Websites to Learn Russian

Having studied Russian for several years now, I know first hand how difficult it can be to find resources that are as equally stimulating and concise as the Liden and Denz textbooks and teachers. However, there are a few incredibly useful apps and websites that I have stumbled across which I hope you readers will find as useful as I have. 

RussianLessons.Net

This fantastic website was a lifesaver in my first and second year at university. This website has pages divided by cases and other grammatical topics. They also have easy to read grammar tables. I find these very helpful as it is much easier to understand the complex grammar when you can visualise it. For interactive learners, the site also has online quizzes to see how well you have understood the explanations. I personally like printing out some of the pages and sticking them on my wall so I am constantly refreshing my grammar. 

Quizlet

I cannot stress enough how useful this website is. Quizlet is an online flashcard website which in recent years has developed into a more engaging game format. You can search other sets users have made and use them or you can make your own, meaning it can be completely personalised. For a relatively inexpensive amount, you can access Quizlet plus which means you can study online or offline, and access exclusive learning formats. There is also a ‘test’ feature, which admittedly can be a humbling experience! I find this to help my spelling more than anything, and to help solidify vocabulary into my long-term memory. 

Wlingua

Wlingua is an app which is free to download but a premium subscription can be bought for more dedicated learners. The app has topics for every grammatical aspect you can imagine and the sets can be downloaded to study offline. The main concept of the app is constant grammar tests and is great for ‘on the go’ learning. I have also learnt lots of new vocabulary from this app which I have then uploaded to Quizlet. 

Cooljugator 

When in my Russian classes, I frequently have this site open to help me with the cases and conjugations. You simply type in a verb and it will give you it’s imperfective or perfective counterpart, how it looks in different tenses and examples of it in sentences. You can also search up nouns and discover how they change in different cases and synonyms for them also. 

YouTube

Perhaps the most obvious resource, YouTube offers a fantastic variety of free Russian resources. No matter what you are struggling with, a few taps on your keyboard and you can find a detailed explanation of some of the trickiest parts of Russian. My favourite channel is Russian With Max. Max has many videos explaining grammar but also offers listening practice reminiscent of podcasts. He also caters them to different levels so you don’t have to be intimidated if you aren’t advanced, but also you can challenge yourself at the same time. I recommend you to play these when on your daily commute or doing something mundane such as cleaning to fully immerse yourself in the language. 

Duolingo

This is perhaps the most famous app when it comes to language learning, but I believe that is for a very good reason. This interactive app disguises the challenging concepts of language learning into fun game suitable for all levels. I also particularly like how you can learn entire phrases rather than singular words. After all, when wouldn’t you need to know “лошадь пьёт воду”!?. Although I don’t rely on this app too heavily, I find it very useful for my listening skills but also just using it for ten minutes a day to keep my Russian skills fresh, especially when I am not at University practicing Russian everyday. The podcasts can be beneficial too immerse yourself in Russian and to keep your listening skills sharp. 

This blog was brought to you by Emily Gray, currently studying Russian at Liden and Denz in Riga

These images were taken from Pexels