Russian for beginners

Russian language is the world's fifth most popular language, in terms of numbers of speakers. It is the mother-tongue of more than 150 million people and another 60 million speak Russian language as their second language.

In spite of the wide geographical area where Russian language is spoken, you will be amused by that fact that there is only very little variation in terms of dialects. In terms of the language itself and the pronunciation the way it’s spoken in Moscow is considered to be an etalon for Russian language.

Though Russian and English are only distantly related, you will still find similarities between words: 'sister' is cecтра (sestra), 'dolphin' is дельфин (delphin), 'tour' is тур (tour), 'toilet' is туалет (tualet), and 'hotel' is отель (otel). Less basic words will often create less difficulty, with their forms in English and Russian being very similar: 'Africa' is Aфрика (Africa), 'exam ' is экзамен (ekzamen), 'hooligan' is хулиган (hooligan), 'illusion' is иллюзия (illuziya), 'symphony' is симфония (simphoniya), and 'yoga' is йога (yoga). You will also find that if you have studied any other European languages, many more words will be familiar: 'tomato' is помидор (pomidor), 'ticket' is билет (bilet), 'lawyer' is адвокат (advokat), 'potato' is картофель (kartofel'), 'beach' is пляж (plyazh), 'hall' is зал (zal), 'bistro' is бистро (bistro). In addition, there are many specifically Russian words which you may recognise immediately, such as пельмени (pelmeni) 'pelmeni', рубль (ruble) 'rouble', водка (vodka) 'vodka'.

Learning to communicate in Russian language is quite challenging, but it is also a very rewarding and enriching experience. As not many English speakers can speak Russian language, the Russians you come across will be greatly impressed by your attempts to speak their language! And not only that but learning Russian is fun too! Russian courses at RusWords are tailored for you and are as varied and entertaining as possible, so you will certainly enjoy it.

Book your Russian lessons with us today!