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Online Basic Russian Learning Course

Beginner Russian from zero — the Cyrillic alphabet in a week, the pronunciation rules that make you sound right, the three cases you actually need, and the language for travel, shopping, and emergencies.

English, teaching Russian 6 weeks · self-paced Certificate of completion

What you will learn

  • Read and write the full Cyrillic alphabet
  • Apply the two pronunciation rules that matter — unstressed vowel reduction and final consonant hardening
  • Use noun gender and the three cases a beginner needs
  • Conjugate verbs in the present and the past
  • Greet people, introduce yourself, and use ты and вы appropriately
  • Count, tell the time, shop, and handle a restaurant
  • Ask directions, use the metro, and deal with an emergency

About this course

Cyrillic in a week, and a first conversation in six.

Russian looks harder than it is at the start and is harder than it looks later on. The alphabet — the thing that scares people off — takes about a week, and roughly a third of the letters are already familiar. Spelling is close to phonetic. The verb system is small, and the past tense is easier than the present.

The real work is the case system: Russian nouns change their endings according to their job in the sentence, and there are six cases. This course does not pretend otherwise. It teaches the alphabet properly, the two pronunciation rules that make you sound Russian rather than foreign, and the three cases a beginner genuinely needs — leaving the other three as a clearly signposted next step rather than burying you in tables.

What makes this course different

It fixes the false friends first. В, Н, Р, С, У, and Х look Latin and sound completely different, and they are where every beginner’s reading breaks down.

It teaches vowel reduction, not just letters. Москва is mask-VA, not mos-kva. Learners who pronounce every о fully are identifiable in one word, and almost no beginner course says this clearly.

It is honest about pace. Russian is slower going than Spanish or French, and the course says which parts to postpone rather than teaching six cases badly.

How it is organised

Six modules: getting started, the alphabet, first grammar, first conversations, everyday Russian, and the past tense with reading practice. Four review quizzes, and two free preview lessons.

Course curriculum

Getting started2 lessons
The alphabet4 lessons
  • Letters 1 — the familiar and the false friends 30 min
  • Letters 2 — the new shapes 35 min
  • Pronunciation rules — stress and vowel reduction 30 min
  • Alphabet quiz 6 min
First grammar3 lessons
  • Gender, nouns, and the case system 35 min
  • Verbs and the present tense 35 min
  • Grammar quiz 6 min
First conversations4 lessons
  • Greetings and courtesy 30 min
  • Introducing yourself 30 min
  • Politeness, requests, and useful expressions 30 min
  • Conversation quiz 6 min
Everyday Russian4 lessons
  • Numbers, money, and time 30 min
  • Family, food, and shopping 30 min
  • Travel, directions, and emergencies 30 min
  • Everyday Russian quiz 6 min
Past tense and practice2 lessons
  • The past tense 35 min
  • Reading practice and next steps 30 min

Requirements

  • No prior Russian at all — the course starts from the first letter
  • About 30 minutes per lesson
  • Pen and paper for alphabet practice
  • A phone to record yourself speaking