Please help me re-learn Russian!

September 6, 2007 10:14 AM

I need to review Russian badly (up to the speaking/writing/listening level of a minor in Russian). I have a semester (two is doable but pushing it) to devote to this. I need some kind of structured process to go about this--while I have textbooks and some materials from years ago it's not enough. Does anyone have any suggestions for other good tutorials? Syllabi? Quick-review websites?
posted by anonymous to Education (9 answers total)

I know they advertise in airports, which is a good reason to be cautious, but Rosetta Stone, though pretty expensive, is very good for exactly what you are looking for.

I have only used Spanish, but there is a review addressing Russian specifically here.
posted by Nothing at 10:26 AM on September 6, 2007

You could find a native Russian speaker to trade practice-conversation with on a regular basis - they'd get to improve their English speaking to you in English, you'd improve your Russian by chatting with them in Russian. There are a lot of Russian immigrants in some parts of Baltimore (like mine, for example) and a sign in a supermarket might get lots of responses.
posted by needs more cowbell at 10:57 AM on September 6, 2007

I don't know anything about Russian specifically, but I have looked at learning other languages online. These sites the Russian counterparts to things I found helpful:

Some of the Defense Language Institute's foreign language courses are available online. These are sometimes the full courses, and sometimes only part. This page, for instance, seems to have some of the courses. Further googling may yield better results.

elanguageschool.net has free courses in a number of languages.

Omniglot has a list of online language lessons & courses.

It's not a course, but could be helpful if you're relearning: The BBC's world service has a huge amount of foreign language content. Here is the Russian page.

WikiBooks has an introduction to Russian.


Also, I hear you can find Rosetta Stone & Pimsleur stuff on the big torrent searches. I wouldn't know personally, you understand, but I hear that you can get a couple dozen languages and the main Rosetta Stone program pretty easily.
posted by fidelity at 11:06 AM on September 6, 2007

Can you afford to go to Russia for any period of time? I'm fluent in Russian but get really rusty with it until I actually spend a week or more in Russia. After spending time there my Russian improves like crazy and I start speaking faster and better.
posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel at 11:24 AM on September 6, 2007

Another place for US Foreign Service Institute language resources. Looks like for Russian they only have a textbook with some conversation. Since you're brushing up, I'm assuming you have a dictionary and a rudimentary understanding left over of grammar and some basic constructions, so it may not be useless.
posted by solotoro at 11:25 AM on September 6, 2007

I thought Pimsleur was very good for me (spanish) and a guy I know said he did the russian ones and was happy with them.
They are expensive, but a lot of libraries have them. I know Montgomery County Library system has them- don't know about Baltimore.
posted by MtDewd at 12:42 PM on September 6, 2007

My library has the Pimsleur series, and I am also allowed to download them. You could check with your library.
posted by la petite marie at 12:45 PM on September 6, 2007

Formerly on the blue, the Lipson book had me reviewing all kinds of grammar, and I couldn't put it down. You'll need to download a djvu viewer, but for this book alone it is worth it.
posted by eritain at 2:17 PM on September 6, 2007

I wish there were more answers to your request for syllabi, but you can use the Lipson book as a guide. It really is excellent.

Contact me if you need actual Russian language materials. I have posters and things linked on my blog, but I have also scanned many childrens books which I will eventually make available.
posted by fake at 4:19 PM on September 6, 2007