Russian hacks, or how to learn Russian easily

Russian hacks

Russian is one of the 6 official UN languages. About 166 million people on the planet speak it. It is only second to English on Internet presence. But to master it you need time, effort and motivation. You can simplify the process thou, using some tricks and useful advices. Advices that you can find here, on this article.

Advice №1. Get acquainted with the letters and the sounds

Start with the basics — learn letters and sounds. At first glance, the Russian alphabet may seem very complicated, but in fact it’s not so scary. Most of the sounds are similar in both Russian and English. A number of Russian letters in printed form (as opposed to handwritten) are similar not only in sound, but also in writing:

  • А, like a in bark;
  • О, like o in fox;
  • К, like k in make;
  • М, like m in lemon;
  • С, like s in sport or c в city;
  • Т, like t in train.

Globally, the unpronounceable letters ь (denotes softness on the letter) and ъ (denotes hardness) will differ, as well as the letters and the sounds transmitted by them: щ, ы, й, ё, ц.

Advice №2. Look for similar words within languages

For example, you will be able to understand exactly what the word “мама” (mom, mummy) means in Russian or “доктор” (doctor). And there are many words whose translation you can easily guess without a dictionary. These are both international words and borrowed words:

  • парк — park;
  • чизкейк — cheesecake;
  •  джинсы — jeans;
  • популярный — popular;
  • легальный — legal;
  • джем — jam;
  • саундтрек — soundtrack.

The easiest way, of course, is to understand what a word means when it is a noun, especially in the nominative case. It is a little more difficult with verbs that have the same root nouns. For example, парковать — to park: the suffix -ова and the ending -ть were added to the base of парк- and the verb “парковать” turned out. Similarly: копировать (копи + ирова + ть) — to copy, адаптировать (адапт + ирова + ть) — to adapt.

Russian hacks

Advice №3. Use the new words in a familiar context

Every time you learn a new word, try to use it in context. Ideally, try to build a sentence in Russian using the word you just learned. If you can’t do it yet, use this word in an English sentence.

For example, билет – is a ticket in English. Use it like this: Where can I buy a bus билет?

Of course, it’s unusual to speak like this, but you will learn to understand how and when to use new words.

Advice №4. First learn the most used words

On average, a person (who speaks any language) uses from 5 to 10 thousand words in everyday communication. The minimum number of words for those who study Russian in order to communicate a little and understand the interlocutor is about 800 words. And all these are the most common words. So start replenishing your vocabulary with them.

Pronouns are most often used – я (I), ты (you), он (he), она (she), мы (we), они (they), вы (you), conjunctions — и (and), но (but).

And a few more examples – these are the ten most common nouns in the Russian language:

  • глаз — eye;
  • раз — time (like in 3 times);
  • слово — word;
  • день — day;
  • рука — hand;
  • жизнь — life;
  • дело — action, work;
  • год — year;
  • время — time (like in time is money);
  • человек — person.

Advice №5. Look for similar word roots

Russian language belongs to the inflectional group, unlike English, i.e. words in the Russian language are formed mainly with the help of various suffixes and prefixes. Such words are called single-root, and there are many of them in Russian. Thus, by learned one word and understanding the whole principle of word formation in the Russian language, you will make your life easier.

Let’s take a concrete example with the word “МИР”:

  • мир (noun) — peace;
  • мирный (adj.) — peaceful;
  • мирить (verb) — to make peace.

 

«МЕСТО»:

  • место (noun) — place, room, seat;
  • местный (adj.) — local;
  • поместить (verb) — to place, to fit smth;
  • уместно (adv.) — appropriate;
  • местность (noun) — region, district, surroundings.
Russian hacks

Advice №6. Speak and write at the same time

There is an interesting technique of memorizing words while writing. You only need to perform three simple actions.

  • Read a sentence aloud.
  • Start writing, saying aloud every word one by one.
  • Read the sentence once again, but now the one you have written.

How will this help? It’s simple: by not being in a rush, you will be able to carefully read every word, understand it, and speaking while writing, you will use several types of memory at once: auditory, visual and muscular. Profit!

Advice №7. Use assosiations

Sometimes just repeating words is not enough to memorize them. The brain needs an extra boost. And such an impetus can be the method of associations. These can be sound associations, situational – choose a convenient way for yourself.

For example, take the word “ковёр“.

A rug is something you use to cover your floor. — Ковёр — это то, чем вы застилаете (покрываете) пол.

Rug means “ковёр” in Russian. Here the mnemonic technique gives us ков– (from cov – cover) -ёр (from your).

The associative series can be long, they can even become a whole story. Let’s take the word “потом”, which in English means then, later on. The following phrase (the whole story) will help you remember it.

“First I’ll cross the Delaware River,” said General George Washington, “and then I’ll cross the Potomac”. — «Сначала я перейду реку Делавэр», – сказал генерал Джордж Вашингтон, – «а затем я перейду Потомак».

Potomac River (Потомак), which will be crossed then (потом).

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Advice №8. Write yourself a dictionary and make some word cards

Write a little dictionary with all the Russian vocabulary that you are studying. Not only will its maintenance help you systematize all new words and phrases, but the process of writing a word and its translation, writing notes, creating images or mnemonic techniques will facilitate the process of memorization.

The dictionary can be turned into easy-to-study cards using special apps. You can use the cards on your phone to learn on the go when you’re on the bus, going to work, or just standing in line at the grocery store.

Advice №9. Read, watch, listen, speak

Movies, music, TV series, radio, books, newspapers, magazines… everything you can read, watch or listen to is incredibly useful for learning. Reading, watching and listening have a huge impact on the brain. It starts working by just getting to know the language. You are trying to understand new words — the brain establishes connections with previously studied words and tries to understand any new structures. In fact, you are learning without knowing that you are learning.

Try to communicate in Russian every day. Speaking as much as possible is one of the best ways to learn a language quickly. And it is not necessary to go to Russia for this. You can chat in chat rooms, social networks, start a blog, communicate with a language course partner and even talk to yourself.

Remember that there is no short and ultra-easy way to master any language. And in addition to the useful techniques described in the article, you need practice and practice some more. And it is better to practice in a group with like-minded people and / or under the guidance of an experienced teacher, for example, at the school of Russian as a foreign “Leader”.

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