Learn Russian

Start at the alphabet

The Russian on-ramp is written by hand, not generated, and it is 472 cards long. Every card is spoken in a recorded Russian voice, and what you get right is scheduled for review rather than shown again at random.

• 33letters
• 10digits
• 9pronunciation rules
• 300core words
• 60everyday phrases
• 60sentences

Three of the pronunciation cards, exactly as the on-ramp teaches them:

• о (unstressed) — an unstressed о sounds like “a”молоко — milk
• stress — stress falls unpredictably — its vowel is clear, the others blurутро — morning
• б в г д ж з (final) — voiced consonants at the end of a word turn voicelessхлеб — bread

Your first Russian phrases

The first phrase and sentence cards of the on-ramp, each spoken in a recorded voice:

• Добрый день! DOB-ry DYEN — good afternoon — the everyday daytime greeting
• Добрый вечер! DOB-ry VYE-cher — good evening — the greeting after dark
• Алло, кто говорит? a-LO, kto ga-va-REET — hello, who is speaking? — answering the phone
• Привет, как дела? pree-VYET, kak dee-LA — Hi, how are you?
• Меня зовут Анна. mee-NYA za-VOOT AN-na — My name is Anna.

What Russian actually costs a beginner

Stress falls unpredictably, and it decides what the vowels say — the stressed one is clear and the others blur, so an unstressed о comes out as an a and молоко is said malakó. A learner who has stored a word without its stress has stored something they cannot yet say, which is why every word on this on-ramp is spoken and not only spelled. Below that: voiced consonants turn voiceless at the end of a word, so хлеб ends in a p, and the soft sign ь changes the consonant in front of it while making no sound of its own.