Is Russian hard? 2 Russian-Learning Secrets

Russian has the reputation of being a difficult language. Probably the most intimidating detail that catches students’ eye is it’s written in a different alphabet. Oh, the horror! Let’s break down whether Russian being a hard language is fact or fiction.

The truth is this: you can speak Russian effortlessly, communicate anything you need to, and understand people with no trouble in a relatively short period of time.

Two Secrets: Why Russian Is Easy to Start

Let’s not downplay the fact that any language is a challenge to speak. Languages feature thousands of words, long lists of rules, exceptions to the rules, and uncomfortable ways you have to twist your tongue. Be that as it may, there are two things students who study abroad in Russia or online will be pleased to know:

The Russian alphabet is not as different from English as it seems. In fact, it can be mastered in a single day. For this reason, in the long term, Russian is much easier to read for English speakers than vice versa.
Russians do not care if you are bad at the grammar. They will understand you just the same. This just so happens to be the main challenge of the language, and you can take care of that part over time.

So what does matter when you’re beginning Russian?

The main thing to focus on in Russian, which is the most important aspect of any language, is the vocabulary. This is true whether you’re at the Intro Russian, Russian intermediate, or Advanced level. Granted, Russian pronunciation is quite a tongue-twister and Russian words tend to be longer than in English. However, it’s perfectly achievable with some practice. Also, making exotic sounds is fun. After all, a lot of the joy in learning a language is the foreign experience of it, is it not?

As long as you can say the word or concept that you’re thinking of, in the worst-case scenario, the person will immediately get a hunch for what you’re talking about and based on the context, whether or not you get the word endings grammatically correct, the person will still understand you fine. You will also understand them as well as long as you’ve at least familiarized yourself with the way the grammar works, since this will require using your passive memory, not your active memory, which would cause you to have to constantly freeze up mid-sentence to remember the exact proper way to form the sentence on the spot. Besides that, if someone were to come study abroad in Russian who has perfect grammar but does not know the words, it will be absolutely pointless, since the person will have no idea whatsoever what they’re getting at.

The Main Difficulty Lies in Your Mentality

The interesting thing when learning a skill, just like when mastering a language, is that the difficulty is determined by your own positive or negative self-reinforcement. What this means is that the more pleasure you take out of the process and the results you’ve achieved, the more encouraged you will feel. Conversely, the more impatient one is during their study in a RU-101 course, the more they will focus on the progress they haven’t yet made.

There is plenty to be said for learning Russian to achieve professional, business, or diplomatic purposes of course using a Russian tutor online or in person. However, based on one’s mentality, the easiest language can seem like the hardest, and the hardest language can seem like the easiest. At least in the majority of cases, people learn languages to enjoy them in the first place. The most common reasons, according to studies, include:

For traveling
To meet people in other countries
To learn about one’s heritage
To maintain mental fitness

At the end of the day, as soon as you begin introductory Russian, you get to enjoy knowing that you can speak some of it, and being the prestigious, exotic language that Russian is, that is something to be absolutely proud of, and doing so makes you a more well-rounded, refined individual. That is something to reflect on and be excited about.

For a full-fledged introduction to Russian and achieving a high proficiency level beyond that, you would greatly benefit from attending classes at a Russian school, whether you study in Russia or do so online. TransEurope is uniquely qualified and authorized to issue course completion certificates attesting to your achieved level of Russian. Our Moscow-based and online Russian tutor staff tailor custom-made courses for each individual.

The Challenges of Russian

In Russia and the former Soviet Union, ordinary Russian speakers are used to people getting the grammar wrong, and they couldn’t care less. “But I still want to speak Russian right,” you say. As you should. Of course, it would sound more professional in a diplomatic, professional, or educational setting to speak Russian correctly, and it does matter, but it is something to be mastered at a slow and steady pace. You will have Russian speakers doing backflips by speaking the language, whether or not you have the right grammar, but when you also master the grammar, they will be absolutely overjoyed, as they take great pride in their language.

Here are the challenges which are best addressed via an unhurried, long-term approach, which you will be able to handle if you decide to keep practicing with a teacher in the Russian language:

The cases: these are the noun and adjective word endings that change to denote different types of objects in different situations.
Verbs: Russian verbs feature challenging conjugations while minor changes in the verb root are made to denote the completion or lack of completion of an action.
Changing word stress
Participles

The Best Plan of Action for Results

At TransEurope, we provide you the most essential vocabulary used in Russia, along with helping you perfect your pronunciation, and gain a handle on the grammar over time. Most importantly, our Russian teacher staff tailor all of our programs to our students’ goals and needs, whether they choose to study Russian abroad or online. With decades of experience in linguistics and Russian teaching, we can guarantee the level you will achieve within a specified amount of time.

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