Memrise offers learners the ability to study from a variety of flashcard decks, both theirs and user-created sets, using spaced repetition.
There are seven levels of Russian lessons that teach you basic to intermediate grammar and vocabulary. There are plenty of others as well—the top 10,000 Russian words, the Russian Cyrillic alphabet and more.
The basic version of Memrise is free. The pro version starts at $5 a month. Check out our review of Memrise to see which version is best for you.
FluentU teaches you the language through short video clips from authentic Russian media. You’ll learn new vocabulary as it’s actually used by native speakers, with plenty of useful tools to support your learning.
Choose from a wide variety of video clips—movie trailers, music videos, cartoons and more—equipped with a downloadable transcript and interactive subtitles.
After watching a video, you’ll take a personalized vocabulary quiz to test your knowledge of the key words and phrases from the clip. You can add any new word or phrase to a flashcard deck and use the practice exercises to review and memorize them.
Sure, Instagram might not be the go-to destination for language education, but it has some great options!
There are more than 160,000 posts tagged with #learnRussian, and many offer great, free Russian learning material.
Some Instagram accounts regularly post mini language lessons. For instance, you can check out @russian.for.lunch to see some great learning material that takes only a few seconds to digest.
Readlang offers a browser extension or downloadable app that can turn any Russian-language website into a helpful lesson.
Readlang instantly translates websites. You can then highlight words or phrases to see their translations as needed. Anything you highlight is saved as a flashcard for easy practice.
The basic version is free and provides 10 phrase translations per day plus unlimited flashcards and word translations. A $5 monthly subscription bumps you up to all unlimited features.
Mango Languages teaches you the rules of Russian by practicing useful phrases based on common scenarios. It’s ideal for beginning and intermediate Russian students.
You’ll learn both grammar and vocabulary in easy chunks. Plus, the conversations and audio examples aim to give you perfect pronunciation.
A single-language subscription starts from $7.99 per month. You can see our full review of Mango Languages to learn more about the program.
Designed by a team from Harvard, Stanford and Oxford, LinguaLift was made to help busy people learn languages with the help of tutors and spaced repetition.
Study coaches work with you to create a learning plan and support you through your learning journey. You’ll learn words and phrases for real-life situations, as well as cultural insights.
LinguaLift subscriptions range from $12.99 to $19.99 per month, depending on the length of your plan. See our review of LinguaLift here.
Ruspeach offers fun dialogues based on comic strips to help you learn Russian. Each themed dialogue contains the audio and printed version of the text along with the English translations.
At the end of each dialogue, you must pass a test to earn the “peaches” needed to unlock the next lesson. There are also a number of games and “textbook” sections for additional study opportunities.
Some Ruspeach content is free while additional dialogues, tests and vocabulary lists cost $12.80 per year. Currently, they’re offering all products for free for one month.
Forvo is a free website for sharing pronunciations. It’s not a guided site for learning, but it is a convenient reference tool for your Russian studies.
The Russian section is great for learners because you can hear what Russian words sound like as spoken by native Russian speakers.
Many words have examples by multiple speakers, so you can hear different genders and regional accents. Forvo is a great tool to help you nail down any pronunciations you’re struggling with.
Transparent Language offers a number of learning options ranging from live tutoring to an online subscription service.
Using research-based methodology for quick results, they aim to improve your grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking and listening to make you better at all aspects of the Russian language.
Transparent Language also offers a handy Russian proficiency test to help you measure your progress. The learning programs are used by the military, business executives and anyone else serious about learning a language.
Gramota is an ideal website for advanced Russian students who are looking to make the leap toward fluency. It’s free to use, so it’s a great supplemental tool.
The site discusses the intricacies of the Russian language entirely in Russian. This way, you can learn the in-depth details of grammar rules while also practicing your Russian reading skills.
One particular highlight of the site is Правила русской орфографии и пунктуации (“Rules of Russian orthography and punctuation”), which details rules about spelling, capitalization and punctuation.
For more advanced learners, Master Russian offers useful resource lists about topics like Russian literature and Russian folk music. These allow you to practice your language skills while learning more about the culture.
This free website for learning Russian focuses on providing structured lessons for beginning Russian students.
Russian for Everyone’s lessons contain both audio and text. They also cover grammar rules and vocabulary. Quizzes staggered throughout will help you ensure that you learned the information.
There are also some helpful special features, such as grammar tables and a selection of learning games.
This free resource offers beginning, intermediate and advanced lessons along with a useful grammar section. Each lesson contains vocabulary and a video that explains key rules and illustrates pronunciation.
If you have a need for speed, you might give Russian-Plus’ “How to Speak Russian in 30 Lessons” a try. These integrate text and audio with the aim to help you learn basic Russian quickly.
The site’s tagline is: “Learning Russian Online for Smart People.” Don’t worry—we have full faith in your intelligence!
Learn Russian Step by Step offers over a hundred free lessons teaching beginning and intermediate Russian grammar and vocabulary.
Each lesson includes a text that explains basic rules and provides vocabulary words, with audio examples by a native Russian speaker.
The lessons are brief, so they’re not daunting. The brevity makes it easy to review at least one each day—and frequent exposure to a language improves learning outcomes.
Practice Russian is another free website to learn Russian. While it doesn’t have a huge quantity of content, it has some unique features that make it a terrific tool for learners.
The website offers four high-quality, beginner-level lessons featuring texts, grammar rules, vocabulary lists and exercises. They also provide tests for practicing verb tenses and the case system.
Additional resources on the site include Russian music with texts and translations, and Russian language games, including crosswords. Practice Russian is a fun website for supplementing any Russian education.
This website has lessons in Russian spelling and grammar, but it also has a unique offering—videos! Access a free database with Russian videos divided into:
Phrasebook videos – Watch videos of typical phrases used in Russian conversations.
Basic vocabulary videos – These are videos that cover the essential words used in the Russian language.
Vocabulary topics – Intermediate to advanced Russian students can learn vocabulary divided by topics, such as kitchen essentials, objects found in the home, pet names, etc.
Love phrase videos – Learn how to tell someone you love them in Russian!
When you are tired of learning Russian rules and reading lessons, do something fun by playing games that help you learn Russian for any level.
A portion of the games include audio so you can hear the correct pronunciations of letters and words. All of the games can be played with a Cyrillic keyboard, as well as transliterations (translating a script from one language to another).
These games teach you numbers, animal names, how to tell time, days of the month, colors and so on. The games for intermediate and advanced learners help you build advanced vocabulary skills.
Now, check out these 17 great websites to learn Russian, and enjoy some of life’s little luxuries!
If you love learning Russian and want to immerse yourself with authentic materials from Russia, then I should also tell you more about FluentU.
FluentU naturally and gradually eases you into learning the Russian language and culture. You'll learn real Russian as it's spoken by real Russian people!
FluentU has a very broad range of contemporary videos. Just a quick look will give you an idea of the variety of Russian-language content available on FluentU:
FluentU makes these native Russian videos approachable through interactive transcripts. Tap on any word to look it up instantly.
Access a complete interactive transcript of every video under the Dialogue tab. Easily review words and phrases with audio under Vocab.
All definitions have multiple examples, and they're written for Russian learners like you. Tap to add words you'd like to review to a vocab list.
And FluentU has a learn mode which turns every video into a language learning lesson. You can always swipe left or right to see more examples.
The best part? FluentU keeps track of your vocabulary, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You'll have a 100% personalized experience.
