Learn Russian for Beginners: Verbs, Tenses and Basic Sentences

Russian has become one of the most popular languages ​​to learn recently and the most widely spoken East Slavic language, spoken by more than 300 million people as a mother tongue or a second language. It is the official language of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and many northern European countries, in addition to being one of the official languages ​​of the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Due to its radical difference from other European languages ​​such as English and even Arabic, it has some characteristics that some new learners may find difficult or unfamiliar, so many describe learning Russian as a difficult language, but that is not true and we will analyze that in detail in our current article.

How to learn Russian for beginners

The Russian language differs from its European and Eastern counterparts, such as Arabic, as most European languages ​​are of Latin origin and have a specific form in sentence structure, pronunciation of sounds, and even the way they are written.

While the Russian language is of Slavic origin, it is characterized by the Cyrillic writing method and the way of pronouncing sounds that differ from other languages, even if they are sometimes similar in form or in the way of writing.

So let's talk a little about some of the characteristics of the Russian language :

The Russian language is characterized by a different way and can be somewhat difficult to pronounce and write because of:

• There are many letters that are similar in pronunciation, such as (Ш), (Щ), (Ч), (Ж), (Ц), and (С), which makes them difficult to distinguish, especially for beginners, and it takes some time to realize the correct sounds.
• The Russian language also contains some letters that are not pronounced at all, but are nevertheless written, such as (Ъ), (Ь), (Ы), and (Э), so the user must know where they are located or how to use them in general.
• Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of area and millions of people speak Russian, so you will find that there are different dialects used, with different ways of using words and pronunciation as well, so you may find it a challenge at first.

As for the grammar and conjugation rules in the Russian language, they differ from the usual grammar rules, and we find that verbs are not the only ones that are conjugated, such as:

• As for the order of the sentence in the Russian language, it is not subject to a specific rule. You will find that it is possible to separate the subject and the predicate, unlike other languages. It is possible to arrange in many ways, but you must be aware of each method.
• Verb conjugations vary according to number, gender, tense and pronoun, as in any other language. Verbs vary greatly in the Russian language and are also divided into regular and irregular.
• The adjective is also inflected according to case, gender and number, and the speaker must apply the appropriate one.
• Nouns are also inflected according to case, gender, and number, but nouns are also inflected according to their position in the sentence and the type of noun.

• There are six cases in the Russian language: (masculine, feminine, masculine and feminine, masculine plural, feminine plural, masculine and feminine plural), and words are conjugated according to each case.
• The Russian language uses Cyrillic letters in writing, and these letters are completely different from the Latin letters in writing and pronunciation, which makes them unfamiliar.

• In addition to vowels, non-vowels, double vowels, consonants, frequently used connected letters, alphabetical letters whose pronunciation differs depending on their position, and conditional sentences.

Is it possible to learn Russian online?

After what we mentioned previously, you must have already begun to believe that learning Russian is difficult, and that it will require a lot of time and effort to master it. This is somewhat true, but only in the beginning.

The Russian language is a flexible language, and this may be an advantage or a disadvantage, but what matters is that once you get used to this language, it will be easy like any other language, and the more you practice it, the more logical and understandable it will become, and the rate of progress will become faster, of course with follow-up with reliable educational sources .

Thanks to the Internet, there are now many sources that can be relied upon to learn Russian for beginners. In addition, you will find that there are many methods and means that are suitable for you and that may speed up the learning process.

There are many electronic resources through which beginners can learn Russian:

These are applications that target a specific skill or all four language skills, such as Duolingo, Memrise, and Babbel, which are known for learning many languages, including Russian.

These are educational pages or websites that teach languages ​​by explaining some rules or talking about the language and how to learn it and daily lessons.

Which may be on educational platforms or on YouTube, for example, where the explanation of each lesson is recorded separately.

They are online educational centers or institutes that aim to teach the language through interactive or recorded educational courses, often online, or in the form of private lessons.

You can rely on our website, Al-Madrasa.com, as one of the reliable and accredited educational courses that include:

• We offer you Russian learning lessons from a group of the best teachers specialized in the Russian language.
• Performance evaluation and testing on an ongoing basis.
• Choose the system and method that suits you.
• Focus on all aspects of the language.

In addition to continuous follow-up with the student and answering all his inquiries.

Some activities that can support the process of learning Russian for beginners

Many activities can be added that undoubtedly greatly support the learning process, as attested by those who learn languages ​​in general, and those who learn Russian in particular:

Listening:

When learning Russian or even any other language, you must have seen a video in which the speaker emphasizes the importance of listening, whether he is a native or foreign speaker. This is logical because your mind must get used to the sounds at first for them to be understandable or even familiar for it to be easier, so try to listen as much as you can.

Games:

The method of games or puzzles is used for multiple purposes. It is possible to play with letters and build some words with them as a start, or it is possible to try to describe the things around us to improve thinking and expression skills at different levels of difficulty. The easier it is, the more difficulty you start with.

Watch entertainment programs in Russian:

If you are a fan of watching movies, series, or even following talk shows on TV, this method may be the best for you, as it is fun, entertaining, and at the same time useful.

Finally, you cannot learn any skill in life without practice. You must allocate some of your time daily to practice the Russian language, which will undoubtedly contribute greatly to improving your language development rate. What is important is practice, but the method is flexible and up to you, so choose the method that you like and prefer.

In the end, learning languages ​​is not an easy thing in general, and you will certainly not find the Russian language the easiest at all, but remember that learning Russian is a language of culture, literature and heritage, and this will be clear in many of its aspects, so treat it as something entertaining because you will certainly enjoy it once you get used to it.