r/russian • • 2h ago

Translation Help translating lyrics

5 Upvotes

Здравствуйте!

I'm translating the song "про дурачка" by гражданская оборона and I'm a bit confused on this particular line:

"Полетят копейки из-за пазухи долой"

When just translating the latter half the translation comes up as "down with the sinuses" but the full sentence itself when run through a translater you get "kopecks will fly out of your bosom" where's the bosom here? I feel like I'm missing something. Any and all help appreciated (:


r/russian • • 2h ago

Handwriting Rate my handwriting

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3 Upvotes

I've been learning Russian for a while and when it comes in writing? I'm not sure but here you go, it's not really fully cursive like every letters in a word is connected, but I don't know what is it called, but, yeah you can rate it so I can know which part I can improve.


r/russian • • 6h ago

Request How do i learn russian?

2 Upvotes

Okay so, my parents are Russian they moved in Italy a while ago, and im infact born in italy, sadly for some reason they don't want to teach me Russian.

Do you guys have any tips to learn it?

Thanks


r/russian • • 1d ago

Handwriting I'm so sick of those "russian cursive is hard" videos after learning прописи, coming from a non-native. They're just writing it incorrectly!

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319 Upvotes

r/russian • • 16h ago

Request Project on Minority Languages in Russia

4 Upvotes

Hello! I am from Australia and I am currently doing a project on minority languages in Russia. I was just wondering if anyone who speaks Russian and another minority language in Russia would be able to help me out with a survey I was doing. The answers will of course be anonymous but will require responses in Russian. If you are able to help, feel free to send me a message and I'll send the Google Form to you. Thanks!

Здравстуйте! Я из Австралии и я изучаю русский язык. Я сейчас делаю проект и искаю национальные языки в России. Эсли вы гоборите на русском языке и на грудом национальном языке России, можете Вы ответить на мой опрос на русском языке? Ответы будет анонимный, но эсли у вас другие вопросы, я могу ответить их. Эсли вы хотите ответить на опрос, я могу его послать Вам. Спасибо!


r/russian • • 8h ago

Resource Adhd person want to learn russian

0 Upvotes

Hey. I have adhd diagnosed and I have a hard time holding associations in my mind so I want a resource that isnt a block of text but rather has a lot of practice questions. cuz i learn better with test questions
My mother tongue is Turkish so i am familiar with agglutination but not gender stuff. I know English fluently(i guess)
Are there any textbook resources that focuses on practice questions?
And by the way, My family and I could be travelling to uzbekistan in future. How proficient I should be to be able to communicate?
I am a med student too so i can give it a max of 3 hours/day during non-exam weeks
I am learning it for self-improvement and i think i like the phonetical structure of it

how different is the language from turkish or english? which topics would be challenging

anyways, have a good day!


r/russian • • 12h ago

Resource Learning Books?

1 Upvotes

I have been learning Russian off and on through Duolingo for awhile now but I want to get more focused on learning the language. If I can both see and hear the words, then I can usually match or arrange the sentences. Then I realized I'm not truly understanding the language because as soon as I hear/see words without a visual/audio input as well, I'm completely lost.

I want to learn to be able to read and write so I figure any Russian alphabet book would help me so I'm already looking for one that I can write in.

I'm mainly wondering if there is a good learning textbook that is structured to easily follow along with for beginners and also has things like quizzes included in the lessons? I'm currently looking at Natasha Alexandrova's beginner step by step book if anyone has experience with it.

I would love any other recommendations.


r/russian • • 1d ago

Grammar Why are you learning Russian?

58 Upvotes

Hello! Russian is my native language and I’m also learning English. I’ve wondered: why people learn Russian? For example, for now we have a difficult situation in the world. While some time ago it sounded good to learn Russian for business I can’t imagine why people still learning this language. And I’m also asking because I wanted to try teaching Russian language.


r/russian • • 15h ago

Resource Audio for The New Penguin Russian Course

1 Upvotes

Hello, I bought the book and I wonder if there is any additional resource to go with it like audio or something else to accompany it? Many thanks


r/russian • • 20h ago

Other How's my accent?

2 Upvotes

https://vocaroo.com/12RpGj5QLCFr

I spoke Russian when I was a toddler but my mom didn't speak it enough to me so I forgot it and now I'm having to relearn it


r/russian • • 9h ago

Request Looking for a friend

0 Upvotes

i am a 19 year old algerian girl i am looking for a russian muslim friend to teach me russian and спасибо


r/russian • • 2d ago

Grammar Word order

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55 Upvotes

Я знаю, что Duolingo — это говно. Мы все это знаем. Но всё же я пришел сюда, чтобы получить от вас разъяснения.
Русский [красивый] язык довольно гибок в плане порядка слов благодаря падежам.
Но какой порядок слов использовать *нельзя*?

German is somewhat flexible with word order as well due to its cases, so i figured i coild follow the same logic „Woher kennst du ihn” but it didnt work, nor “Woher IHN kennst du” — which sounds weird to my ears but is still grammatically correct (to my understanding).

Знаете вы?


r/russian • • 2d ago

Request What do these buttons say? (Sorry for low quality)

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119 Upvotes

r/russian • • 2d ago

Grammar How are irregular diminutives used in the plural with collective numerals?

18 Upvotes

I'm thinking of the forms -ё/онок->я́та. I just came across these, and have a couple of questions.

1.Are the plural forms ребя́там, ребя́тами, ребя́тах used? Or is it mostly the corresponding forms of дети instead?

  1. Is щенки́ or щеня́та (and their corresponding forms) more commonly used?

  2. How commonly used are these words and their plural forms formed with -я́та?

  • Тигрёнок
  • Медвежонок
  • Волчонок
  • Лягушонок
  • Слонёнок
  • Утёнок
  • Гусёнок
  • цыплёнок

Are they always used with the traditional plural? Can't you say *Слонёнки? Everything that ends with -ёнок, онок will be pluralized with the form я́та, is that correct?

  1. They're used with collectives. If I understand correctly, you don't use the simple numerals, but the collectives when counting them. So not *два маленьких львёнка, but двое, трое, четверо, пятеро etc. львя́т. Is that right? Same goes, for the words дети, ребята.

  2. But these collectives also have their own declension. E.g. "двоих цыплят", and двоим, двоими instead of двум, двумя, etc. Are these declensions in use? So if you say, "with five little chicks", do you say "с двумя цыпля́тами" or "с двоими цыпля́тами"?

  3. I found these collectives til 10, but not above that. So there's десяток, but are there any corresponding forms 11-20 and above? Such as одиннадцатеро, двенадцатеро etc? (I actually found an interesting article about this.)

For example the phrase '20 kids' is translated by google translate as двадцать детей. But "a hundred kids" translates as сотня or сто детей? And if it's сотня, then how is it declined? Because it has both plural and singular declension apparently: https://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BD%D1%8F

If 'with a hundred kids' becomes "со сотней детей", then what is "со́тнями" used for?

+1: Have I told you guys that your grammar is crazy, and you are causing insurmountable suffering for learners? Why the hell does this language needs so many forms of numerals?

+2: I just realized that десяток is a different thing from десятка

+3: I also realized that both of these are different from десятеро. I think it's enough for me for the day. This language is... I don't even wanna get started. If anyone says German is hard, punch them in the face in Russian.


r/russian • • 2d ago

Request tips for learning

1 Upvotes

is there any good tips for learning so far I've been using online apps and speaking to people that know the language and I'm looking to get books


r/russian • • 3d ago

Interesting Why did Russian drop the "am" ?

83 Upvotes

Sorry for my uneducation ahead of time.

I am also a part of the Slavic speaking countries and I am curious as to why did Russian drop the am as in the case of "Я́ доктор"?

In my native language and many other Slavic languages the "am" is still present so I am just curious why that happened with Russian?


r/russian • • 2d ago

Promo Tutor Tuesday: Offers from Russian Language Tutors

6 Upvotes

Alla Pugacheva - A Half-baked Wizard (\"Волшебник-недоучка\")

In this post, tutors offering Russian language tutoring advertise their services in the comments.

Tutors: introduce yourself to the learners, describe what you offer, and how to contact you. Top level comments are reserved for tutor offerings only, but everyone is welcome to ask questions or comment (in a civil manner) in response.

This post repeats every two weeks on Tuesday.


r/russian • • 2d ago

Promo I made an app for reading real Russian texts: tap a word and it explains it in context

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4 Upvotes

Hi, I'm the developer, so full disclosure.

I made ContextCat for reading actual Russian (articles, PDFs, web pages) without stopping every line to look things up. You tap a word and it tells you what it means in that sentence, in English or your own language, and where it comes from, like неторопливый from торопиться.

It can also read the text out loud, quiz you on what you just read, and it saves the words you tapped so you can review them later.

Free with a daily limit, on iPhone and iPad. The explanations are AI-generated, so if you spot one that's wrong for Russian, I'd really like to hear about it.

https://apps.apple.com/app/id6737737343


r/russian • • 2d ago

Handwriting Hi, Can someone rate my handwriting?

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11 Upvotes

As of learning russian for 2 years I'm still not quite good at connecting letters but I think writing them separately is fine too.

Does anyone have any advice for my future practice? :)


r/russian • • 2d ago

Grammar Linguistic Similarities Between Turkish and Russian

1 Upvotes

Hi. I am a native Turkish speaker and have just started out learning Russian due to my interest in Russian culture, history, post-soviet countries where Russian is still spoken etc. I would like to know whether being native in Turkish gives one advantage to learn Russian faster and easier?

I know that Russian is known for its complicated case structure and many exceptions but I detected some similarities with Turkish myself, such as;

Kitab(a) doğru yürü. (Walk towards the book.)

Kitab(ı) yerden al. (Pick up the book from the floor.)

Kitap(la) otur. (Sit down with the book.)

Kitap yok. (The book doesn't exist.)

As you can see, the word “kitap” takes different suffixes or sometimes no suffix at all, depending on whether it’s the subject, object, dative case, or ablative case. If the case system in Russian works in a similar way, I think it will help me understand it faster and easier What do you think are the similarities and differences? How much more is there to it and does it get harder or easier when you get deeper learning Russian?


r/russian • • 2d ago

Grammar Russian tutor here: идти vs ходить vs ехать vs ездить (present tense, explained simply)

12 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I'm a native Russian speaker and I teach Russian to English speakers. Verbs of motion are the #1 topic my students struggle with, so here's how I explain them. Today: present tense only.

You only need to answer two questions.

Question 1: On foot or by transport?

  • On foot: идти / ходить
  • By any transport (bus, car, metro, plane): ехать / ездить

Even a 5-minute bus ride is ехать. And travelling to another city is always ехать, never идти.

Question 2: One trip in one direction, or a habit?

Travel One direction, right now Habit, regularly, in general
On foot идти ходить
By transport ехать ездить

Examples:

  • Я иду в магазин. = I'm walking to the store (right now).
  • Я хожу в спортзал три раза в неделю. = I go to the gym three times a week.
  • Я еду на работу на метро. = I'm on my way to work by metro (right now).
  • Я езжу на работу на метро. = I commute to work by metro (usually).

Bonus: идти and ехать are also used for plans in the near future, just like English "I'm going":

  • Завтра я иду в кино. = Tomorrow I'm going to the cinema.

Common mistakes:

  • ❌ Я хожу в магазин сейчас. → ✅ Я иду в магазин сейчас. (one trip, right now)
  • ❌ Я иду в Москву на поезде. → ✅ Я еду в Москву на поезде. (by transport)

Present tense forms:

verb я ты он / она мы вы они
идти иду идёшь идёт идём идёте идут
ходить хожу ходишь ходит ходим ходите ходят
ехать еду едешь едет едем едете едут
ездить езжу ездишь ездит ездим ездите ездят

Watch out for хожу and езжу in the я-form: the consonant changes!

In the next post: verbs of motion in the past tense, and why ходил often means "went and came back".

What's the most confusing part of verbs of motion for you? Ask in the comments!


r/russian • • 2d ago

Translation can you help me transaction these karaoke rules to russian?

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4 Upvotes

im supporting my local russian bar, since they couldn't hire a professional to make these rules ive offered my help for free! but, my russian is horrible. and i am struggling to rewrite this in russian, so im asking for help with translating!

my rules below in white, and their old rules as well


r/russian • • 3d ago

Resource (Almost) every Russian word you can recognize from English, in one searchable list

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87 Upvotes

I’m a longtime Russian learner who made a page that lists (almost) every Russian word I could find that looks like an English word and means the same thing: момент, фильм, президент, проблема, программа, телефон, университет, идея, минута, доктор, and 5,275 more. The list is sortable by how common the word is, searchable in either language, downloadable as a CSV, and, most importantly, free.

https://palimpsest.tech/frontend/cognates.html

The page lives on Palimpsest, a free site that I run for intermediate and advanced learners as well as heritage speakers who want to expand their vocab. It models how much of a language you already know and builds your practice from there. This cognates page is that idea in its simplest form: you already know more Russian than you think, including words you've never seen. 

For those curious: the pairs were computed using some natural language processing techniques I’ve learned: 1) first I found the edit distance between transliterations of the Russian and the English, 2) then I found meaning similarity in English and Russian word embeddings (fastText, Procrustes-aligned into one space), and finally 3) I used an LLM (Claude Sonnet 5.5) to settle over 4000 marginal calls.

Note: because this method is computational and not hand-picked, some of these may be wrong, and some obvious ones are missing (realizing as I’m posting this that информация, for instance, isn’t in the list even though информационный is). In hopes of making this as helpful of a resource for everyone, every row has a "⋯" to report a bad pair, and there's also a button to suggest pairs I missed. I’ll read every report and fix the list by hand.

Also feel free to DM me on Reddit or email me at [help@palimpsest.tech](mailto:help@palimpsest.tech) with more questions/comments, I’m always eager for feedback on this project! :)


r/russian • • 3d ago

Resource I made a free Crime and Punishment reader for Russian learners - with audio, translations and word definitions

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149 Upvotes

I made this for myself and figured I’d share it with anyone else who wants to read Crime and Punishment in Russian.

You can click a word to see its dictionary form and meaning in context, show English translations, and listen with word highlighting. There’s also slower audio at 0.5× and 0.75×.

The translations, glossary and narration are AI-generated, so there may be mistakes. It’s completely free and doesn’t require an account.

EDIT: There is now a Constance Garnett translation option as default. EDIT: now included a 'cases' toggle to help identify cases.

https://jonduvnjak.com/crime-and-punishment/


r/russian • • 3d ago

Request Advice to better my Russian as a Native speaker

17 Upvotes

For context. I was born in the US, but technically Russian is my first language. (I only learned English when I went to school)

It has been brought to my attention that I have an accent when I speak, and I definitely do not know some proper terminology (like calling the heater a батарея, or a gas station бензоколонка)

I taught myself to read and write but I don’t know proper grammar. It is more so that I know what sounds right. (My reading is probably first grade level)

If any one has advice on how to better my Russian it would be most appreciated.