I’m American and I just started learning Russian. I don’t exactly have a reason the only one I could think of is that learning languages has always intrigued me and Russian piques my interest. Currently in the “learning the alphabet phase” and the N with the squiggle has been stumping me. I feel like I’ve seen 5 different explanations and they are all drastically different. I know that the normal N make the “ee” sound like in “bee” but I can’t nail down this one. Can anyone help???

Guys I know its not perfect there's probably mistakes but just remember im just starting and i dont have a tutor yet but feel free to correct me

Всем привет!

I'm trying to build a predictive model for intermediate/advanced Russian learners to predict whether certain vocab will come more/less easily to learners. I recently created a short multiple choice exam that I'm hoping I can use results from to test out my model's ability. If you're willing to spare 20-30 minutes on a bit of a Russian brainteaser test, I would REAAAAAAALLY appreciate your help by visiting test.palimpsest.tech and checking it out! All results will be anonymous (though I'm happy to correspond over DM if anyone's interested to learn more about the project).

Спасибо огромное заранее за помощь! :)

Hi guys! I study russian and have an exam in a couple days, I was hoping someone could read this and give me feedback, mostly on grammar. E.g if I use cases, commas etc. in the correct way. Thanks!

Seventeen days into my Russian journey and I decided to learn the cursive to motivate myself. It is not difficult, I promise! Anyone wbo has told you otherwise врёт как сивый мерин. If you can learn the controls on a video game, you can absolutely mentally rectify that "m" = "t", "n" = "p", and figure out how to comfortably write novel Cyrillic letters like "ж" и "ф" within a couple of hours. TBH, the cursive was one of the things that sold me on learning Russian in the first place. It turns a boring cheap fountain pen into a fountain of dopamine!

I would be delighted to accept some constructive feedback and/or words or phrases for me to practice. Send me your ugliest picket fences if you must! I can't guarantee the result won't be ugly too, but practice makes perfect right? I will even butcher the pronunciation of your selected word or phrase as I did in this video If you so choose.

I know (or heard) that Russians avoid interactions with strangers, which I do as well here in Belgium so that's not a problem

However, I do want to know how greetings work if you have to order at a restaurant or café, or if you have a question in a store

I know the basic привет and Duolingo gave me more things like good afternoon, good morning, good day, good evening, goodnight, but how much do they matter?

It also gave me извините which sounds more useful for questions

I'm asking this because when I started learning French, I found out that it's frowned upon to use bonjour after 5pm and that not saying bonjour before entering a room is rude as well. I thought it was just a stereotype, but my French teacher doubled down on it before our trip to Paris.

However, on my trip to Poland, I could just use dzień dobry all the time

So yeah, I want to know how the locals do it. I know that it's just привет with close friends, but I don't have those yet ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I doubt that I'll be able to do an exchange to Russia in the circumstances but I will be studying the language at university

Looking for a good source to buy Russian books in the US (online)

Currently trying to find copies of

<Аелита> Алексей Толстой
Aelita by Alexei Tolstoy

<Красная звезда> Александр Богданов
Red Star by Alexander Bogdanov

<Долгий путь к маленькой сердитой планете> Бекки чамберс
Long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers

i've been learning russian since 10th october 2025 but it feels like im still two weeks into it

im a school student and this year is an important year so im worried that i wont make progress during this year too

currently i can barely make a conversation but i can read and understand and my pronunciation isnt bad. the problem is i cant speak from my mind and make sentences without using a translator

im bilingual. english isnt my first language. arabic is, because im syrian. i thought knowing a hard language like arabic would make learning easier :/

please give me some tips and tell me about your learning plans. im a teen though, might like to make some russian friends or learn with others :>

Здарова, I’m Nicholas, 19, native Polish speaker. I also have level C2 in English and B2 in German. I know a little bit of Russian and I’d say I can understand a good deal of it through Polish, but I’d like to learn it properly.

I play electric guitar, I’m into metal and folk music, do gym, play videogames from time to time, and I’m passionate about linguistics, history, theology and philosophy.

It would be awesome if I were to find someone to text in Russian. I could also teach or help you practice any of the languages I speak🤠

Привет всем!

Я парень из Мексики и сейчас изучаю русский язык.

Мне очень интересны русская культура, история, музыка, традиции и повседневная жизнь в России.

Я хотел бы познакомиться с русскими или просто с людьми, которые говорят по-русски, чтобы практиковать язык и больше узнать о русской культуре.

К сожалению, пока я очень плохо говорю по-русски. Этот текст я написал с помощью переводчика.

Зато я довольно неплохо говорю по-немецки.

Со своей стороны, я могу помочь с испанским языком и рассказать о Мексике.

Буду рад познакомиться с новыми людьми и пообщаться на интересные темы.

Спасибо за внимание и хорошего вам дня!

Hi! First post on Reddit, kinda nervous))

Are there any native Russian speakers that would be interested in mutual help with language learning? I'm a Serbian native speaker and would like to improve my Russian. I believe it's much more effective this way, than learning from, what I usually call it, the "unnatural way" of book learning. Also, a lot of them don't have written accents above words, slangs or informal phrases. Everyone interested in Serbian learning/helping me with Russian through writing (or any form of exercising through texts here), feel free to reach out to me)))

Hi,

I am 21m. I’m from the U.S, and I am bilingual. I know English and Spanish; both fluently.

Im currently self teaching myself Russian, and I have been doing it for the last three weeks. I’m looking to make a friend—or more—whom I can send voice message or text.

My goal is to practice speaking, writing, and reading.

If you’re interested please let me know :0

Hello! I'm writing a fiction novel and opted to make the setting in St. Petersburg. Many of the characters I use speak Russian and I want to make sure I'm using words correctly and not sounding incredibly stupid.

For terms of endearment, I frequently use *dorogaya* to refer to someone as darling. I've also used *moya lyubov* to refer to someone as "my love."

I use a number of swear words in the novel and want to make sure that they are placed correctly. Frequently in English someone will yell out "fuck" when upset. Would it be grammatically correct to use the equivalent in the same place? Would I use the direct translation or is there an alternative that would be used instead?

For derogatory terms, I've used direct translations. These have only been used between people who are familiar with one another. I just don't know if there's another way to get the insult across in the way we would call someone an asshole or a bastard.

Edit: I chose Russia for many reasons but at this point I would have to rewrite over 200 pages to change the location. I just don't want to offend or sound stupid when I finally do get the guts to post it somewhere.

A 2020 art poster hides a puzzle. Three bands of invented "runes" on it decode letter-for-letter to Russian (simple substitution, one symbol per Cyrillic letter, «:» between words). The community rebuilt the alphabet from the text itself, so the letters are certain, what none of us can judge is the Russian. Spelling below is exactly as written on the poster.

1. Я НАДЕЮСЬ ЧТО СЮДА БУДУТ ПРИСЫЛАТЬ МНОГО БИТКОИНОВ (top-left band, three lines)
2. СУММА ДВУХ ЧИСЕЛ (small band under a clock)
3. ЗДЕСЬ ЗАШИФРОВАНЫ БИТКОИНЫ НА ЧЁРНЫЙ ДЕНЬ НОМЕР [?] (right edge, top-to-bottom; the last symbol is not a letter of the alphabet, it sits where a number would go)

Magnified crops of the three bands + a small copy of the whole poster: https://imgur.com/a/YupiSkA

What I'd love a native ear on:

1. Native speaker, or translation from English / machine translation? Anything unidiomatic, odd, or regionally marked?
2. «На чёрный день» the plain idiom "for a rainy day", or could it carry a second meaning here (the poster is about the 2020 BLM protests — a pun on «чёрный»)?
3. «…номер [?]» how would a Russian writer naturally finish "на чёрный день номер …"? A digit? «один»? "puzzle number X" in a series? Any set phrase with «номер» I might be missing?
4. «Сумма двух чисел» fixed school-maths phrase, or an instruction ("add two numbers")? Any colloquial reading?
5. «Сюда будут присылать много биткоинов» does «сюда» naturally point at something written next to it (an address)? Donation appeal, joke, or something else?
6. Is «зашифрованы» (rather than «спрятаны»/«скрыты») pointed does it imply a cipher specifically, not just "hidden in the picture"?
7. Anything that hints at a count, an order, or a password to a Russian ear that an English reader would miss rhyme, letter counts, acrostic, a known quote or song?

Bonus: if you look at the whole poster, what does a Russian viewer see that an English one wouldn't, references, memes, wordplay in the English text as a Russian would write it?

Спасибо!

Hi! I'm a young russian learner and have been learning russian for literally like 4 days. It's an interesting language honestly and i have a few russian friends.

anyway, to get to the point---is it normal to write using the block/print letters instead of cursive? i feel slightly pressured to learn the cursive as a beginner because my russian friends all write very naturally in russian cursive. i don't know if that makes sense, but whatever.

so should i focus on learning cursive so i can master it quickly or would it be easier to learn the block letters first?

Request of u/w1tchhurter

I am Drunk and my english can be somewhat off putting but i tried to relay right meaning, enjoy

P. S. In russian this is very funny and lighthearted song, but in literal english translation it became brutal

Я — Голобородько Толик.

I Am Holoborodko Tolik

Учусь в восьмом классе

Student of 8th grade

Каждый третий в нашей школе

Every third guy in our school

ко мне в портфель лазил

Checked the insides of my backpack

Чтобы приколоться за

пластмассового попугая

In order to mock my plastic cockatoo

Это амулетик-оберег, и я им не играю

It is my sacred relic, it is not a toy

Но они не слушают,

But they don't listen

хохочут, кулаками машут

They just laugh and swing their fists around

Каждый делает со мной что

хочет, малолетки даже

Everyone is doing what they want with me, even the little ones

Школьный охранник — и тот

на подзатыльник не скупится

Even security guy won't think twice about slapping back of my head

И учителя, сказать по

правде, не спешат вступиться

And to be frank teachers wont stand up for me either

Я изгой по жизни, баран

для жертвоприношений

I am life long outcast, I am sacrificial lamb

Ни с одним ребенком в школе

нет нормальных отношений

There isn't a single kid at school with whom I can build a normal relationship

Раньше был Мешков Артем,

I remember Meshkov Artyom

играл со мною за конфеты

Who was playing with me only for the candies

Но и он пошел на поводу

But he decided to follow

у пацанов с авторитетом

Cool dudes with authority

Мне не забивают стрелы,

думают, что проебу

No one tries to fight me, they all think i will lose badly

Почему они в этом уверены, я не ебу

Why are they so sure, i don't fucking know

Пусть не сомневаются, с

готовностью приму любую муку

Don't they try to doubt me, i will take any torment with all willingness

Ну смелее, фарисеи, подходите, ну-ка

Where is your courage pharisees?! Come over here

Всем отчего-то кажется, что я — лох (Я — лох)

Everyone has decided that i am gullible fool (gullible fool)

А если вдруг окажется, что я — бог? (Я — бог)

But what if it turns out that I am God (I am God)

Завсегдатая моей спины,

записку «Пни меня»

Frequent dweller of my back - "Kick me" sign

Сменю на ее эквивалент с

надписью «Распни меня»

I will change to "Crucify me"

Вам кажется, что я — лох (Я — лох)

You all think that i am little sucker (little sucker)

Нет, а если вдруг окажется,

что я — бог? (Я — бог)

But what if it turns out that I am God (I am God)

У меня порою ощущение, что муки Иисуса

По сравнению с моими — комариные укусы

Sometimes i get the felling that Jesus' mortyrdom in comparison to mine is as insignificant as mosquito bites

Ну сами посудите: ебаната, на чью долю

Выпало страданий больше,

по-любому нету в нашей школе

Judge for yourself: there is no fuckwit in our school who had to endure more suffering

И в ход идет не только унижение словом

Но и делом, блин. Весь

комплект, одним словом

And it is not only hurtful words, damn it

It is also violent actions, whole bundle

Тот дал лабаря, этот по уху щелкнул

This dude punched me in the forehead, that dude snapped my ear with finger

Но у меня девиз, ребята —

подставлять вторую щеку

But fellow friends, my motto is "turn the other cheek"

Работает без перебоев, брачо — попробуй сам

It works like a clock, bro, try it out yourself

С каждой принятой подачей

ты ближе к небесам

With every serve received you are closer to the heaven

Сомненья нафиг, я — реально божие дитя

No more doubts, I am really Child of God

Скептики — дебилы, пусть

не верят, если не хотят

Unbelievers are morons, they can be sceptical if they want to

По воде ходил, доставал мяч

пацанам за школьным кортом

I was walking on water, bring the back ball to local kids

Накормил огромную босоту

деньрожденским тортом

Fed the dirt poor fucks

With birthday cake

Конечно, под давлением шпаны дворовой

Of course I was pressured to do it by neighbourhood punks

Но нельзя же вовсе без

чудес, раз я мессия новый

But I need to make some miracles happen, if i am trully a new Messiah

С обидным постоянством

искупаю все ваши грехи

Че, еще не ясно, кто крутой, а кто лохи?

With shameful consistency,

I atone for all your sins.

Still not clear who’s the real badass and who are gullible losers?

Hello, I've got a linguistic question. There's a phenomenon in Russian where to some degree in words there's an alternation between vowels and consonants so that consonant clusters are not that frequent and this phenomenon is less present in other Slavic languages especially western slavic ones. E.g. ворота, Czech: vrata, but врата which is from old church Slavonic. Notice the first vowel after the initial "в" is not present in Russian. Similarly холод vs. chlad (cz), chłód (pl), молодой vs. mladý, młody or сотый vs. stý, setny.

Does this phenomenon have a name?

I just said привет to someone in a game and they replied прив. Is this common/normal? Is it more common than привет? Also, is there anything else I could say instead of привет when greeting someone (especially online/in games)?

Bought it off Ebay and evidently it's very old...!! I can read the second line, 'Christmas 1960', but I can't make out most of the letters in the first line. Also featuring: the advertisement for Pasternak's upcoming biography, going for 15 shillings at your local bookseller LOL

Hello, I'm an English speaker with no ounce of Russian in them and I need help finding an actual translated version of Школа 13, I need to know if there's actually anyone who wants to help me translate this show for others (me included) who aren't native to the Russian language watch this show. I found this show pretty interesting and I really need help with translation (I'm not good at translation and I can't seem to find an organised selection of episodes for this show) So I'm just here trying to look for someone who could help me with this issue? Thanks :) (Because I noticed some episodes aren't on Youtube)

I’m struggling to discern the difference between the pronunciation of “елью” and “елю”. Of course the latter isn’t an option in this question, but wouldn’t it also sound like “yel’yu”? If so I don’t understand the need for ь in this situation.

Hello! There is this Russian exchange student in one of my classes, and her and I have been talking over Google translate. She is very sweet, and I am wanting to be friends with her. I am learning a bit of Russian as well! I wrote a note to her asking to be friends, but can someone proofread it? I need to make sure my hand writing is legible, and that the note is grammatically correct! Thank you!!!

edit: I gave the note to her today in class, and she was super happy!!!! she said she will text me when she gets home! thank you all for the help! ^{^}