How to Use

Learning Russian on Russian From Scratch is simple: follow each day's instructions carefully. The most crucial part of your learning will always be input—listening, watching, and absorbing as much Russian as you can, consistently.

Why Input Matters Most

Traditional language learning tries to make you speak before you're ready, forcing you to memorize grammar rules or drill vocabulary out of context.

But when you're pushed to speak too early, you're often just guessing, making mistakes, and creating bad habits. Instead, our method emphasizes constant exposure to natural, understandable Russian—similar to how children learn their first language.

Required Reading: Input - what it is and why you need it

Daily Lessons: How to Use Them

Each day's lesson comes with clear instructions: simply follow along step-by-step. If you've comfortably finished a day's content, it's perfectly fine to continue to the next lesson. But don't rush—take breaks if you're tired. Enjoying the process is crucial; if you don't, burnout is inevitable.

The Levels, from A1 to C2

Lessons are grouped into levels on the CEFR scale, the European standard that runs from A1 (beginner) to C2 (near native). Each level has its own page: Newbie (A1), Pre-Elementary (A2), Elementary (B1), Intermediate (B2), Upper-Intermediate (C1), Advanced (C2).

The course is meant to be followed in order, but there's no rush. You can move forward when you're ready or revisit previous lessons as often as you like. Repetition is part of the process: it helps your brain internalize the language over time.

Using a Lesson Page

Every lesson is one short conversation, in a few numbered steps. Press Play all to hear it from start to finish, or the round button next to a line to hear just that line. The line being played is highlighted, so your eyes can follow along. The Options button above the dialogue holds these settings, and the page remembers them for every lesson:

• Play each line once, twice or three times in a row.
• Speed slows the audio down to 0.8× or 0.6× without changing the voice.
• Hide the English covers the translations with soft bars so you can test yourself. Tap a covered line to peek at it.
• Word cards: point at any word of a Russian line (or tap it) to see what it means, with its stress marked.
• Listen only hides all the text, for pure listening.
• Stress marks show which syllable is stressed (приве́т), where we have them.

On a computer, the keyboard works too: R plays or pauses the whole dialogue, 1 to 9 play a line, E hides or shows the English, and the ← → arrows go to the previous or next day.

When you've finished a lesson, press Done, on to the next day: it marks the day done and takes you to the next one. The course page and the menu then show where you left off. If you spot a mistake in a line, press Spotted a mistake? under the dialogue, choose the line and tell us what's wrong.

Your Progress, and Keeping a Backup

There are no accounts: the lessons you've marked done and your settings are saved in your own browser, and nothing is sent to us. That also means a few things can erase them. Your progress stays when you close the tab or the browser, restart your device, or clear only your browsing history in Chrome, Edge or Firefox. It is erased when you clear this site's cookies and site data (Safari's Clear History does this too), when you study in a private window and close it, and by Safari itself when you use Safari for about a week without visiting the site. Another browser or device starts empty.

So keep a backup. Open Your progress from the menu (or "Keep a backup" under a lesson's Done button) and copy your backup link, or download a backup file. The link holds your progress itself, in the part after the "#", which your browser never sends to any website, so it works on any device and never expires. Open it, and the site offers to restore your progress; nothing you've already done in that browser is lost.

Maximizing Your Input

Your goal is simple: get as much input as possible. This doesn't mean just focused study; it means immersing yourself in Russian as often as you can—even passively. Listen to Russian podcasts, audio lessons, or review materials while you walk, exercise, cook, or commute.

AJATT famously emphasizes this: passive listening helps your brain get accustomed to Russian sounds, making the language feel natural over time. In our resources section, you'll find plenty of podcasts and extra audio to keep your input levels high.

How to Use Anki Every Day

Listening alone isn't enough: we’re not children anymore, so passive input needs reinforcement. To truly internalize what you hear, use the provided Anki decks daily.

These decks are structured to review sentences and vocabulary you've encountered in your lessons. Don't worry about grammar rules like past tense or dative cases (and Russian has plenty!).

Instead, focus on understanding each sentence: grasp what each part is doing without stressing over specific grammar terminology. Grammar study comes later—much later, and only if you feel the need once you're already comfortable and advanced.

Importing an Anki Deck

1. Install Anki. It's free on computers (apps.ankiweb.net) and on Android (AnkiDroid). On iPhone and iPad, the official app is AnkiMobile, which is paid.
2. On a lesson page, download the day's deck. Each deck holds every line of that day's dialogue, with its audio when the lesson has been recorded.
3. Open the downloaded file: double-click it on a computer, or open it with AnkiDroid or AnkiMobile on a phone. The cards go into a deck named after the level and the day, for example "Newbie::Day 12".
4. Review in Anki every day. New days add to the same level, and Anki decides when each card comes back.

Once all the decks of a level are ready, its level page (Newbie, Pre-Elementary and so on, linked from the course page) also offers them in one download. Some of these are large (the Newbie bundle is about 77 MB), so download them on Wi-Fi. Importing a deck again later updates its cards instead of adding copies.

Enjoy the Process and Avoid Burnout

Learning a language should be enjoyable. If you're feeling exhausted, slow down. Remember, this isn't just about learning Russian; it's about getting used to Russian. Constantly hearing Russian—even passively—makes it part of your daily life. Eventually, it becomes natural, comfortable, and even part of your identity.

If you consistently engage with the language through input, you'll soon find yourself dreaming in Russian. When you've had enough exposure, the desire to speak will naturally emerge—you won’t need to force it. It'll come as naturally as breathing.

Don’t Give Up—We're Always Here

Learning Russian is a journey, not a race. If life gets in the way and you take a break, that's fine. We'll always be here. Simply come back whenever you're ready, pick up exactly where you left off, and keep going.

Trust the process, keep listening, keep reviewing, and above all—enjoy yourself. Russian will become a natural part of your life before you know it.