Defender of the Fatherland Day (or День защитника Отечества) is a significant celebration to the Russian people. Formerly known as Red Army Day, Defender of the Fatherland Day is set aside to honor and celebrate those who serve (or have served) in the Russian army. Learn the Russian language in context by exploring the country’s various holidays. By learning about Defender’s Day in Russia, you’re also allowing yourself to better understand the Russian culture and showing respect for its defenders as well. Let RussianPod101.com guide you through the various aspects of Russian Army Day, including Defender of the Fatherland Day traditions. 1. What is Russian Defender of the Fatherland Day? Defender of the Fatherland Day, or in... Show more

Do you often feel lonely and sad? Do you long for romance and are willing to do whatever it takes to meet that special person? Speaking another language could revolutionize your love life! So, why wait? Learning how to say ‘love’ in Russian could be just what you need to find it. Or perhaps you were lucky, and have found your Russian partner already. Fantastic! Yet, a cross-cultural relationship comes with unique challenges. Learning how to speak your lover’s language will greatly improve your communication and enhance the relationship. At RussianPod101, our team will teach you all the words, quotes and phrases you need to woo your Russian lover with excellence! Our tutors provide personal assistance, with plenty of extra material... Show more

Can You Really Learn Russian Alone? Learning a language on your own or without traditional classroom instruction may seem quite daunting at first. What if you run into questions? How do you stay motivated and on track to achieving goals? Don’t worry, not only is it possible to learn Russian or any language without traditional classroom instruction: RussianPod101 has created the world’s most advanced and extensive online language learning system. Not only is RussianPod101 specifically designed to help you with learning a language on your own, it’s actually faster, more convenient, and less expensive than traditional classroom options! Let’s look at some of the benefits of learning Russian or any language alone. Also, don't forget to... Show more

Yes, even beginners can quickly learn conversational Russian well enough to carry on real conversations with native speakers. Of course, beginners won’t be able to carry a conversation the same way they could in their native language. But, just knowing a few tips like which questions to ask to keep a conversation going are all you need to speak and interact with real native speakers! But before we get to specific suggestions, let’s first take a closer look at how having real Russian conversations is so vital to your mastery of the language. Learning to Carry a Conversation is Vital to Mastery of Any Language Communicating with other people is the very point of language and conversation is almost second nature in our native tongue. For... Show more

День российского студенчества (Den' rassiyskava studenchestva) or “Russian Students’ Day,” also called Tatiana Day, is a day of great celebration among Russian youth. Not only does this day mark the end of the first school term (and therefore the end of finals!), it also holds great historical significance and is filled with lavish parties. As is true for all Russian holidays, learning about Tatiana Day in Russia will provide you with great insight into Russian culture and history. Find out more about the origins of Russian Students’ Day and how this holiday’s celebrated in Russia with RussianPod101.com! 1. What is Russian Students’ Day? Considering how many Russian holidays and celebrations there are, what makes Tatiana Day so... Show more

Today, classrooms are no longer the only or even best place to learn a new language like Russian. More and more people are finding that they can easily learn a language just about anywhere they have a few minutes of spare time, including their daily commute to work. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American spends over 50 minutes a day commuting to and from work, or over 300 hours a year. Rethinking Your Daily Commute to Work But rather than simply sitting in traffic and wasting the time, you can instead use your daily commute to literally learn Russian in just a few short months! RussianPod101 has developed specialized learning tools that you can use on your commute to work (and home again) to master the language in... Show more

Have you ever thought about how the choice of words when greeting sets the mood for the whole conversation? Hello. Howdy. What’s up. Yo. Aloha. Salute. Do you feel the difference between how these words affect the situations they’re used in? The same concept is true for the Russian language. There are a lot of different greeting words in there and you should try to understand and imagine every situation in which they could be used. That said, here are some Russian greetings for beginners. 1. Russian Greetings for Beginners There are two basic ways to say “Hello” in Russian. Здравствуйте (zdravstvuyte) — This is a formal Russian greeting for “Hello.” If you ask a local: “How do you say ‘Hello’ in Russian?” he’ll teach you this word.... Show more

We are so lucky. Think about it: if you wanted to learn Russian (or any other skill) even 25 years ago, you would’ve needed to go to the library, take expensive classes and hunt down the right information. Instead of spending your time practicing, you would be busy doing other things. Now, with a quick Google search you can find literally anything you need for learning Russian on the internet: Forgot the genitive plural of female nouns? Wikipedia has a detailed page explaining those. Want to watch Russian movies with subtitles? Check out Youtube (Mosfilm in particular). Or like to put your Russian to the test with a one-on-one lesson with a native Russian speaker? Tons of online platforms where you can have Skype lessons. So it’s... Show more

Most everyone is familiar with this day, as it is celebrated nearly everywhere the world. Yet, when exactly is April Fools’ Day? And where did April Fools come from? April Fools’ Day is observed on April 1st every year. This day of jokes and pranks is believed to have stemmed from the 16th-century calendar change in France, when New Year’s Day was moved from April 1 to January 1. This action was taken due to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar. However, a few people were resistant to the calendar change, so they continued to observe New Year’s Day on April 1st, rather than the new date. They were referred to as the “April Fools”, and others started playing mocking tricks on them. This custom endured, and is practiced to this day... Show more

Russian isn’t at the top of the list of easy foreign languages. If you’re a native English speaker you will have to contend with the Cyrillic alphabet, complex grammar, and difficult pronunciation. Many new Russian learners start out strong, but peter out after a short time. But that doesn’t have to be your story. Don’t let the grizzly reputation of the Russian language scare you away. Yes it’s not easy, but it probably isn’t as hard as you think either. In this post we give you five practical tips to help you win while learning Russian. Follow these and you will be hard pressed not to see improvement in your language ability! 1. Develop a good Russian Accent When I first started to learn Russian the words overwhelmed me.... Show more