My language acquisition method
Skip to the end to see the resources I use.
After stumbling around for a couple of months trying different apps and methods I've settled upon an overall strategy that seems to be working for me. If I ever decide to acquire another language I will follow this as closely as possible, as long as the required resources are available. The primary goal is to be able to have conversations about every day topics. Everything is geared towards that. The full list of resources is at the bottom.
This strategy is primarily influenced by Steve Kaufman of LingQ.com, Stephen Krashen (Comprehensible Input Hypothesis) and Matt from Refold.la. There are no affiliate links on this site. I get no benefits from any recommendations I make. I think this method is applicable to any European language. I'm not sure about Asian or African languages.
1. Listen to language dense native content from the first day. I started listening to Dungeons & Dragons live streams which are well suited in my opinion because it involves a small group of people, lots of descriptions and use of numbers. If they are available you can also watch Comprehensible Input and TPRS videos. Do a search for those terms and 'Russian' and you'll find several channels. See also the side bar.
Just put the native content videos on in the background and get used to hearing people speaking the language. Do this for as many hours as possible. CI videos might take a lot of effort to watch in the beginning and you might only be able to watch them for 5 to 10 minutes before losing concentration. Over time you will be able to watch them for longer without losing focus.
2. Depending on how different the language is from your own I would start working through the appropriate Fluent Forever: Pronunciation Trainer, the goal is to be able to recognise / hear the phonemes of the target language as clearly as possible. There will be a point of diminishing returns after which you should stop and focus on native content.
3. Find an Anki deck (or use the Fluent Forever: Word List) and start learning to recognise the most 500 - 1000 most common words (Here are some: Most Common Russian Words). Don't stress about not remembering everything. Think of it as a sieve with holes, lots of words are going to fall through, but just keep pouring more into your head until you've worked your way through the whole list over the course of a couple of months.
This is not about someone asking you what the word for 'dog' is and being able to reply in your target language. It's about seeing or hearing the word in your target language and knowing it means 'dog'. There's a difference between those two things. For now it's about acquiring passive/recognised vocabulary. You don't need to reach a perfect score with the Anki deck, give it your best shot and get to the end. Vocabulary is best learned in context (CI or reading) but it helps to pre-load your brain with a bunch of words.
In November 2022 I discovered the ListLang app (also for iOS ListLang) which is a free (last time I checked) app that teaches you the first 1000 words using example sentences. It also allows you to create your own word lists and automatically find example sentences. If you dislike Anki this might work better for you. Be aware that the audio is generated so you might not want to use this app until you're more confident with pronouncing Russian.
I think it's a very good app that can also be used at a later stage since you don't need to speak or write, just choose one of four answers. This means you can work in silence and focus on just acquiring vocabulary without any other distractions. I stopped using it after a while because I was spreading myself to thin over too many apps. But I still recommend it if you're starting out.
4. Optional: Start using LingQ (the mini stories) and Glossika to practice listening, reading and pronunciation. I don't use Glossika for typing. I think this site has been useful for Russian but it might be a less efficient use of time if I wanted to learn something like Italian. Do this for 15 minutes a day. 50 reps and 5 new sentences per day.
5. Once you have a passive vocabulary (words you recognise the meaning of) of around 250 it's time to start watching more Comprehensible Input and TPRS videos if available and if you haven't already, otherwise simple content aimed at beginners.
6. Once you've worked your way through the Anki deck of most frequently used words (don't worry about remembering everything just get to the end), get the Speakly app if it has your target language. It teaches the most common 4000 words in context of sentences, stories, monologues and dialogues. It covers everyday stuff like work, travel, friends, eating etc. Not silly stories about parrots. Don't worry about memorising everything. Have a go at the speaking exercises but feel free to skip stuff to keep moving forward. The main goal is to unlock the stories/monologues and dialogues.
7. Once you've unlocked 5 to 10 stories/monologues in Speakly, download the MP3s of each one and copy the text into LingQ. Start reading along with the audio, out loud if you want to practice your pronunciation. Use LingQ to learn vocabulary in context. As you reach 80 - 90% understanding of the latest story go back to Speakly to unlock more stories. If you get to the point where the stories make no sense, take a break and work through them in LingQ. I don't use any of the LingQ features such as fill in the blank exercises. Occasionally I read through the emails that list the words that are not yet fully known.
8. By now you should be passively and actively listening to the Speakly stories over and over as well as reading them in LingQ. At this point I'm also occasionally watch Russian vlogs, or channels like Russian with Max and Comprehensible Russian or other native content. But most of my passive and active audio input is Speakly stories.
9. Bonus activities: For Russian I think it's also a good idea to read Roots of the Russian Language: An Elementary Guide to Wordbuilding and work through the Roots Anki Deck. It's a brutal slog to get through but I think it will provide an unconscious foundation for learning new words. Again, the aim is not for perfect recall but recognition.
10. Start reading up on Grammar. For Russian I have the Penguin Russian Course. Speakly and LingQ both have grammar guides.
Repeat steps 7 - 10 indefinitely.
11. After about 900 hours of study+immersion I started speaking practice with people on the Tandem app and conversation practice with a tutor twice a week. According to the Refold method I stated a bit early, but it's fun and motivating for me to put what I've learned so far into practice. You can start practicing speaking when you feel the urge but I've noticed that people who start early often have a poor accent, unless they are experienced language learners and take care to work on their pronunciation.
12. Extra special bonus activity. About 2.5 years into my studies I discovered a course called Russian Accelerator. It's not cheap but it's very good for teaching you how to think in Russian. Although it's aimed at beginners I'm glad I came to it later on because the course teacher's accent is not very good. But because I have a strong foundation of pronunciation and vocabulary I can overlook that aspect and focus on the grammar explanations. To get an idea of how the course works check out the free podcast by the same person: Russian Made Easy.
Final comments
Although I broadly try to follow the Refold method there are some difference in my approach. I only use Anki to load my brain with a basic amount of vocabulary and I don't continue using it indefinitely for learning sentences that I mine from content. This is because I find Anki incredibly boring. Also I'm not able to (or want to) spend many hours a days watching entertainment content (movies, shows, cartoons etc.)
On average I spend an hour a day with Russian and in order to be efficient I focus as much as I can on content, apps and resources that teach every day conversation topics (going to the shop, arranging a meeting with friends, booking a flight).
I believe that using Speakly+LingQ serves the same function as Anki+Entertainment and it's more enjoyable for me. I only occasionally watch TV shows or bits of movies because personally it's not something I enjoy doing, even in English. Also the language density is very low, people aren't constantly speaking because a lot of the story is communicated visually.
I might read fiction in the future but for now I also feel it's not an efficient use of my time. If for example I were to read Harry Potter I'd be learning lots of words to do with magic and fantasy, stuff that I won't have a use for in day to day life. I make an exception for listening to Dungeons & Dragons streams early on because it's very language dense. Lots of descriptions of people, locations, dialogue etc. There is no dead space.
When I get to the stage where I want to dedicate more time to reading without audio. I'm much more likely to read non-fiction, because it's much more useful in the context of being able to speak to people. (In July 2023 after about 1000 hours of Russian I started reading 101 Conversations in Simple Russian and over the course of the year I found myself reading more Russian 'out in the wild', X/Twitter, YouTube and Instagram comments etc.)
That's my approach to learning Russian as of January 2024.
For comparison you can read about my initial plan on how to acquire Russian in my first post here: An experiment in learning Russian the natural way
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