Vocabulary
A short poem (called ‘Woordenschat’ – Vocabulary) by Jaap van Lakerveld goes like this:
A man whose small vocabulary
I estimate to be six words
says to the woman who loves him
when she asks how he feels about her
‘I don’t have the words, my dear’
With love – here are clips (and resources) to help you learn Russian words and build your vocabulary.
Reading First Words
Short words that are easy to follow, with pictures included. Да, нет, кот (yes, no, cat): if this is too simple, here is part 2. Brought to you by Amazing Russian.
1000 Most Common Words in Russian
Start with здравствуйте (the formal hello) and доброе утро (good morning), and then continue (in parts) with the remaining 998. This is part 1; you can find part 2, part 3, and many more on YouTube. From LearnRussian.org.
25 Must-Know Russian Nouns
Nouns for beginners, already moving beyond tourist vocabulary, like человек (person) and жизнь (life). Includes example sentences, from RussianPod101.
That channel offers many options for working on vocabulary. Often in compilations with a lot of overlap, but repetition is key to remembering. So check out:
- 900 Words Every Russian Beginner Must Know (2020, 123 m)
- 600 Words Every Russian Beginner Must Know (2019, 82 m)
- 800 Words Every Russian Beginner Must Know (2019, 109 m)
- 500 Words Every Russian Beginner Must Know (2019, 68 m)
- 300 Words Every Russian Beginner Must Know (2019, 39 m)
- 30 Beginner Russian Words (2019, 10 m)
- 125 Basic Russian Words (2016, 62 m)
- 30 Intermediate Russian Words (2019, 13 m)
And also the Playlist Learn Russian Vocabulary with Pictures (25 videos, 2014).
Russian with Nastya
This channel has an extensive series of vocabulary videos (2020), for various levels. You have to enjoy or tolerate a slower pace. For beginners (A1), try “Do You Know This A1 Level Russian Vocabulary?” (part 1, 2020, 26 m) and A1 Level Basic Vocabulary (part 2, 2020, 28 m). Part 1 is below.
For higher levels or later on:
- A2 part 1 (22 m)
- A2 part 2 (22 m)
- B1 part 1 (20 m)
- B1 part 2 (22 m)
- B2 part 1 (19 m)
- B2 part 2 (21 m)
- B2 part 3 (21 m)
And she’s already up to C1.
She’s also made compilations, such as Complete Vocabulary for A1 & A2 Levels (2020, 95 m) and B1 & B2 Complete Vocabulary (2020, 101 m). Plus, there’s a series of 16 videos called Vocabulary Games, so you’re all set!
More
- Learn Russian Basic 1000 Vocabulary with Native Speaker (Joytan App, 2020, 121 m)
- 209 Russian Common Words Reading (Denis Fedorov, 2018, 6 m)
- Playlist
Basic Russian Vocabulary (17 videos, Russian Language - Easy Learning)
Also see:
- Russian Vocabulary Made Easy: Are Russian Words That Hard? (Anna Cher, 2019, 7 m)
- How to Increase Vocabulary in Russian – Tips for Learning Russian (Real Russian Club, 2017, 5 m)
More
Language
Verbs work for those who want to make sentences. There - work and make, there you already have two. And try to make Russian out of that sentence if you if you don’t know работать or делать. So work, also on your vocabulary.
Even with bad news there is good news: there is a lot to learn from it. Russian news articles are excellent teaching material, even for the more advanced student.
The sixth noun, in Russian предложный падеж, is for most students the first one they learn. The reason is simple: the sixth grammatical case itself is.
And then it became war. Or should we say began the special military operation. On
February 24 2022 Russian troops entered Ukraine. It was allowed
neither war nor invasion be called, but it was akin to both.
This often comes as a setback for students of Russian: of (almost) every Russian verb there are two. Which do mean approximately the same thing, but express very different things. So you need to know both, and of both learn the conjugations.
Making mistakes in Cyrillic is no big deal. Everyone does. But wrong Cyrillic, that’s the biggest mistake you can make. And the worst thing you can do with that noble Cyrillic can do.
