We are always ready and happy to go for a beer, meet friends, watch a movie… But when it’s time to learn Russian, the alarms go off, and we run away. Are we lazy learners? Maybe we are, but there’s always a solution to every problem.

Here we’re going to recommend three ways to learn Russian (or any other language) for those of you who are allergic to classrooms and textbooks. We have to find a solution because deep in our hearts we understand that learning Russian will do us good.

1. Listen to Russian music

There’s a big plus here. Listening to music is always cool and never boring. So, let’s go! Start changing your music collection and get into some Russian sounds. You’ll get used to listening to Russian words on the go and, while you repeat the lyrics, you’ll be learning. An extra plus is that you’ll get to know Russian singers, songs and bands, which is part of Russia’s culture. You’ll be killing two birds with one stone or, as Russians say, you’ll get two mushrooms with one spoon! 

In this link, you can find some Russian music videos with the lyrics translated into English:
http://www.russianforfree.com/music-videos-in-russian.php

Zhanna Friske (Жанна Фриске), Russian pop singer

2. Learn Russian watching cartoons

This is maybe something you weren’t expecting, but watching cartoons can indeed help you learn Russian. The reason is that any tv show, music or series created for children uses clear and easy to understand vocabulary. The words and sentences are clearly pronounced and you won’t find very complicated words. Now you know what to do: instead of watching those tv series with sophisticated plots and technical vocabulary, switch to some Russian cartoons! 

Here you can find some cartoons with a full transcription of the Russian dialogues:
http://www.russianforfree.com/cartoons-in-russian.php

Smeshariki (Смеша́рики), a very popular Russian animated television series

3. Read comics in Russian

If you are a comic reader, you’ll know that a picture is worth a thousand words. You can understand a big part of the story just watching the pictures. Besides, comics have fewer letters than a novel. How can this help you learn a language? First of all, the pictures will help you understand what you read. Also, since the text is not long, you won’t feel lazy about looking up a couple of words in the dictionary. 

Here you can find Russian comic strips with English translations:
http://www.russianforfree.com/comics-in-russian.php

Garfield (Гарфилд), comic strip in Russian 

If you enjoy what you do, you’ll learn faster 

The idea behind the learning tips you’ve just read is simple: when you enjoy what you’re doing, you’ll spend more time doing it before getting tired. Maybe you don’t like learning Russian or maybe you get bored quickly. But if you like listening to music, watching tv (who doesn’t?) or reading comics, you’ll find a way to enjoy learning Russian. But also bear in mind that some effort is usually required. If you want to speak Russian, you’ll have to spend some time learning it. But you know that, in the end, it’s worth it!