Here is a compiled list of immersion-based learning resources for Russian, some of which I have used myself.
The information is not guaranteed to be correct. If you would like to correct anything, please join our Matrix or Telegram chatroom and give your suggestions. (link on the sidebar)
Textbooks
| Name | URL | File Type | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| The New Penguin Russian Course | libgen | This book covers pretty much all basic grammar concepts you’ll need. Do note that it’s somewhat dated and some descriptions may no longer be accurate (One thing being the postal address system, which is no longer used) |
Anki decks
ru15k v2.1 - Targeted Sentence Cards for 15000 Russian words
I made this deck myself, because I could not find any satisfactory ones. The 2.0 version has much fewer errors and significantly better coverage.
Books
Simply search the title of the book online and add скачать (“download”) or читать онлайн (“read online”). It is significantly easier to find resources than by making equivalent queries in English. Try reading translations of English books or Japanese light novels if you find native writing too difficult.
Tip: Read novels of the anime series you watched. You would know the basic plot but it would still have a lot of extra details to keep it interesting. They are very easy to find on Runet.
TV shows
Refer to the Google spreadsheet for more complete information.
Some subtitles are available for download from MEGA folder.
Only native subtitled shows are listed here. If you can go without subtitles, we assume you have the ability to find things by yourself. You can also watch dubbed shows, but do not expect them to have any subtitles either.
If a show you want to watch is not listed here, it may still have subtitles. Try these websites: 1 2 3
You can also get condensed audio files for some of these shows here for passive listening.
NOTE: If only some seasons of a specific show is listed here, it means the other ones do not have subtitles.
SoL: Slice of Life
| Title | Genre | Season # | Hours | Sub quality | Video Links | Subs Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Кухня | SoL | 1 | 7.6 | Desynced | YT | MEGA |
| Кухня | SoL | 2 | 7.6 | Desynced | above | MEGA |
| Кухня | SoL | 3 | 7.6 | Desynced | above | MEGA |
| Кухня | SoL | 4 | 7.6 | Good | above | MEGA |
| Отель элеон | SoL | 1 | 7.6 | Good | YT | MEGA |
| Отель элеон | SoL | 2 | 7.6 | Good | above | MEGA |
| Слуга народа | Political | 1 | 9.2 | Good | YT | MEGA (embedded ones are bad) |
| Слуга народа | Political | 2 | 11.2 | Good | above | MEGA (There are no embedded ones) |
| Назад в СССР | SoL | 1 | 3.5 | Good | YT | Embedded |
| Лучше, чем люди | Scifi | 1 | 13.3 | Good | NF RT | Embedded |
| Эпидемия | Thriller | 1 | 6.4 | Good | NF RT | Embedded |
| Анна-детективъ | Mystery | 1 | 44.8 | Good | YT | Embedded |
| Фарца | SoL | 1 | 7.1 | Good | RT | Embedded |
| Топи | Mystery | 1 | 6.8 | Good | RT | MEGA |
Youtube Channels
Note: “Subtitles” always mean Russian subtitles
Learner oriented
I recommend watching most of the videos in these channels in the following order (except FAQ or livestreams, which often have lower audio quality). The last two are similar in difficulty. You should aim to first watch the grammar channel once to familiarize yourself with the grammatical categories, and re-watch whenever you feel the need for it or any sort of confusion.
| Name | Subtitles? | Difficulty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russian grammar | N/A | English-language explanations of Russian grammar. | |
| Comprehensible Russian | Rare, but difficult words are often on written on the screen. | Zero - Beginner | Talks very slowly, good for absolute beginners with zero vocabulary. |
| Russian with Max | Yes | Beginner - Intermediate | Talks slowly and clearly, good for beginners. Some episodes has more advanced content. |
| Russian Progress | Yes | Intermediate | Talks faster than Max and does not pronounce each word as clearly, but still quite understandable. |
| 99% in Russian | Yes | Intermediate | Travel vlogs |
General audience
TV news channels are not included in the list below. You can find them easily elsewhere. If you decide to watch news, avoid consuming too much state-owned or state-aligned news, such as RT, РИА Новости, or Россия 1.
| Name | Subtitled? | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| ПроВокруг | Many videos | Apartments in Russian cities |
| Utopia show | Often | Interesting stories, popular topics |
| Орел и Решка | Often, but all recent videos have them. | Travel show showing the lives of both the rich and the poor. |
| varlamov | Often | Urban planning, current events, among other things |
| Bad Planet | Often | Documentaries about nature |
| Простые числа | Often | Economics |
| Alpha Centauri | Often | Space news |
| История всего | Rare | History, alternate history |
| The люди | Rare | Lives of people in interesting places |
| Микитко сын Алексеев | Rare | Linguistics and the history of the Russian language |
| Антон Птушкин | Rare (but has English ones) | Travel vlogs |
| Arzamas | Rare | History, literarature. |
| Александра Киевская | Rare | Urban adventure |
| ПостНаука | Rare | Interviews with scientists |
| Асафьев Стас | Rare | Cars |
| Редакция | Rare | News, documentaries, special reports |
| ПостРоссия | Automatic only | Nostalgia |
| Тучный Жаб | Automatic only | Reading out translated popular Reddit threads. |
| SkyShips | Automatic only | Airplanes |
| The Curious | None | Dubs of English geopolitics channels, esp CaspianReport |
Podcasts for learners
In general these are more difficult than learning youtube videos, because there is no visual reference.
Most podcasts for general audiences are quite difficult to understand due to fast speech and the lack of visual cues, so we do not list them here.
Criteria:
- Has to be almost entirely in Russian, no substantial passages in other languages
- Most episodes has to be available without a paywall.
| Name | Transcript? | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Comprehensible Russian Podcast | Paywalled | Podcasts by the guy behind Russian with Max YT channel. Somewhat more difficult than the videos. |
| The Russian Twist Podcast | Paywalled | Interviews with guests |
| Next Level Russian | Website | Short podcasts on random topics |
| Очень по-русски | No | Short Russian lessons in Russian |