Beginner to Intermediate (ILR levels 0+ to 2)

  • Wikipedia - Article on Russian Language
    A substantive encyclopedic introduction and overview in English of the Russian language – its Alphabet, Grammar, History, and the like – with many hyperlinks to deeper sub-topics.
  • Russian Writing System
    Useful for those who need a basic introduction to Russian alphabet for elementary research. Site also has additional information and language related links.
  • Google Translate
    Translate a word, a phrase, or a document from Russian to English or reverse. Far from perfect but getting better all the time. Word level much better than phrase or text.
  • An Interactive Russian Online Reference Grammar - Robert Beard
    By Bucknell University professor. Solid basic grammar – from Cyrillic Alphabet and Rules of Pronunciation to Verbal Word Formation. Explanations of grammatical points are followed by interactive exercises that test and reinforce comprehension of materials covered.
  • Amazing Russian Channel on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCymAc4YKWYjDqNnLoK7m-2A Olga Jarrell's Amazing Russian channel features explanations of grammar points and conversational expressions in slow, clear Russian. Additional materials available on her website: https://www.amazingrussian.com/
  • Mezhdu Nami (Between Us) https://mezhdunami.org/ Mezhdu Nami is a free, web-based textbook that provides a comprehensive introduction to Russian language and culture.
  • Russian Grammar Channel on YouTube
  • Dr. Curtis Ford has created over 100 short videos on topics concerning Russian grammar and pronunciation. Additional materials available on his website: https://www.tips4russian.com/
  • Russian for Heritage Learners http://digitalrussian.middcreate.net/heritage/ These lessons have been developed specifically for heritage learners of Russian, i.e. bilinguals who have been immersed in Russian from childhood but who received all or most of their formal education in English.

Intermediate to Advanced (ILR levels 2 to 3 and higher)

  • Joint Language University
    An extensive NCS-managed language training portal available to USG and military only through account registration. Resources include LangNet Assessment Objects – large collection of exercises timed to mirror MCQ of DLPT5 in reading and listening comprehension; and LangNet Learning Objects – online exercises in reading and listening for acquisition, enhancement, refresher training. Ruth and Irina's Place – Additional practice for DLPTs. Also useful for self-study are many of the SCOLA products: news broadcasts, news archives, and the Insta-Classes – a variety of exercise based on broadcasts.
  • DLIFLC Language Products
    Developed by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) for military linguists, this website has some excellent sustainment materials; note in particular, Russian materials in GLOSS which contains over 500 Russian reading and listening comprehension exercises – 46 of which are based on videos; and Weekly Training Events, which has close to 50 Russian language lessons.
  • Rockin' Russian
    From the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL) at the University of Texas at Austin. An intermediate to advanced language course that uses Russian music videos to teach language, culture, listening comprehension, and a lot more. 
  • Russian for Russians
    By Olga Kagan (UCLA), Tatiana Akishina (USC), and Richard Robin (GWU). As title suggests, this interactive site is intended for Russian heritage speakers and focuses on language problems they tend to experience, like spelling phonetically; however, it is also an excellent resource for Intermediate to Advanced learners who need grounding and review in grammar and comprehension skills.
  • Russian Advanced Interactive Listening Series (RAILS)
    Produced by University of Wisconsin-Madison and funded by U.S. Dept. of Education. A series of 30 online, interactive video-based listening comprehension lessons for intermediate-advanced level students of Russian; based on excerpts from the films Solovky Power and Children of Ivan Kuzmich by Marina Goldovskaya, and on original, video-taped interviews with prominent Russians. Requires registration for user login/password.
  • Russian Language Workout, by Wesley Reed
    Originally developed for military assigned to DTRA, this website is worth exploring – though it is no longer maintained.
  • Russian Language Learning Website
    A joint University of Sussex and the London School of Economics and Political Science product. Based on short prose works by Pushkin, Gogol and Tolstoy and a poem by Blok, this intermediate level course includes the Russian text, a Russian/English parallel text, an audio reading of a stressed version of the text, and related comprehension, vocabulary and grammar exercises. Included as well are related scholarly articles written in English and video interviews and discussions of materials with native speakers.
  • SEELRC Russian Reference Grammar
    By Dr. Edna Andrews, Duke University. A stand-alone grammar as well as part of SEELRC Reference Grammar Network designed for advanced-level language users and linguists to compare semantic categories across languages. Completed are comparative grammars in BCS, Czech, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, and Russian. Others are under development.
  • Wikipedia - Russian Edition
    Security note: This site originates in the Russian Federation. The Russian language version of Wikipedia is substantial – over 500,000 articles – and growing daily. Use not only as a reference but also as a resource for reading materials – enter most any topic and you get a nice article written in perfect Russian. Most articles are at ILR 2 to 3 levels; you can also link to English language versions to facilitate and speed up comprehension and minimize use of working aids.

Advanced Resources, Media, and Dictionaries
Many links below connect to .ru sites
originating in the Russian Federation.

  • Biblioteka Maksima Moshkova
    Massive e-library portal of just about everything that was ever digitized in Russian - from histories, TV guides and cookbooks, to the world's classics and pulp fiction. The URL says it all: http://lib.ru/
  • National Corpus of the Russian Language
    An exceptionally rich research tool allowing one to perform a variety of word, phrase, and lexical-grammatic searches against the National Corpus data base.
  • Gramota.ru
    One of the most extensive and helpful sites on Internet. Links include Online Dictionaries, Reference Works, Online Classes, and the list goes on and on. Well worth exploring - something that can take days!
  • Squid Times Russia - Directory of Newspapers and News Sites
    Rich resource for online links to most well known Russian newspapers and news/media sites.
  • Squid TV Russia
    Comprehensive listing of links to Russian television programming.
  • Voice of America - Russian
    Voice of America ( VOA ) is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government.
  • Radio Liberty - Russian Service
    Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia , and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed."
  • BBC - Russian Service
    The British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC ) is a semi-autonomous public service broadcasting system.
  • Deutsche Welle - Russian
    DW is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market.
  • MULTITRAN System for Translators
    Simply the best online dictionary available.
  • Russian Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary
    This Russian website advertises itself as the "largest Russian abbreviations dictionary in the world," and, with regular updates to its 142,000+ entries, it most definitely deserves this claim.
  • Slovari.ru
    By Vinogradov Russian Language Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. Links to almost every available online dictionary.