Proper Russian

08/16/2026

If you've ever gone hiking and thought you'd reached the top of the climb — only to see a steeper peak waiting past the trees — that's basically what learning Russian feels like.

You get through the cases. You survive verbs of motion. You can finally read Chekhov without a dictionary in your other hand. And then someone asks about your plans for next week, and suddenly you don't know if "for" is для or за.

(Spoiler: it's neither. There's no single Russian word for "for" — because English "for" isn't one thing either.)

New post is up — meet Vlad, my scheduling-obsessed Russian friend, and find out why "на вторник" and "во вторник" aren't the same phrase at all. Free on the blog and on Patreon.

If you've ever gone hiking in the mountains, you might remember that feeling: you've been climbing for a few hours, you're exhausted, and yo

07/08/2026

https://haxyr3.com/2026/07/saint-john-the-baptist-and-the-soviet-union.html

I wrote something a little different this week — about a Soviet childhood holiday I didn't realize I'd forgotten until sixteen years of Canadian Julys had gone by.
Ivan Kupala was the one day a year kids were allowed to soak strangers with buckets of water, and no one was supposed to mind — it meant good health for the year ahead. It's a pagan solstice ritual wearing a saint's name, one the USSR never managed to fully erase.
This is about memory, emigration, and the strange things that outlast the systems built to stamp them out. Would love to hear if anyone else has a holiday like this from home.

Saint John the Baptist and the Soviet UnionBy Eugenia Vlasova / 2026-07-07 Sixteen years. This is how long it took me to forget something that had been with me since my earliest years — amused me through my childhood, annoyed me once I grew up, until my emigration to Canada. In the morning, I habi...

05/19/2026

New article on the blog — and this one is close to my heart.

Why do so many language learners get stuck despite knowing hundreds of words? It's not about vocabulary gaps, and it's not about grammar. The real issue is something most courses never address.

In this piece, I write about how native speakers actually acquire language — and what that means for adult learners. I also share the practices that worked for me personally when learning English, and that I've seen work for my students learning Russian.

If you've ever felt like the words are there but the sentences won't come — this article is for you.

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Why Words Don’t Make SentencesBy Eugenia Vlasova / 2026-05-19 “I know hundreds of words. I still can’t build a sentence”.  This frustration will be familiar to many language learners, especially to those who have already invested many hours into learning a new language. You memorize one voc...

04/30/2026

Have you ever had a student who walked in and said: "Please, no grammar. I just want to speak"?
I did. And instead of talking them out of it, I took the challenge seriously.
What followed was 19 lessons built entirely around real-life situations — not grammar rules. A tourist lost in a Russian speaking city. A suitcase that opened mid-flight. A family dinner where you need to ask for the salt without freezing up.
My student eventually flew to meet his Russian-speaking family. One day I received a photo from a place we had virtually walked through together in our lessons.
That was the real test. He passed.
The full story — including why role plays are irreplaceable, how context teaches better than rules, and what can be achieved if you ban linguistic yada-yada from your lessons — is on the blog now.
https://haxyr3.com/2026/04/no-grammar-just-russian.html

02/02/2026

Just published Part Three of "How To Fix Your Russian Pronunciation".
This one is about the single biggest thing holding most English speakers back: vowel reduction and correct stress. Skip reduction and you'll sound almost unintelligible to native Russians.

Lots of concrete ways to train it: podcasts + songs for ear training, clapping rhythms, recording yourself, reading aloud. The Patreon crew gets direct feedback on recordings too.
If you've been working through Parts 1 & 2, this closes the loop.
Link in comments / read here: https://haxyr3.com/2026/02/how-to-fix-your-russian-pronunciation-part-three.html
What’s the hardest pronunciation thing for you in Russian? Drop it below 👇

How To Fix Your Russian Pronunciation – Part ThreeBy Eugenia Vlasova / 2026-02-01 Vowels And Stress Patterns Want Russians to actually understand you when you speak? Master vowel reduction — it matters more than you think. This is the final installment of my series on Russian pronunciation. In P...

01/13/2026

New Article: The Truth About Russian Consonants (Part 2 of Pronunciation Series)

When I asked what part of Russian pronunciation you found most difficult, many of you identified hard and soft consonants - and you were absolutely right. This is where most learners struggle, even if the rolled R gets all the publicity.

I've just published Part 2 of my pronunciation guide, focusing entirely on consonants and what makes Russian sound the way it does.
In this article:
✓ Why Russian sounds "harsh" to foreign ears (it's prevoicing!)
✓ The real difference between Ш and Щ (it's not what you think)
✓ Why Russians say "foodball" instead of "football"
✓ Minimal pairs that prove palatalization matters (with audio)
✓ What ACTUALLY happens when Russians articulate soft consonants.

Master your Russian consonants, and you've done 80% of the pronunciation work. Seriously.
Read the full article: https://haxyr3.com/2026/01/how-to-fix-your-russian-pronunciation-part-two.html
What's YOUR biggest consonant struggle? Let me know in the comments!

How To Fix Your Russian Pronunciation – Part TwoBy Eugenia Vlasova / 2026-01-12 What Makes Up Russian Pronunciation: Consonants In the previous article, I wrote about why pronunciation is more difficult to learn than grammar, and why many academic courses fail to teach proper pronunciation. In thi...

01/12/2026

Fun Russian language fact

In English, when someone shares information, you might ask "How do you know that?"

But in Russian, we say "Откуда ты знаешь?" which literally translates to "From WHERE do you know?"

This small difference reveals something fascinating about Russian communication culture: we're fundamentally interested in your source rather than your process. We want to know who told you, where you read it, or what authority you're citing.
It's like having "citation needed" built into everyday conversation!
So next time a Russian-speaking friend asks you "откуда ты знаешь?" (from where?), don't take it personally — they're just doing what comes naturally in our language! 📚

12/25/2025

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A secret visit of Nirvana to early 90’s Moscow #нирвана ❕❕❕ВАЖНО:Данное видео не предназначено для коммерческого использования или монетиза...

12/24/2025

A very helpful guide to holiday greetings from Stanislav Chernyshov — from how to say greetings to how to toast.

Wishing you all peaceful and relaxing holidays!

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

12/22/2025

New book from the authors of the Поехали! series — updated, actual Russian, great set of exercises and a lot of fun!
I bought one for myself - there are lots of ideas for my lessons with beginner students!

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.