In this episode, we talk about Russian as a living language, not a textbook. We swap stories about how we started, what actually moved the needle, and why “just living in Russia” often isn’t enough. We get into the classic pain points for English speakers: cases, verb aspect, word order, and the weird moment when you understand plenty but still can’t produce clean sentences.

We also argue about motivation and the expat bubble, why Moscow can make it too easy to stall, and why sounding “correct” is a different skill from sounding natural. Along the way we share what’s worked for us (and what hasn’t), from tutors and dry grammar books to Anki, sentence mining, YouTube, and learning through family life. Finally, we end on what Russian gives you beyond logistics: access to culture, different registers of society, and a less provincial view of the world.

This podcast is an independent project and does not represent the views of our employers or affiliated institutions.