RussianPod101.com Blog

If you’ve been thinking about how you’re going to make the most of this summer, we’ve got some great news for you.

You don’t have to travel the world to immerse yourself in Russian culture. You can learn Russian this summer at a teeny tiny fraction of what it would cost you to take a big trip.

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*Complete Audio Archive Access
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*Instant Word Finder
*1-on-1 Live Instructor Hours
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How to Really Learn Russian in Just Minutes a Day and Stick with it

The Myth

What if I told you mastering Russian wasn’t that hard. That actually learning the language itself is not nearly as difficult as you may have heard. And that the problem to progressing is an age old one…failure to execute.

The Real Issue

Said another way, “People don’t progress ’cause they don’t do! If you don’t do the work, you won’t reach your goals.” Read the rest of this entry »

On June 12th of each year, the Russians celebrate a holiday known as Russia Day. This National holiday of the Russian Federation marks the approval of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet that took place on June 12, 1990.

The holiday was initiated on June 12, 1992 in remembrance of this momentous occasion. It symbolized the fight for democracy against the communism that was dominant in Russia at the time.

The national interest in economic reform formed the democratic movement for change. People responded to this new idea and the Russian statehood was consolidated to reflect a new constitution and a new President of the Russian Federation.

This was a great landmark reached and so the Russians celebrated this milestone in their political life and called it Russia Day. December 25, 1991 marked a new day for Russia as the country’s name was changed as the Supreme Soviet of Russian announced the beginning of a National holiday.

Russia Day is a reflection of the country’s past and its present as most country’s holiday do. It celebrates the culture of Russia as well as the experiences that brought the country to this point.

Previously, the holiday was known as Russian Independence Day, but was soon changed to Russia Day in 2002 as the people of Russia struggled to understand from whom they had derived their Independence even though it was said to have been from the Soviet Union.

The Russians saw this day as a day off from their normal life of going to work and doing other things. They viewed their status as a nation that has always been a Russian State despite the different name changes. There are some that see this as the day that their government had crumbled under pressure. Some remembered it as a time of social disorder and economic difficulties.

There are some who embrace it and enjoy the day of track and field that is held on the exterior of the Kremlin. On that day, the President of Russia gives away achievement awards in Science and Culture.

There are activist that use this day as an opportunity to protest against environmental issues. It symbolizes something different for everyone.

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Thank you for reading!

The RussianPod101.com Team

Welcome to the RussianPod101.com blog, Feature Spotlight. Here we would like to periodically introduce some well known features as well as some not so well known features here at RussianPod101.com. We want to make sure everyone knows about all the great features that you can use to master Russian in just minutes a day.

Today we would like to introduce My Feed. This is a fully customizable RSS feed. What’s that mean? Well, for those that haven’t studied up on the latest Web 2.0 technology, that basically allows Premium members to decide exactly what lesson content they want on their Premium feed.

Here’s 3 simple steps on how you can use My Feed to really master Russian:

1. You decide exactly what you want.
2. You download what you want with a single click of a button.
3. You master Russian in minutes a day - in your own way.

It’s really that simple.

To learn more about My Feed check out the video below or if you’re a Premium member, click here to get started now.

(Sorry, the video’s a little outdated, but it still works perfectly for RussianPod101.com!)

Are you committed to studying Russian? Do you study on the train? At home after a long day of work? While at the gym? Any moment of free time you can find?

We know how serious our students are. Studying a language takes time and commitment. We know you have the commitment to study. Now we’re providing you with the time to study Russian for 2 full years, hassle free!

You can now study with RussianPod101.com with our new 24 Month Subscriptions! After studying Russian with RussianPod101.com for 24-months you can take the leap from Beginner to Advanced, have flowing and fluent conversations with native-Russian speakers, and rread books, novels, magazines, and newspapers.

We want you to be able to reach those goals. That’s why we’ve created our 24 Month Subscriptions. So that you can study Russian hassle free for 2 full years, we’re making it easier than ever to gain access to the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Russian!

For a limited time only…
buy 1 year, get 1 year free!

Save 24% on a Basic or Premium 24 Month subscription with the coupon code 24OFF24! Our newest subscription is on sale for a few more days, so you’ll want to take advantage of this opportunity now!

Use the coupon code 24OFF24 to save 24% off a Basic or Premium 24 Month Subscription!

Our 24 Month Premium Subscription is normally $240. With 24% off…

$240 - 24% = $182.40.

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Use the coupon code 24OFF24 and get 1 year free!

Click here to get an extra year free!

This amazing deal is ends Midnight on Wednesday, April 8th, so be sure to sign up now!

*We are so sure that you will find our paid subscriptions worth every penny that we will happily refund the full amount of the unused portion of your membership within 60 days if you are unsatisfied in any way - no questions asked!

We have a great and inspiring story Charles Fuller, a minister. His goal for studying Russian is to be able to eventually share the message of his religion in Russian.

“Здравствуйте! Меня зовут Чарльза Фаллера.

I am a minister, currently in seminary, preparing for the pastorate. I started trying to Russian last fall, when I began to feel led to go to Russia to share the love of God. I had seriously considered purchasing a well known brand of language software, but it is very expensive and I have very little money. I looked at and listened to several of the different podcasts that are available. Some are better than others. Russianpod 101 is, by far the best. 

While I certainly have much to learn, I hope to be ready by Summer! With access to the pdf’s I will certainly gain much more, much faster. As a result, I have been watching Russian news (HTB) podcasts and have been able to understand much more than I ever would have imagined.

Thank you, Russianpod 101, for the wonderful learning opportunity!”

Thank you for sharing that Charles!  Try your hardest until you reach your goal!

What are everyone else’s goals for studying Russian?  Share it below in the comments section or e-mail us, contactus@russianpod101.com with the subject line, Mail Bag.

 Добрый день!

Welcome to the new section of our blog, The Mail Bag.  This is where we’ll share stories from our listeners in the endeavors with Russian.   We hope stories from fellow students can help motivate and inspire you to begin learning Russian or give you that extra needed push and renewed sense of strength when you think it’s impossible to get become more proficient!

This week we’d like to introduce you to Gill Brown, from .  Gill had this to say about her studies:

“I started learning Russian for fun in January 2008 when I purchased my first IPOD!  A friend had downloaded a very easy Russian course which came as a podcast which was basically 3 minutes a week.  I thought it would be fun to try out these podcasts and found them a bit of a novelty with a new IPOD.  I generally have an interest in language learning and try to learn some foreign words when I travel to a new country,  but only very basics.  I found that I was very quickly learning the basics of Russian and completed this 10-week course easily, leaving me wanting to learn more.  So much so that when it finished, I really missed it!

A few months after I started learning Russian, I was on holiday whereby the language was written in Cyrillic.  I surprised myself by being able to read street signs!  Although Russian was not the language, the initial course and my speedily-growing enthusiasm and interest in Russian certainly helped me out!

I continued with my quest to learn Russian and was given extra motivation by the fact that I would be visiting Russia in the middle of 2009.  Library books were now my main source of information as well as listening to Russian and Russian songs to try and pick up words as well as various other podcasts.

In around July 2008, I discovered RussianPod101.com by accident when I was searching within ITunes for more Russian courses.  I download the first course and started to listen - I was immediately addicted.  The best feature of RussianPod101 is the fact that it is mainly audio.  I am a very busy person and find I have little time to sit down and study, whereas I listen the weekly podcasts “on the go”.

The feature of RussianPod101 which helps me the most is the Review Track.  I usually play this track on repeat mode because the repetition of words helps me to memorize the best.  When I am travelling to work on public transport or even when I am in the kitchen, I can continue to learn.  The repetition of the words is fantastic and to have the vocabulary singled out into one track means that I can then go back to the conversation track and fully understand it.  I also find the forum immensely helpful and regular post questions and messages there.

I really enjoy the two presenters, Anna and Erik.  They are perfect!  They are very clear in their speech and make the lessons so much fun. Their personal experiences are brought into the weekly lessons along with their cultural insights.  I thoroughly enjoy the humour.  My favourite was Erik singing a couple of weeks ago.  Their voices are so distinctive, I find that when I am trying to remember words away from the podcasts, I remember the words in either Anna or Erik’s voices which really helps me to get the pronunciation right!  The fact that Anna from Uzbekistan  speaks another language so well – English – and that motivates me to learn a foreign language as well as her.
The supplement to these courses, Survival Phrases is also fantastic.  I wish it would start up again.  I am now so confident that, when I visit Russia, I will be able to communicate very easily with so many travel language basics.

My only criticism - I wish the lessons were more often.  A week is a long time to wait for episode of my favorite podcast!”

This is an ongoing project, so please share your stories!  You may send these to contactus@russianpod101.com with the subject line: “Mail Bag Story”.  Our favorite stories will win one month of free premium service and be posted here to be shared with others!

Until next time, keep studying!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from everyone here at RussianPod101.com! We’re grateful to have listeners just like you, and we’re eagerly waiting for the upcoming year to learn Russian together!

And when the New Year comes around, be sure to make a resolution to study Russian with RussianPod101.com!

Have a healthy and happy holiday season.

From the RussianPod101.com Team!

Picture this. You’re out holiday shopping. You see a sign for 10% OFF. You feel like you’re getting a really good deal, so you rush into the store and make your purchase. You’re a happy customer.

2 days later…

You’re out holiday shopping again. You pass by the same store, and the sale sign doesn’t just catch your eye, it punches you in the face! 20% OFF! You’re not such a happy customer.

Sound familiar?

We’ve all experienced it. You buy something at a low price just to see it selling at a lower one the next day. Now the good deal we got suddenly doesn’t seem so good anymore. And you know what? It didn’t seem fair.

In fact, we think responsible people who act early should be rewarded.
So…we came up with the Reverse Countdown.

Now you maybe thinking, “What? What’s that?”

Well, the short answer is BIG savings for people who take advantage early.

Here’s how it works:

Starting today (12/17/2008), you have a chance to take advantage of our Christmas Countdown Campaign! Today you’ll save 20% OFF any basic or premium subscription… but tomorrow, you’ll be losing out, because it’ll be 19% off. The day after that, it’ll be 18% off. And it’ll keep going down 1% each day that follows.

The faster you act, the bigger the savings!

December 17th - 20% off any basic or premium subscription.
December 18th - 19% off any basic or premium subscription.
December 19th - 18% off any basic or premium subscription.
December 20th - 17% off any basic or premium subscription.
(SUBTRACT 1% for each day that follows)

So with the Reverse Countdown, the earlier you buy, the bigger the reward – Guaranteed! And for the first time this holiday season, you can be 100% sure the first deal will be the best deal!

Shop assured you’re getting the best deal this holiday season at RussianPod101.com.

Use the following coupon code to redeem your 20% OFF, but hurry!
This offer is only valid for 24hours, and the clock is already running.

Click here to stop the clock and save more, now!

Happy Holidays!

Team RussianPod101.com