Learn Russian
by playing
Russian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, but the most useful words are learnt quickly when you hear them often. Piquoli has you listen to, recognise and write everyday vocabulary, with a Russian voice for every word.
Why learn Russian with Piquoli?
- ✓A language spoken by more than 250 million people.
- ✓Cyrillic made gentle, word by word, with the sound.
- ✓Listening and dictation to link pronunciation to spelling.
- ✓Everyday vocabulary, from beginner to advanced level.
- ✓More than 3,800 words and sentences from level A1 to C1, in 68 themes.
A few words to start with
| English | Russian |
|---|---|
| hello | здравствуйте |
| thank you | спасибо |
| dog | собака |
| house | дом |
| Where is the station? | Где вокзал? |
What makes Russian hard, and how Piquoli helps
The first hurdle is the alphabet. But Cyrillic has only 33 letters, and several look like ours. Hearing each word while you read it ties letters to sounds without any chart to memorise.
Stress is not written, yet it changes how vowels sound. Piquoli's Russian voice gives you the right pronunciation of every word, to replay and slow down.
Russian has no articles but word endings that change with the role of the word. Full sentences let you meet these forms in context and recognise them before you produce them.
What you learn, level by level
Piquoli follows the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). You start with the essentials and move up at your own pace.
The basics: introducing yourself, greetings, numbers, colours, family, food, home.
Everyday life: shopping, travelling, health, work, weather, asking the way.
Telling stories and giving opinions: plans, memories, hobbies, news, feelings.
Society topics: economy, media, environment, science, law, business.
Expert level: debate, arts and literature, philosophy, nuanced vocabulary.
Ten minutes a day, the right way
Learning a language is not an hour of revision on Sunday: it is a little every day. Piquoli is built for that. A game lasts a few minutes, the daily goal tells you when you have done enough, and your day streak makes you want to come back tomorrow.
Behind the games, spaced repetition decides what you review: a missed word comes back soon, a well-known word comes back less and less. You spend your time on what you do not know yet, not on what you already know.
Each word is practised in several ways: reading it, hearing it, recognising it, writing it, using it in a sentence. That variety is what makes it stick for good.
6 games to learn Russian
Flashcards
Spaced repetition: the words you find hard come back more often, the ones you know come back less.
Matching game
Match each word with its translation, as fast as you can.
Sentences
Build or write the translation of everyday sentences.
Listening
Hear a word and find it: to train your ear to the pronunciation.
Dictation
Listen to a sentence and write it without mistakes.
Memory
Find the word / translation pairs in as few moves as possible.
Questions about learning Russian
How long does it take to learn Russian with Piquoli?
With ten minutes a day, the essential words of level A1 stick quickly. Piquoli currently covers from level A1 to C1: enough to hold a simple everyday conversation.
Can I learn Russian for free?
Yes: the “Basics” and “Colours” themes are free forever, and the 7-day trial opens all of Piquoli, with no card needed. After that, the subscription starts at €3.99 a month.
Does Piquoli replace a Russian course?
Piquoli is ideal for vocabulary, listening and everyday sentences, and it works very well alongside a course or school: it makes you review every day what you would otherwise forget.
Start for free
The “Basics” and “Colours” themes are free forever, and the trial gives you 7 days of full access, with no card needed. On Mac, Windows, or straight in your browser.
€29.99 a year (−37%) or €3.99 a month, cancel anytime