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How to Learn Russian on Facebook: 8 Groups and Pages You Should Be Following
Oh no, not again!
You told yourself this morning that you’d get up and be productive.
I’ll make some coffee, get dressed and start hitting that to-do list…
Suddenly the day’s over and you realize you spent most of it surfing through social media.
Don’t worry—it happens to everyone. Many of us are addicted to social media and spend a significant amount of time on Facebook every single day.
The good news is that in addition to scrolling through our feeds and looking at photos and updates from friends, we can transform our time on Facebook into a productive task, such as learning Russian!
No one’s telling you to sell the Russian textbooks you purchased or to quit your Russian language course.
All we’re saying is that Facebook is just another great tool to help you with your goal of learning Russian! We’ll show you how to get started with eight groups and pages, including online communities for learners and some authentic Russian content.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Why Use Facebook to Learn Russian?
If you won’t take our word for why Facebook is one of the best ways to learn Russian online, the four reasons below should convince you!
- It’s free! Russian language schools and online courses are very advantageous, but they can also be costly. Facebook is completely free to use; all you need is an internet connection and a device to connect with.
- Teaching yourself Russian is not often an easy task, and while you can make it more fun by reading Russian books or watching movies, you’re still going it alone. However, social media allows you to connect with others, ask questions, find helpful study suggestions and make new friends!
- You can use Facebook anywhere at any time: Some of the pages we’ll suggest below post content a few times per day, and all it takes is one minute to scroll through your feed and learn a new Russian word or phrase!
You can get a dose of Russian while surfing Facebook during your lunch break, on your commute or right before bed. No commitment or special schedule required.
- There are thousands of Russian-related pages on Facebook. This gives you the ability to find a variety of sources for your learning needs. You can delete the ones that are not helpful to you and focus on your prefered choices.
How to Learn Russian on Facebook: 8 Groups and Pages You Should Be Following
The options below include Russian learning groups, language exchange groups and pages on Facebook. Once you see how interactive, fun and helpful this material is, you may spend even more time on Facebook, but you’ll be using that time more wisely!
Russian Study Groups
Want to Learn Russian?
This group has over 11,000 members and is intended to provide community support for your Russian studies. It’s a closed group, so you need to request to join to see its content.
The members post several updates per day, which is very helpful to keep up with your Russian studies. Lots of members share articles from Russian blogs providing learning tips they enjoyed. The articles and videos present new vocabulary, short exercises, Russian recipes and even homework!
The page also gives access to several files on Russian grammar and idioms, which can be found on the left side of the page along with videos aiming to improve your Russian.
Learning Russian with Pleasure
This is a Russian learning group with over 10,000 members. You’ll find a mix of helpful posts from other Russian learning groups (including some from Want to Learn Russian?) as well as posts and updates from users on their experiences and questions regarding Russian learning.
For example, one member recounted his process with learning Russian, which included listening to Russian music, singing along to the words and then learning the lyrics.
Other members ask for help with translating Russian terms, understanding Russian internet abbreviations and advice about WhatsApp groups that focus on learning Russian.
Language Exchange Groups
Social media is all about connecting people, which is why we could not write this post without including three language exchange Facebook pages. These groups allow Russian native speakers to connect with speakers of other languages (typically English) so each one can learn the other’s language.
Learning Russian with Russians
This language exchange Facebook group comes from the international language exchange service pen4pals. It focuses on connecting Russians and native English speakers.
With about 29,000 members, it’s the perfect space to spark multiple language exchanges for more variety in your conversation practice.
The posts are a mix of Russian and English text, mostly from (unsurprisingly) people looking for partners to improve their language skills. A great bonus is that some of them speak multiple languages, so you can not only practice Russian, but also possibly master others, too!
The group also has tons of files in Russian and English teaching vocabulary, ordinal numbers and grammar.
English, Spanish and Russian Language Exchange
As the name suggests, this Facebook group focuses on three languages—English, Spanish and Russian.
Available files include PDFs with language resources, textbooks and recommendations for resources to learn Russian online.
Scrolling through this page’s feed, you can see many posts from users offering to teach their native language in exchange for learning another. Some of the members share helpful videos and articles about Russian lessons. Others ask for translation help or pose general questions.
This group also promotes live events and cultural exchanges internationally, so if you follow you might find something cool in your area!
Russian/English Language Exchange
This is a closed group with over 8,500 members specifically targeting those that want to either learn English or Russian. Members are encouraged by the admin to connect and figure out a way to conduct the language exchange through Skype or email.
You’ll find many helpful posts about Russian lessons and vocabulary, videos on specific topics and invites to other groups, such as on WhatsApp, for both kids and adults.
The group lists tons of helpful events, such as international Russian speaking clubs and Moscow foreigners parties.
Native Russian Pages
In addition to following Facebook groups that teach Russian and connect you with other learners, you can also follow pages dedicated to Russian celebrities, TV channels and more. Facebook has a page for practically any hobby or interest, so you can learn something new while being entertained!
Первый канал (Channel One)
This is one of the most popular channels in all of Russia, which is also broadcast in many places around the world. There’s a reason that over 880,000 people like this page on Facebook, as it offers various types of programming—sports, reality TV, dramas and comedies, interviews and news.
This is helpful for learning Russian because the Facebook page contains many video snippets of programming, helping you to improve your Russian listening skills as well as your reading skills.
You can learn sports or music terms, political terms, vocabulary helpful for dating (thanks to the reality shows!) and cooking terminology from the cooking shows.
Although this page was not specifically created for Russian learners, anyone is welcome to post a comment asking a question or for further clarification if something is not clear!
The.Russian.Federation
With over 1.6 million likes, it’s pretty clear why there are so many fans of this Facebook page, which focuses on providing all types of information about the Russian Federation.
This page offers posts, photos and videos helping Facebook users not only learn about the Russian language, but also about its history and culture.
Check out videos about Russian celebrities, YouTube videos about noteworthy people and read comments to see what other Russians think about these posts.
Алла Пугачёва Форум (Alla Pugacheva Forum)
Alla Pugacheva is the most popular Russian singer of all time. She started her career in the late 1970s and is still going strong today.
If you follow this page, you’ll find posts, videos and photos about Pugacheva’s life, which is anything but boring.
First, she’s married to another celebrity, Maxim Galkin, who’s several decades her junior. They have two adorable twins. Second, her daughter, Kristina Orbakaite, is also a famous singer. Pugacheva’s ex-husband, Philipp Kirkorov, is arguably the most famous male singer in Russia.
The forum will help you learn about Russian music and Russian celebrities, thereby improving your understanding of the overall Russian experience.
Learning Russian could be anything but boring with Facebook! With videos, photos, suggestions from others, articles and the ability to seek advice, it’s a no-brainer for why you need to get on Facebook today to improve your Russian skills.
And One More Thing...
If you love learning Russian and want to immerse yourself with authentic materials from Russia, then I should also tell you more about FluentU.
FluentU naturally and gradually eases you into learning the Russian language and culture. You'll learn real Russian as it's spoken by real Russian people!
FluentU has a very broad range of contemporary videos. Just a quick look will give you an idea of the variety of Russian-language content available on FluentU:
FluentU makes these native Russian videos approachable through interactive transcripts. Tap on any word to look it up instantly.
Access a complete interactive transcript of every video under the Dialogue tab. Easily review words and phrases with audio under Vocab.
All definitions have multiple examples, and they're written for Russian learners like you. Tap to add words you'd like to review to a vocab list.
And FluentU has a learn mode which turns every video into a language learning lesson. You can always swipe left or right to see more examples.
The best part? FluentU keeps track of your vocabulary, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You'll have a 100% personalized experience.
The FluentU app is now available for iOS and Android, and it's also available as a website that you can access on your computer or tablet. Sign up for a free trial today!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Renata Ilitsky is a professional content writer with over 10 years of experience. She specializes in creating unique and engaging content for any industry. To read some of Renata’s other work, please view her writing portfolio.
