Renata Ilitsky Last updated: Type in Russian Like a Native with 6 Handy Practice Sites
Knowing how to type in Russian is an underrated skill that’s surprisingly important for Russian fluency.
You need it to text and chat with your Russian friends, or if you hope to study or work in Russia.
In this post, I’ll show you my six favorite Russian typing practice sites, with everything from Russian typing races to typing your way through the Russian news.
But first, you’ll need to be able to type Cyrillic characters on your computer for most of the typing practice sites listed in this article. Most operating systems allow you to choose a language (here are instructions for Mac and Windows).
To know which keys correspond to Russian letters, you can purchase a Russian keyword or simply tape cutouts of Russian letters to each key (the bootleg version!).
Contents
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1. 10FastFingers
Best for: Tracking your typing progress
10FastFingers evaluates how fast you can type in Russian. Then, you can set measurable goals to help you increase your speed and accuracy.
The site offers typing tests in multiple languages, so set the language to Russian using the green dropdown menu on the upper left side of the text box.
This site presents a series of random words you have one minute to type out. After you’re done, the test will generate your typing score per minute.
When you’re ready, you can choose an advanced typing test of over 1,000 words or even enter typing competitions with other players to improve your speed and accuracy! Find these and other fun features on the left side of the screen.
2. Keybr
Best for: Personalized typing lessons
This website provides easy online lessons to help you learn to type in Russian.
It aims to stop people from using the “hunt-and-peck” typing style of searching for each letter. Instead, you’ll learn to use touch typing by engaging muscle memory.
Click on Settings, then Keyboard Layout and change the language and layout to Russian.
The Settings area also allows you to customize your learning experience with guided lessons, import text from a different website and upload your own custom text.
Keybr also uses a unique algorithm to adjust the tutorials to your personal needs and levels.
The site collects detailed statistics about how fast and accurately you type each letter and will provide increased opportunities to practice the letters that come hardest to you.
3. Klavogonki
Best for: Gamified typing practice
This and some of the sites below are entirely Russian, perfect for an immersive experience that intermediate and advanced learners may seek.
Roughly translated as “the race to computer keys,” Klavogonki aims to increase your speed as you type in Russian.
The exercises on this site are designed as games, ensuring you never get bored and motivating you as you compete against other users.
Each game is designed as a race where you compete to be the fastest to move your car to the finish line. The winner is the person who types all of the text correctly the fastest. When you make a mistake, your car will stall until you correct it. At the end of each game, the site shows the typing speed of each player.
Players accumulate points as they progress and can upgrade the basic car that everyone gets for other models.
One of the coolest features about Klavogonki is that some of the material includes parts of Russian books, so you can get acquainted with Russian literature while playing and learning to type in Russian.
4. Stamina
Best for: Typing practice for the computer
Another fully Russian site, Stamina targets “grandparents as well as their parents!” In other words, people might who not be tech-savvy but still need to learn how to type.
Even if you don’t have any grandchildren yet, don’t dismiss this site as a helpful aid for increasing your typing efficiency in Russian.
The keyboard simulator and lessons help you memorize the location of the keys to use your fingers to type blindly (another perk for the elderly!)
In reviews, users have praised its easy-to-use interface and the ability to type from the preselected texts on the site or upload your own text.
While some other sites offer those features, Stamina takes it further by allowing users to dictate the content they want to practice typing. This can be a big advantage to prepare for a Russian test or practice typing specific vocabulary.
Plus, the site provides graphs with statistics about your progress, helping you keep track as you take lessons and practice what you’ve learned.
5. Ratatype
Best for: Typing certificates for your resume
If you’re looking for a job and one of the requirements is a certain typing speed, Ratatype can provide you with the necessary certification.
Each certificate has a rating:
- Silver for over 200 characters per minute with 15 errors or less
- Gold for over 250 characters per minute with five errors or less
- Platinum for 350 characters per minute with two errors or less
The site doesn’t limit you to a single test—you can take it as many times as needed if you are unhappy with your score.
Plus, Ratatype offers lessons and tips on becoming a better Russian typer. Another perk of this site is that all lessons can be completed with a virtual keyboard in the browser.
6. Sense-Lang
Best for: Typing the world’s news
Sense-Lang gives you a double-whammy: typing practice plus catching up on current events in Russian.
You don’t type random word arrangements or snippets from books, but actual headlines from the Google News feed.
Choose this option from the left sidebar. Not only does this boost your cultural knowledge and Russian reading comprehension, but it also helps hold your attention throughout the typing drills.
It lets you start with the basics, practicing a few letters at a time.
You type the text, and when you get it wrong, the screen will play a sound and show you the correct letter location on the keyboard.
The six hand-picked resources in this article will help you learn your current typing speed, utilize online lessons to improve, practice, play games and race against others to get your competitive juices flowing!
And if these aren’t enough for you, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to practice typing in Russian online.
For example, FluentU has adaptive quizzes asking you to type out vocabulary words you’ve saved. You can see many more videos for learning and context on FluentU.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
Typing tutorials help you improve your speed, so you can learn to type any document, email, essay or novel in no time!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
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.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
