This page is a list of learning resources for intermediate level Russian learners. There is plenty of material easily found for people just beginning their Russian language journey. For advanced material it is easy - just read books, and watch TV and films! Unfortunately, I have found it harder to find good, interesting, intermediate level content.
This list is, of course, tailored around where I am at, and my style of learning. However, I hope others find this as useful a set of learning material as I do. I add to this page regularly whenever I come across new and worthwhile resources!
Dictionaries and Grammar
Wiktionary: The English Wiktionary has many Russian words, with explanations in English, as well as declentions and conjugations.
MultiTran: An excellent resource, used and maintained by professional translators, for translating more subjective and esoteric expressions and idiom. This is my go-to for anything which makes no sense when super-literally translated using a dictionary!
Yandex Translate: This may be obvious, but you should be using Yandex translate, and not Google translate for Russian (the same goes for maps, when travelling in RU speaking countries). Yandex Translate is much more comprehensive for the Russian language and will show different forms and example usages of highlighted words. It also has an excellent auto correct for mispelled words (great for when you hear a new word and aren’t sure how to spell it!).
Alpha Russian Grammar Reference: I learn grammar mostly through my Russian tutor, and focus on general immersion when self-studying. However, from time to time I want to refresh the basics or clarify something I have just heard or read. This site is quite dry, and you won’t be learning grammar from scratch, however it is a great refresher.
Listening Practice
Russian With Max: My favorite intermediate level podcast and vlogger. Max has a large collection of audio and video episodes, which are fun, engaging, and full of relevant, modern usage of the Russian language. I prefer to use the videos, as I find it personlly more engaging. Also, Max adds overlays to most videos that show the meaning of any harder vocabulary that comes up. His pronunciation is very clear, and at a slightly slower pace than natural speech. This is fantastic for learning, although you do need to be careful to not become too reliant on this! He also offers transcripts for his podcasts for sale.
Russian Progress: Russian podcast for more upper intermediate to advanced listening practice. You can pay extra to get access to to transcripts. Interesting subjects, modern language, and spoken at natural speeds. Clear pronunciation, but not too over-pronounced.
Крош и Ёжик: Fun Nickelodeon-style kids cartoon. Fast-paced, but clearly pronounced language. I usually watch a 30 second segment on repeat, first with, then without subtitles.
Ералаш: A kids sketch TV show, while simple with silly humor, is a great window to Russian culture and in-jokes. It is a long running show, right back to Soviet times, so is interesting to see it change as the times change.
Pronunciation
RussianGram - stress marking tool: This tool will take raw Russian text, and put the correct stress markers onto it. Putting the stress in the correct place within each word is extremely important in Russian so this is a great tool when you need to read text out loud.
Forvo - pronunciation recordings: Search for a word or phrase, and hear recordings from native speakers. Especially useful for longer words to feel their rhythm, such as my favorite: “достопримечательность”. :)
Pronunciation Checker: Some neat technology which lets you record your speech and it tries to gauge how clearly you pronounce the text.
Deti Online: Simple, short fairy-tales (сказки) and poems (стихи) are a great way to train pronunciation and the rhythm of the Russian language. This site has many stories and poems for children. Some recommendations:
Дом, который построил Джек: A classic translation of “The house the Jack built”. Great for training usage of который :).
Телефон: A classic kids short nonsense-story, with phrases that have become part of the culture (“Откуда? От верблюда!”).
Стихи про зиму: I love snow, so anything snow related is a fun read. Try “Первый Снег” on this page for starters!
Прописи для дошкольников: Hand writing workbooks for kindergarten aged kids. Learn to write like a native!
Russian Keyboards
WinRU Phonetic Keyboard: This is the keyboard driver I use to type Russian on my Windows PC. Using a phonetic keyboard means I do not need to completely re-learn how to touch type :).
On-screen RU Keyboard: If you need to type some Cyrillic and you can’t install a keyboard layout, you can use this on-screen keyboard.
Клавогонки: A Russian keyboard typing trainer. This will work with any RU keyboard, so you can use the phonetic keyboard above, or a standar RU keyboard layout, depending on your goals.
Self Testing
MGU Russian Online Test: This school provides a free online test which will grade your level (see “Test #1”).
RT Learn Russian - Level Test: This gives you 60 minutes to complete, starting from beginner and working through to intermediate and advanced. It will then make an assesment on where you sit on the TORFL scale.