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In-Depth Reviews And Recommendations - Without The BS

Review Of Red Kalinka’s Russian Course – Exceptionally Comprehensive

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Quick Review
Summary: The ‘Largest Russian School in the World’, Red Kalinka has lots of different products that will get you learning Russian. Its main course – Red Kalinka Russian Course – is very well thought-out and will certainly improve both beginners’ and intermediates’ reading, writing and comprehension skills. While it is not the most entertaining thing in the world, the videos and exercises are exceptionally thorough. Without a doubt, if you stick with this course, your Russian will become very good.

Quality
Red Kalinka’s videos and exercises might not be that innovative or entertaining but you’ll learn a ton.
Thoroughness
Red Kalinka goes into a lot of depth when it comes to vocabulary, grammar, and cultural explanations – possibly too in-depth!
Value
It’s not the cheapest course you’ll find but worth the cost.
I Like
Right from the start, you are encouraged to read, write and listen to Russian.

The lessons all build upon each other and it would be very motivating to see just how much you learn as the later lessons are conducted almost solely in Russian.

Reading and writing aren’t neglected as with other Russian language platforms.

It’s easily the most comprehensive online Russian course I’ve tried.

I Don’t Like
As all of the lessons follow the same format and go into such great depth, it can get a bit monotonous and boring.

The exercises aren’t very exciting to work through and they could all be found in any run-of-the-mill textbook.

Price: The Red Kalinka Russian Course costs 29 euros a month. However, through the link below, you can save 20% on the subscription cost each month, making it only 23 euros per month.

They also have a bunch of different products such as audiobooks, one-to-one lessons and online exercises for you to sign up for.

Save 20% each month on a subscription to Red Kalinka by signing up through the link below.

Visit Red Kalinka

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Rocket Russian Review – Uninspiring And Overpriced

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Quick Review
Summary: Rocket Russian is aimed at beginners who are looking to get to the intermediate level and, while its audio, reading and writing lessons do get you practicing different skills, the content is actually quite boring and repetitive to work through,

Although beginners will certainly pick up some basic words and phrases, the fact that you learn most of the words in isolation through endless memorization means that you are unlikely to get very far. As such, you’re better off looking elsewhere and there are definitely better options out there which are much more thorough and cheaper to boot.

Quality
Sleek design, easy to navigate but poorly thought-out content
Thoroughness
While you do learn some vocabulary and grammar, you don’t really learn how to piece the language together
Value
There are much cheaper alternatives out there with better content so you’re better off looking elsewhere.
I Like
Rocket Russian is very nicely designed and easy to use so you’ll never have trouble knowing what you’re meant to do next.

I enjoyed the Travelogue series as there was a lot more Russian used in these lessons and they showed you what it would be like traveling through various parts of Russia.

In the Language and Culture Lessons you get to learn about everything from the 2018 World Cup in Russia to what words Russian has borrowed from other countries and cultures.

I Don’t Like
Rocket Russian is not very entertaining to work through and all of the various exercises become quite monotonous and boring as you’re essentially drilling the same words and phrases over and over again.

While you do learn some useful words and phrases, you’re never really asked to put it all together and so you learn most of them in isolation from one another.

The vast majority of the content you work through is in English.

Price: To get lifetime Online Access to Rocket Russian you can either pay $149.95 in one go or split the payment over six months which works out at $27/month. There is a 6-day free trial for you to try it out as well as constant sales to lower the price.

Visit Rocket Russian

Alternatives: RussianPod101 and Red Kalinka are two Russian courses I prefer.

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Russian Accelerator Review – Old And Not Worth Your Time Or Money

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Quick Review
Summary: The Russian Accelerator course aims to get beginners and intermediates to a conversational level in Russian using techniques such as contextual learning and power phrases. Created by Mark Thomson around 2010, the course has not progressed or changed at all since then and so has a very dated look and feel to it. As other resources cover the material in a better and more engaging way, I personally don’t think it is worth checking out.

Quality
Very easy to use but poor design and low-quality content.
Thoroughness
Mark needlessly goes overboard on some descriptions while neglecting to go into more depth on some more important grammar points.
Value
I wouldn’t use Russian Accelerator even if it was free and it’s far from free.
I Like
Ummmmm… I’m not actually sure if I enjoyed anything about it. Actually, watching his students speak confidently in Russian on a trip was a nice moment.

I Don’t Like
I didn’t find the material to be very engaging at all and lessons became quite repetitive very quickly.

Everything about Russian Accelerator looks and feels dated and, well, it is as it was last updated in 2010.

While there is actually quite a bit of content on the platform, not much of it is done very well and you can almost certainly find everything done better somewhere else.

It’s expensive!

Price: There is a $1 trial which gets you access to the resources for three weeks. Otherwise, it is a whopping $388 for the whole course.

Visit Russian Accelerator

 

Alternatives: Almost anything else would be better. Pimsleur, Lingodeer, Babbel, RussianPod101, Duolingo, etc are all courses that are much more worthy of your time and/or money. However, my favorite Russian course is Red Kalinka.

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An Insanely Detailed Review Of RussianPod101 After Having Tried It

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Quick Review
Summary: RussianPod101 is a fantastic resource that has hundreds upon hundreds of video and podcast lessons on offer. These take you all the way from learning your first word in Russian right up to an advanced level and so beginners and intermediates, in particular, will certainly learn a lot. While the course delves deep into Russian grammar, vocabulary and the cultural context of the language, the lack of speaking and writing practice means you would have to use it alongside another resource.

Quality
While the platform is a bit confusing to navigate, the lessons are very well put together.
Thoroughness
There is an almost endless array of material for you to work through and in general, explanations are very clear and concise.
Value
I’d say that RussianPod101 is very good value for money considering just how many lessons you gain access to.
I Like
RussianPod101 really does have a lesson for every imaginable situation and so you can learn important words and phrases for every scenario.

There is a clear progression in terms of difficulty from the Absolute Beginner level up until the Advanced level

You get to hear a wide range of native speakers and a lot of the material introduces you to various aspects of Russian culture.

I Don’t Like
I found the platform quite confusing to navigate and so it often took a while to get where I wanted.

The material could be a bit more engaging as you are never really asked to use the Russian you’ve learned.

The lack of speaking and writing practice means you would have to use it alongside other resources if you wanted to get fluent in Russian.

Price: For the Basic subscription it costs $8/month while the Premium plan is $25/month and the Premium Plus plan is $47/month. There are various durations you can choose and if you sign up for longer, the monthly cost decreases.

Use the promo code “ALLLANGUAGERESOURCES” to save 25% on a subscription to RussianPod101.

Visit RussianPod101

Alternatives: Red Kalinka offers an exceptionally comprehensive and well-structured Russian course.

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Review Of Transparent Language – Their Courses Are Awful!

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Quick Review
Summary: The Transparent Language Essentials Courses aim to get absolute beginners engaged and interacting with the language they’re learning and speaking the basics in no time at all. While there are lots of different exercises for you to work through, the material isn’t all that helpful and it does get very repetitive. Although the courses aren’t all that useful or in depth, with over a hundred languages on offer it might be worth checking out if you want to learn the very basics of a more obscure language such as Buriat, Kazakh or Turkmen. But, even then, I’d try to find other resources first.

Quality
While the exercises are for the most part well-designed, diverse and easy to use, it is the core material itself which is lacking.
Thoroughness
There are hardly any explanations at all, you just have to endlessly memorize words and phrases.
Value
I would only consider using if it were free and I was studying a very rare language.
I Like
I really like the fact that they offer up courses in languages that are usually overlooked.

It’s pretty well-designed, easy to use and has lots of different activities to work through.

I Don’t Like
The core material is severely lacking and you won’t learn much grammar or how to form even a basic sentence yourself.

It gets very repetitive and so I didn’t find it that fun to work through.

You learn virtually nothing about the different cultural contexts of the languages you’re learning.

 Their teaching methodology is the biggest issue, leaving you memorizing lots of words and phrases in isolation. 

Price: There is a free two-week trial period for you to try it out. Otherwise, it is $24.95 per month or $149.95 for a whole year if you just select one language. If you want access to all of the languages it is then $49.95 per month and $249.95 a year.

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