OK maybe not everyone in the world is as obsessed as I am but...

One tool I found especially helpful when first learning Russian was The Keyboard Tzar! It's a super fabulous typing tutor that you can download and use to learn the Cyrillic keyboard. Doesn't sound like something you would enjoy? What if I told you it was so easy! Trust me, play around for a couple of hours and you would be surprised at how fast you can learn to type in Russian (especially if you are already a good typist).

To help you learn, you can order really inexpensive stickers for your keyboard. I am talking like under a dollar on eBay!! They're clear so you just stick 'em over top of your English keys.

If you are going to go this far, you may also need to make sure your computer understands Russian, so it can display the text...among other things. This is called russifying your computer and is not as hard as it sounds.

Dialogue

Лара: "Здравствйте. Меня зовут Лара, а вас?"

Марк: "Добрый день Лара. Меня зовут Марк, очень приятно!"

Лара: "Очень приятно."

Марк: "Кто это?"

Лара: "Это президент."

Марк: "Это английский президент?"

Лара: "Нет, русский президент."

Марк: "Как его зовут?"

Лара: "Его зовут Владамир Путин."

Марк: "До свидания Лара."

Лара: "До свидания Марк!"

Personal Pronouns

• Меня - Me
• Тебя - You (singular, familiar)
• Его - Him
• Её - Her
• Вас - You (formal, plural)
• Нас - Us
• Их -Them

Vocabulary

Here are 5 more words! Already you know so many, check out the Master Vocabulary list if you don't believe me.

студент/ка (stoo-di-ant - ka) - student
танцор (tants-er) - male dancer
теннисист/ка (ten-u-sist-ka) - tennis player
турист/ка (tour-ist-ka) - tourist
футболист/ка (foot-bol-ist-ka) - soccer player

Again, keep in mind that for most professions you can use the masculine version of the word to describe both males and females. Using the feminine version is less respectful to females in the profession.

Keep studying your vocabulary!