Social Networking Groups for Learning Russian with Russians

You may incorporate foreign language into your everyday life! How? I know you use social media in your everyday life. Many grammar rules and lists of memorized words you found so boring in a classroom or textbook become a fun challenge to chatting with friends or reading up on your best topics.

Are you Twitter user? Practice by tweeting in the foreign language. At 140 characters, you don't have to spend a lot of time crafting an essay but you're still applying the vocabulary and basic rules of grammar.

Like to blog? It doesn't matter what kind of blog you use, be it Livejournal, Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr, or another not mentioned here. Write a post on your blog in the other language. You can write on any topic like you normally would, simply write it in the language you're trying to master. If you're not sure you want to quite tackle that yet, you could start out small and try simply writing a post about your efforts to learn the language. You might even acquire a learning buddy or tips from readers. If writing a post from scratch in the other language is still too daunting, don't give up hope yet. Alternatively, you can try to translate an older post. If you take your time to translate your most popular posts, you'll not only be learning the ins and outs of the language in a real-world application but opening your blog to non-English speakers.

Not much of a blogger or Twitter user but like to read what others write? Follow a blog or twitter written in another language. Pick a topic you're interested in. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it interests you and will help you to keep following and keep reading. Then, try to find a blog or twitter written in the language you're learning. You'll find yourself learning the vocabulary you might not get from a classroom or the usual textbook, you'll be picking up real-world applications of the language, and you'll still be learning about a subject that genuinely interests you.

Keeping up with status updates and writing comments on your friend's wall more your thing? Try writing your Facebook or VKontakte updates in the other language. You can earn bonus points if you can carry on a conversation with a friend who is also learning or willing to help you learn. This will not only make it more fun but, similar to bringing a friend to the gym, having a learning buddy makes you more accountable. Maybe none of the above applies to you but you do like to receive all of your news online. With the internet readily at your fingertips, it's no surprise that more and more people are getting their information online.

Try reading a news site in the other language. Similar to the benefits above, you'll be learning useful vocabulary, absorbing rules of grammar, and still getting your news. Remember, you can start out small. Try following just one blog or twitter or reading only one news article a day at first. As you get better at it and learn more about the language, you'll notice it doesn't take you as long and you can start to incorporate more in your daily life.

Even if you're not a social media user, some of these are pretty simple and easy to pick up and use if you're really dedicated to learning another language. If your friends, family, or coworkers have been begging you to try out Twitter or Facebook or start your own blog, this just may be the final push you needed to explore how social media can benefit you in your quest to learn another language. 


 

1. FB group for learning, practicing Russian with native Russians.

It's a very friendly group with more than 32 000 members.

Join group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/learningrussian/

 

 

2. VK language group.

Group for learning Russian at Russian social network VKontakte more than 15 000 members. Many, many Russians are desired to free learning Russian with you.

сообщество learning russian with russians в ВК

3. Linkedin English-Russian Penpals group

The mission of Linkedin Russian-English pen pal group is the development of international friendship, email correspondence, face to face talking and cultural, language exchange (including free learn russian for foreign) between penapls of different countries (Russia, USA, Australia,Germany,Canada, Europe, Asia and etc), and to destroy the bounds of misunderstanding and discrimination between them. Correspondence with Russian pen pal is an amazing travel to another world, culture, nation, intimate world of your e-pals.

Good luck!