While browsing the HTLAL forum, I came across a Russian podcast I was unfamiliar with. Called Очень по-русски, it focuses on “REAL Russian language: slang, common expressions, idioms and even swearwords.” Here’s a bit more from the About page:
This site aims to fill this gap at least a little and to overcome this unfortunate injustice. Russian slang, idioms, common expressions – I share with you the Russian language, which you will not find in standard textbooks. The language that I hear every day, that I and people around me speak every day. There are also expressions that I personally do not use and do not advise you to use – rudeness and swearing are not the best ways to communicate. But they are also a part of my native language and therefore they are here.
New podcast episodes are published every Monday and Thursday.
Most episodes are around two minutes long, and a full transcript is provided for each one. Certainly worth checking out, particularly for intermediate to advanced learners.
I’ve also been trying to dust off the Russian – you could also check out http://nclrc.org/webcasts/russian/ . It’s an ugly enough site, but the content is golden!
Rob,
Yeah, I’m actually familiar with that one; I blogged about it ages ago here. As you said, it’s not particularly easy on the eyes, but it’s a goldmine of content. I was excited about Очень по-русски since it focuses on everyday language.
What courses (if any) have you used for your Russian?
I used to live in Russia way back when, and relied on a book called The Penguin Russian Course. It’s good, but pretty dry… Living there, I had plenty of opportunity for practise and real life communication, so got a good mix of input. I think it’s a good enough course, but knowing what I know now, I don’t think it would be my first port of call
Hi Josh, thanks so much for posting this! I am learning Russian and consider myself to be an advanced student, so this will definitely be helpful for me.
I’m glad it will be of use to you! Best of luck in your studies.