IWTYAL 159: Growing vocabulary at intermediate level

Valentin asks: “I'm at intermediate level in Russian. How can I grow my vocabulary?”

In this episode:

• There's no quick solution – you have a large amount of vocabulary to learn, and that takes time
• Firstly, make sure you can read Russian. It's not too hard, and not being able to read is a handicap
• “I can't read books or read articles” – maybe not, but you can find material that's graded

Tools that can help you read…

• LingQ
• ReadLang
• My book of short stories in Russian

Also…

• Find speaking partners and use Russian socially – in Japan, speaking with others as much as possible was how I grappled upward to fluency
• Don't ignore the option of taking classes – it can be a good, systematic way to improve
• Avoid using prepared lists or flashcard decks

Overall:

• The principle is to grow your vocabulary using material you enjoy. Why? Because by staying motivated, you'll ultimately get more exposure.
• Try to enjoy the “struggle” — it's your best friend!

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• LingQ.com
• ReadLang.com
• Russian Short Stories for Beginners

All my short story books:

Start speaking today

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Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.