Russian Readers: Learn Russian 4+

I use this app on an iPad Air. Not sure if I will ever use it on my iPhone SE. I think you need a decent sized screen to enjoy the benefits of the app. I have finished the Duolingo Russian course and wanted to start doing some reading in Russian. The books I have are a bit too advanced for me. Russian Readers is a perfect next step as the stories start very simple and increase in difficulty in graded steps. There is a more or less literal English translation which can be switched on or off with the click of a button. The Russian narration is clear and each word highlights as it is spoken. There are also embedded videos with useful additional learning material.

As others have said, a pause button would be nice. You can click the last word on a page to get an effect similar to pausing though.

For me, on iPad, this is a superb resource and well worth the money.

I find this is a great way to learn new vocabulary and practice listening. You can turn off the english and try to translate, which helps memorise vocab but with the words in the proper context, which is much better (and more enjoyable) than flash cards. You can also look away and just listen to practice understanding spoken Russian. The stories are nice and simple and the speaker is slow and clear. There are also videos for some stories that explain some phrases or grammar and the grammar video guides are really helpful too if you’re trying to understand why the same word has a bunch of different endings! Excellent work, keep the stories coming!

This app is a great resource for Russian learners. You have to pay the subscription fee (beyond the first free trial week) but I feel it’s well worth it if you are committed to learning Russian. I have just gone through the basic grammar readers and associated video lessons and, despite the fact that I have been learning Russian for a while now, I’ve already learned several things I had no idea were the case! I’m looking forward to trying some more advanced stories. I would recommend.