For adults starting from scratch · All levels
For adult learners coming to Russian for the first time — for relationships, heritage rediscovery, travel, professional need, or sheer curiosity. Cyrillic, pronunciation, grammar, and eventually the literature you've always wanted to read in the original.
Who this is for
What you'll learn
Cyrillic alphabet, phonetics, survival vocabulary, simple phrases that work the first time you go to a Russian grocery or a partner's family dinner.
Grammar cases, verb aspect, conversational fluency, reading short texts, and enough comfort to write a paragraph or hold a phone conversation.
Literature, nuance, extended conversation, and the cultural and historical context that makes nineteenth-century Russian prose finally feel reachable.
How lessons work
In person in and around Pineville and Southern Charlotte — Raisa can teach at your home or somewhere convenient, and she's flexible about traveling within the area. Or online worldwide via Zoom or Google Meet. Sessions are typically 45–60 minutes. Weekly, bi-weekly, or intensive — whatever works for your life. More on the local side is on the Charlotte tutoring page.
What does it cost?
Rates depend on the service, lesson length, whether it's one-on-one or in a small group, and whether it's online or in person. I don't publish a single price because it honestly isn't one number.
The easiest way to get a clear quote is the free intro call — we'll talk about what you're looking for, and I'll give you a specific number on the spot. No commitment, no pressure.
Common questions
Yes. Every one of my adult Russian students started somewhere, and most started from zero. Russian has a reputation for being impossible; it isn't. It's a language with a logical structure, and once the grammar starts to click — usually around month three or four — the progress accelerates.
One of the best reasons there is. You have a specific community you want to participate in, and that focuses the whole curriculum. We'll prioritize family vocabulary, small-talk at gatherings, and the cultural cues — how to toast properly, what not to say first at dinner — that make you feel at home, not like a guest.
It looks intimidating and it isn't. A motivated adult can read Cyrillic comfortably in about a week. Half the letters look like Latin ones and sound roughly the same; most of the rest are straightforward once you sit with them for an afternoon. It's the first small win of learning Russian, and it comes fast.
In small, useful pieces. The cases are scary as a list and learnable as a sequence — we introduce one, use it in conversation for a few weeks until it feels natural, and only then add the next. Verb aspect (perfective vs. imperfective) is the same: I'll show you a single mental shortcut that handles eighty percent of cases, and we polish the edges over time.
From a true beginner: a simple, slow conversation in three to four months, a comfortable everyday conversation in six to nine months, and confident range — opinions, stories, small arguments — between twelve and eighteen months of consistent weekly work. The number depends entirely on what you do between our lessons.
Honestly, two or three years of steady work. You can read simple Russian much sooner — short stories, news, children's literature inside a year — but nineteenth-century Russian prose is a different mountain. The climb is worth it, and I'll tell you exactly which shorter works to read first so you arrive at Tolstoy ready.
In their words
Ms. Lee is a highly experienced teacher of the Russian language and literature. She not only teaches to read and write well but also to understand Russian proverbs and colloquial expressions, recite Russian poetry, and develop understanding and appreciation of classical Russian culture.
Read more from Raisa
A month-by-month plan for adult learners starting Russian from scratch — what to expect, what's hard, and what it actually takes.
March 10, 2026
The Cyrillic alphabet isn't the obstacle you think it is. Here's a weekend plan to read (not just recognize) Russian letters by Sunday night.
April 21, 2026
More common questions about lessons, pricing, and approach are on the full FAQ page. What real students and parents say is on the testimonials page.
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If you also have children growing up in a Russian-speaking household, the heritage-Russian-for-kids path is shaped around a different problem — keeping a language from being lost — and may be useful reading. Russian for kids →