Starting Russian before you leave
The preparatory year is designed to take you from zero to the required level: nothing obliges you to prepare anything. But students who arrive knowing the alphabet and a hundred words gain weeks of comfort, and above all autonomy from the first days.
The absolute priority: the Cyrillic alphabet
This is the best possible investment before departure, and it asks little: the Cyrillic alphabet is acquired in a few weeks at twenty minutes a day.
Being able to decipher changes everything on arrival: reading your metro station name, university signs, supermarket labels. Without it, the first days are far more disorienting than they need to be.
The first hundred useful words
- Greetings and introductions
- Numbers, for prices and timetables
- Transport vocabulary and finding your way around the city
- University words: class, exam, dormitory, admin office
- Phrases for asking help or signalling that you do not understand
Knowing how to say "I do not understand, could you repeat slowly" is more useful in the first days than fifty words of passive vocabulary.
What not to anticipate
Do not try to tackle Russian case grammar alone, nor the scientific vocabulary of your specialty. The first needs structured teaching; the second is precisely what the preparatory year covers, in the right order.
Free language-learning apps are more than enough for the alphabet and basic vocabulary. There is no need to invest in private lessons before departure.
Related articleFrequently asked questions
Is learning Russian before leaving compulsory?
No. The preparatory year starts from zero. But knowing the alphabet and a few dozen words makes the first weeks markedly more comfortable.
How long to learn the Cyrillic alphabet?
A few weeks at twenty minutes a day. It is the most visible obstacle in Russian, and paradoxically the quickest to clear.
Are private lessons before departure useful?
Rarely necessary. Free apps suffice for the alphabet and basic vocabulary; structured grammar belongs to the preparatory year, which teaches it in the right order.