See how many months you need for A1, A2, B1, or B2—at casual, consistent, and intensive paces—plus a 30-day starter plan and a 90-day roadmap you can actually finish.
Quick answer
Your timeline depends on your goal and your weekly study time (including speaking practice):
Casual pace (≈ 2–3 h/week)
- A1 (tourist survival): 5–8 months
- A2 → early B1 (everyday talk): 10–14 months
- Comfortable B1: 14–20 months
- Solid B2: 24–36+ months
Consistent pace (≈ 5 h/week)
- A1: 3–4 months
- A2 → early B1: 6–9 months
- Comfortable B1: 9–12 months
- Solid B2: 14–24 months
Intensive pace (≈ 10 h/week)
- A1: 6–8 weeks
- A2 → early B1: 3–4 months
- Comfortable B1: 6–8 months
- Solid B2: 9–14 months
Benchmarks like CEFR and institutional hour counts are guides, not prophecies. Speaking out loud with feedback is the speed multiplier.
What changes your timeline (the real levers)
1) Starting point & related languages. If you speak a Slavic language or anything with cases, you’ll go faster. If Russian is your first foreign language, it’s still fine—just add more speaking practice.
2) Weekly minutes (and how much is speaking). Ten minutes of output beats thirty of passive input. Reading/watching helps, but speaking locks it in.
3) Feedback and correction. A weekly check-in with a tutor/community saves months by catching stress, aspect, and word-order issues early.
4) Materials and micro-routines. Short, repeatable blocks (≈25 minutes) beat long marathons. Loop: slow→natural audio → shadow → 2 micro-patterns → 6 sentences → quick review.
5) Motivation and context. Travel? Prepare tourist scenarios. Family? Daily home talk. Align content with life to feel progress in weeks, not months.
Still on the fence about difficulty or motivation? Read Is Russian Hard to Learn? and Why Learn Russian? — both influence your timeline.
Timelines by goal (and what you can actually do at each level)
Tourist Survival — A1
What you can do: read signs (Cyrillic), order food, ask basic questions, handle simple transactions.
Consistent: 3–4 months
Intensive: 6–8 weeks
Focus: alphabet & stress; polite forms; numbers; transport terms; “can I…?” patterns.
Micro-patterns: Можно + infinitive? (Можно оплатить картой?) • Где здесь…? (Где здесь метро?)
Everyday Conversation — strong A2 → early B1
What you can do: introduce yourself, daily life, simple past/future, easy small talk.
Consistent: 6–9 months
Intensive: 3–4 months
Focus: present/past/future basics; connectors; question forms; verbs of motion; 5–7 go-to chunks.
Collocations: Мне ну́жно + … • Обы́чно я … • Я то́лько что + past
Comfortable B1
What you can do: longer chats, simple opinions, follow adapted native content, text without checking every word.
Consistent: 9–12 months
Intensive: 6–8 months
Focus: high-frequency case phrases; verb aspect; stress; topic packs (health, work, travel).
Solid B2
What you can do: follow media with fewer pauses, meetings/classes, longer messages with better style.
Consistent: 14–24 months
Intensive: 9–14 months
Focus: faster listening, idioms, aspect nuance, complex word order, precise case control.
Hours vs. levels (simple mapping)
| Level | Typical cumulative hours | What that looks like |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | ≈ 60–100 | Menus, signs, polite requests |
| A2 | ≈ 180–250 total | Daily life, simple past/future |
| B1 | ≈ 300–400 total | Opinions, longer chats, simple news |
| B2 | ≈ 500–700+ total | Work/study contexts, most media |
Some institutions quote ~1,100 hours for professional proficiency—roughly B2→C1 for many learners. Your calendar depends on how many of those hours include speaking with feedback.
Choose your lane: three study scenarios that actually work
Casual lane (2–3 h/week)
Weekly skeleton: 3 × 25-minute sessions + 1 × 45-minute speaking.
- Session A: slow→natural audio, shadow, 2 micro-patterns, 6 sentences.
- Session B: mini-reading, mark stress, retell aloud.
- Session C: verbs of the week, tiny deck, 1-minute self-talk.
12 weeks later: signs, ordering, short Q&A without panic.
Consistent lane (~5 h/week)
Weekly skeleton: 5 × 30-minute sessions + 1 × 60-minute speaking.
- Add a Friday review to move “recognize → produce”.
- Weekly pronunciation clinic: fix stress on 2 words + 1 cluster.
After 3 months: everyday topics in simple Russian; early B1 in sight.
Intensive lane (~10 h/week)
Weekly skeleton: 5 × 60-minute sessions + 2 speaking blocks (45–60’).
- Aspect in action: narrate yesterday vs. completed tasks.
- Weekend immersion: clips → retell → 120-word summary.
After 4–6 months: strong A2→B1; B2 within a year if you keep pace.
30-day starter plan (from zero to A1 footing)
Week 1 — Alphabet & sound: learn Cyrillic; mark stress; shadow slow greetings and numbers. Outcome: you can read menus and names.
Week 2 — Survival chunks: polite forms; money/cafés/transport; “Можно…?” + “Где…?”. Outcome: first real micro-conversations.
Week 3 — Daily life: present tense routines; 10 sentence starters; one 45-minute speaking session. Outcome: describe a simple day.
Week 4 — Past & future basics: past of key verbs; “Завтра я буду…”, verbs of motion in real phrases; tiny role-play. Outcome: A1 foundations, ready for consistent A2 work.
90-day roadmap to everyday conversations
Month 1 — Foundation & courage
- Goal: read everything in Cyrillic; speak 5 min/week minimum.
- Topics: routines, family, food, city.
- Output: 60 short sentences/week (spoken aloud).
Month 2 — Time & stories
- Goal: control past/future in everyday contexts.
- Topics: weekend stories, travel, health basics.
- Output: two 2-minute monologues/week + one 100-word note.
Month 3 — Glue words & flow
- Goal: connect ideas (because/so/however), keep speaking with mistakes.
- Topics: work/study, plans, opinions.
- Output: three 3-minute retells/week + one 150-word message.
Common time-killers (and quick fixes)
Studying in transliteration for months. Switch to Cyrillic in week 1; add a daily 3-minute stress check.
Only input, no output. Speak 60–120 seconds every session, even alone. Record yourself—it counts.
Words out of context. Store words inside micro-patterns: спаси́бо за + Acc (Спасибо за помощь); через + Acc for “in X time” (через неделю).
Avoiding feedback. One check-in per week with a teacher or buddy. Correct stress/aspect early.
Mini-dialogue (with stress and translation)
how-long_ru_slow.mp3)how-long_ru_nat.mp3)A: Ско́лько вре́мени ну́жно, что́бы вы́учить ру́сский?
Skól’ko vrémeni núzhno, chtóby výuchit’ rússkiy? — How long does it take to learn Russian?
B: Зависит от того́, ско́лько вы зани́маетесь и го́товы ли вы говори́ть вслух ка́ждый день.
…it depends on how much you study and whether you speak out loud every day.
A: Хочу́ уме́ть обща́ться к ле́ту. Реа́льно?
I want to chat by summer. Is it realistic?
B: Да, е́сли бу́дете за́няты 5 часо́в в неде́лю и бу́дете получа́ть о́братную связь.
Yes—about 5 hours a week plus feedback.
Handy patterns (time & duration): “Через + Acc” = in (time from now) → через месяц. “За + Acc” (with completion verbs) = in (time it took) → за неделю. “Ско́лько вре́мени заняло́…?” = How long did it take…?
Micro-exercises (1 minute, answers below)
1) MCQ — Which lane fits this learner?
Maria studies 30 minutes, 5 days a week, plus a 60-minute tutor session. She wants everyday conversation by 6–8 months.
A) Casual lane • B) Consistent lane • C) Intensive lane
2) Fill-in — Choose the right pattern
a) “I’ll start speaking in two weeks.” → Я начну́ говори́ть ______ две неде́ли.
b) “I learned the alphabet in a week.” → Я вы́учил алфави́т ______ неде́лю.
Show answers
1) B (Consistent ≈ 5 h/week).
2) a) через (через две недели); b) за (за неделю).
Putting it all together (and next steps)
Your timeline = goal × weekly hours × speaking with feedback. Keep sessions short but frequent, speak out loud, and get corrections weekly. If you still hesitate about difficulty, read Is Russian Hard to Learn?. If you need a reason to commit, read Why Learn Russian?.
FAQs
Can you learn Russian in 3 months?
You can reach tourist survival quickly and build everyday conversation if you go intensive (≈10 h/week including speaking and feedback). For most people, comfortable B1 is 6–12 months.
How many hours a day should I study?
Aim for 25–30 minutes per weekday and one longer speaking session (45–60 minutes) weekly. If busy, do three 25-minute blocks + one speaking session per week.
Do I need the alphabet first?
Yes—learn Cyrillic in week 1. It saves months of confusion with stress and pronunciation.
Self-study or tutor?
Both can work. A tutor (even weekly) catches stress/aspect and word-order mistakes early, which saves time.
Is B1 enough to live in Russia?
Many manage daily life at B1, but B2 is more comfortable for work/study and fast conversations.