Whether you're a beginner who just learned the alphabet or a lifetime Russian language devotee and teacher of Russian, you might be interested in learning about all the ways I've created for students to master Russian pronunciation. You can find them all on one page at learnrussianwithkira.com but here are some shortcuts:
American Councils offers an incredibly wide array of study abroad opportunities for students at the high school, university, and graduate levels, for researchers, and for professionals. It's worth taking a look at their programs - nothing beats in-country study.
Learning Experiences
Summer intensive Russian language program that runs from early June to early August. One year's worth of instruction at the college level in eight weeks. I usually sing with students there a few times each summer, so come on down!
Philadelphia's own independent summer training program for aspiring and professional opera singers and for vocal accompanying piano students. Special attention to Russian diction. Indispensable for non-native speakers destined for roles in Russian operas!
Also published by the American Council of Teachers of Russian and available through Kendall Hunt, these textbooks are the gold standard in Russian language education at the college level for first- and second-year Russian students. These textbooks are accompanied by workbooks, cds, and dvds, and all of the audio and audio-visual resources are accessible online as well.
This book was written by my own phonetics teacher, Irina Vladimirovna Odintsova, who teaches at Moscow State University. Published in 2018, it's the most recent version of her outstanding phonetics resources, and it comes with a cd. I purchased it myself, for extra practice!
The American Council of Teachers of Russian has co-authored and supported the development of several Russian language textbooks for students at all levels of proficiency. They are available through Kendall Hunt.
Books & Audiovisual Resources
Online Resources
3ears is a really cool free video resource with interactive subtitles & a dictionary. As you watch cartoons, music videos, and instructional films in a foreign language, a transcript appears below that highlights the words that are being spoken in real time, karaoke-style. You can click on each word and when you do, a wealth of information pops up, such as the definition, the case the word is in, and additional sample sentences. It really is an amazing resource with over 1500 videos in 6 languages – languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Romanian. Absolutely check it out!
EasyPronunciation.com
EasyPronunciation.com is another incredible online resource that benefits both students and teachers. Students can access a wealth of information on pronunciation such as how Russian words are transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), for example, and teachers can submit entire texts for stress marks to be added. Here are some additional functions available on the site:
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convert text to a phonetic transcription
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search words by phonetic transcription
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practice pronunciation of individual words
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learn to distinguish similar sounds, like in bad and bed
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learn phonetic symbols with an interactive IPA chart
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practice pronunciation with short simple sentences (video vocabulary builder for beginners)
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insert phonetic transcription into subtitles
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count word frequency in a text
Many features are free, but I purchased a lifetime subscription. Take a look!