Summary: Watching series in Russian is a great way to improve your Russian skills without investing any extra time. Especially if you’re a beginner, you’d do well to pick series that have English subtitles. So you understand the plot, while improving your understanding of spoken Russian.
If you’re not watching series in Russian, you’re making a big mistake. Why? Because you’re already watching SOMETHING in another language. It’s a small step to switch languages, and start improving your Russian skills with something that you’re already doing.
Literally no extra time invested. And your understanding of spoken Russian will skyrocket.
Today we’re going to talk about 5 good series if you’re just starting to learn Russian. These series are meant for everyone who’s a complete beginner (meaning 0 experience to anyone who’s lower intermediate).
So let’s get started…
#1 All documentaries from StarMediaEN
While technically not classifying as a series, the documentaries from StarMediaEN feel as if they’re series. They’re interesting and show good parts of the Russian history. You can use these to learn Russian for free.
I’ve added this one here, since most people who want to learn Russian, also have a peculiar interest in the Russian history.
The documentaries all involve actors, who show the plot of the events.
Here are some good ones:
- World War 1
- Napoleonic Wars
- Romanovs
The great thing here is that they all have at least 8 episodes, so you can enjoy them for 7+ hours. If you’re done with those 3 series, check out more documentaries here from StarMediaEN.
The Cardsharp
This is a series about a young guy who moves back from Moscow to his hometown Odessa (in Ukraine at the Black Sea) in the first quarter of the 20th century (around 1910 or so I think). In Moscow he learned a lot of card tricks, and he uses those to quickly earn some money. Even though he’s a good guy at heart, he still crosses the paths of some criminal bosses.
It’s a fun series that shows how Odessa looked 100+ years ago. The plot is also interesting, and even though it takes place a long time ago, the spoken Russian is just like today’s Russian. So you’ll still learn a lot of words from that.
The Dawns Here are Quiet
This is a remake of the soviet classic. There’s a female regiment stationed on the border of Russia and germany in World War 2. They get a new male commander and this clashes a lot.
It’s a very interesting mix of war and drama. Since a big part of the movie is all about the new commander having trouble getting the female soldiers to accept him as their new commandant.
Then a German scouting group comes closer to their camp and they all need to work together.
Highly recommend you watch this.
Modern version.
Old soviet version (unfortunately without English subtitles):
Trouble in Store
This series takes place in the 80’s. It’s about a luxury food store in Moscow. The owner is caught in a web of corruption. At that time the Russian government wanted to make an end to the widespread corruption in Russia, so he’s being followed to gather evidence to take him to trial.
It’s a criminal drama, and if you’re interested in how Russia looked at the (almost) end of communism, I highly recommend it.
Как я стал Русским
This series is NOT available with english subs. Still it’s on this list. Why? Cause it’s a bout an American journalist who moves to Russia for his work.
His babushka was Russian, so he knows a couple of Russian words. Not much though.
That’s why the series is so great for people who learn Russian. It’s a great test of your skills if you can understand it without subtitles. Because his Russian isn’t good, the conversations in the series are relatively easy.
This was the first Russian series I watched without subtitles (in 2017 if I recall correctly). And after that ‘trial’, I found I could more easily get myself to watch other series.
And now I’m at the point where I understand around 95% of everything that’s begin said.
to recap
Watching Russian series is a great practice for your brain. You understand better where words start and where they end. And the best thing? You’re already watching something in your native language/English, so why not switch to Russian media, and start improving your Russian with 0 extra time invested? ;)
What should you do next?
Most learners don't struggle because Russian is "too hard."
They struggle because they don't train speaking directly.
- You can study vocabulary
- you can memorize Grammar
- You can listen for hours
But if you don't practice building sentences in real time, you'll still struggle when someone speaks to you.
One of my students once told me:
“I have been studying Russian for a year. In my head I can prepare basic sentences, yet when it comes to actually speaking I ‘chock’.”That's not a knowledge problem.
That’s a training problem.
Your weakest skill determins your conversational level.
And for most learners, that weakest skill is speaking.
That's why I built Russian Conversations Unlocked - a structured 30-lesson audio course designed to train real-time speaking ability step by step.
If you want to have real conversations in Russian, start here:
Hi! I’m from Russia. In general, Russian TV series are terrible for the most part. So, I’ve never recommended anybody to watch it )) the documentaries it’s much better. There are a lot of Russian bloggers on YouTube specialized on different topics, that’s might be more helpful, I think. And of course perfect Soviet movie. such directors as Эльдар Рязанов, Владимир Меньшов, Георгий Данелия. Maybe some tv shows could be not that bad. Sorry for my English and happy studying
Hi Mila, thank you for your reply. I agree that the quality of Russian series isn’t as good as English series. I personally watch a lot of Russian youtubers, but that’s only a good option for those who have a high level in Russian, as they usually speak quickly, often with slang, and do not add subtitles. Soviet movies are great, but can be a bit slow and are unfortunately starting to get outdated.
That’s why I recommend Russian learners to watch modern series.
– The level of Russian is often quite understandable and they use modern words
– Often they include Russian or English subtitles, so they’re suitable for learners of every level.
– And they’re often quite funny/charming, as long as you don’t expect Netflix/Disney/Hollywood production level.