u003ch1u003eHow much Russian can you learn in 4 weeks? Realistic expectationsu003c/h1u003e

u003cpu003eA realistic picture of four weeks of Russian in St Petersburg: what A1 covers, week-by-week progress on a 20 or 30 lesson schedule, and what speeds you up.u003c/pu003eu003cpu003eFour weeks is the classic course length: long enough to change something, short enough to fit a real life. Here is what a month of study actually buys.u003c/pu003eu003ch2u003eThe honest baselineu003c/h2u003eu003cpu003eOn the u003ca href=u0022/group-courses/u0022u003estandard courseu003c/au003e you get 20 lessons of 45 minutes a week - 80 lessons in four weeks. On the u003ca href=u0022/intensive-group-course/u0022u003eintensiveu003c/au003e, 30 a week - 120 lessons. For a complete beginner working seriously, that typically lands around A1: survival Russian. Several hundred active words, present and past tense, first cases, and the ability to handle real, simple situations without panic.u003c/pu003eu003cpu003eWhat A1 is not: understanding fast native speech, films without subtitles, or arguing about politics. Anyone who promises you fluency in a month is selling something other than Russian - no school can honestly promise a level; the honest variables are your hours, your homework and how often you open your mouth.u003c/pu003eu003ch2u003eWeek by weeku003c/h2u003e

u003cpu003eu003cstrongu003eWeek oneu003c/strongu003e is the alphabet, pronunciation, greetings, numbers and the first survival phrases. By Friday you read signs slowly and introduce yourself without notes.u003c/pu003eu003cpu003eu003cstrongu003eWeek twou003c/strongu003e brings structure: noun gender, first cases, regular verbs, questions. Sentences stop being memorised chunks and start being built.u003c/pu003eu003cpu003eu003cstrongu003eWeek threeu003c/strongu003e is where the city opens: locations and the prepositional case, past tense, want/can/must. You order, ask directions, and describe what you did yesterday - badly at first, which is the point.u003c/pu003eu003cpu003eu003cstrongu003eWeek fouru003c/strongu003e consolidates. New material slows down, repetition speeds up, and things you learned in week one suddenly come out automatically. That u0022it just came outu0022 moment is the real product of a month.u003c/pu003eu003ch2u003eWhat actually speeds you upu003c/h2u003e

u003cpu003eA u003ca href=u0022/accommodation/u0022u003ehomestayu003c/au003e adds hours of live Russian at breakfast and dinner without costing lesson time. Doing all the homework matters more than talent. Speaking Russian outside class - the cafe, the metro, the shop - turns the city into free extra lessons. And staying in a group of up to four means you speak every lesson, not once a week.u003c/pu003eu003cpu003eThe same list in reverse slows you down: English-only evenings, skipped homework, waiting to be u0022readyu0022 before speaking.u003c/pu003eu003ch2u003eIs four weeks worth it?u003c/h2u003eu003cpu003eAs a foundation - absolutely. You leave functional, not fluent: able to survive in Russian, able to keep learning on your own, and knowing exactly whether you want more. Students who continue usually move towards A2 with another block of study; how fast depends on the same honest variables as the first month.u003c/pu003eu003cpu003eIf you have exactly four weeks, the practical choice is standard for balance or intensive if you can protect your evenings for rest and homework. Take the u003ca href=u0022/russian-language-test/u0022u003eplacement testu003c/au003e if you have studied before, and start on a Monday.u003c/pu003e