Evidence-based learning technique

Improve your Russian while enjoying world's best books

Lingo7, language learning app with parallel reading

Lingo7 is a mobile app for learning Russian by reading real books. Every sentence appears as parallel text, so you tap any word for an instant translation, hear native narration, and save new words to review later. It works on iOS and Android, and you can import your own books in Russian.

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Read Russian books with translation

Every Russian sentence is shown side by side with its English translation. You read naturally, absorbing Russian vocabulary and grammar in context, no stopping to look up words.

  • No dictionary needed, English translation is always right there
  • Natural absorption, learn Russian grammar and vocabulary from real texts
  • Real books, not textbook exercises, but stories you actually enjoy

Listen and read Russian at the same time

Turn on the audio and follow along with your eyes, a great way to level up your Russian listening and pronunciation.

  • Native pronunciation, hear every word spoken naturally
  • Word-by-word sync, the text highlights as you listen
  • Train your ear, build confident comprehension at natural pace
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Speed

The most proven way to remember words

Spaced repetition is one of the most rigorously studied learning techniques of the last century, repeatedly shown to outperform cramming and re-reading by a wide margin. Lingo7 tracks every word you tap while reading and brings it back for review right before you'd forget it. 14 different exercises, from quick recognition to active recall, typing and pronunciation, strengthen memory from every angle.

Exercise 3/25 · 5 words
Дом
Choose the translation:
house
time
water
day
Check
Listen:
Choose the translation:
house
time
water
day
Check
house
Form the word:
|
Дом
Skip
Дом
Is this the right translation?
house
Yes
No
Дом
[dom]
Press and speak:
Better in silence
Skip
Дом
[dom]
What's the translation?
Show translation

See a word and pick the correct translation from four options

Listen to a word and choose the correct translation, trains your ear

Build the word letter by letter from scrambled characters

See a word and a translation, quickly decide if it's correct

Pronounce the word and get instant accuracy feedback

Try to recall the translation from memory before revealing it

Read absolutely any book in Russian

Your favorite novel, your work textbook, your kid's bedtime story, drop any EPUB, PDF or DOCX into Lingo7 and it becomes a parallel-reading experience in Russian. No book is off limits.

Upload your own book

Your book. Any book. In Russian.

Drop in an EPUB, PDF or DOCX and Lingo7 instantly turns every page into parallel reading, original on one side, Russian translation on the other. Audio, word saving and spaced-repetition work out of the box.

  • Absolutely any book, your library, not ours
  • Parallel translation side by side with the original
  • Native audio narration on every page
  • Save and review every new word, spaced repetition built in
Adaptation

Read any book, adapted for you

Want to read a real book in Russian, but the words and grammar are still too hard? Lingo7 rewrites the whole book in easier Russian, same story, same characters, same ending. Just simpler words and easier grammar, so you can actually read it through.

What this means for you:

  • Read what you love, not textbook stories matched to your level
  • Classics at intermediate, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, García Márquez, Hugo
  • Re-read later at a harder level, same book, tougher Russian, as you improve

Original Charles Dickens

Нет ничего истиннее физиогномики, если принять во внимание манеры. Искусство чтения той книги, которую Вечная Мудрость заставляет каждое человеческое существо представлять со своей собственной страницей, на которой написан индивидуальный характер, является, возможно, трудным и мало изученным.

Adaptation

Физиогномика верна, когда вы смотрите на манеры. Искусство чтения лиц и их характера сложно. Возможно, это требует природного таланта. Это требует терпения и усилий.

Or, already prepared for you

Or pick from our library

Hand-picked stories, summaries and articles, already prepared for Russian with audio and parallel translation.

What users say

Real stories from language learners around the world

★★★★★

"That feeling when you're not 'studying' but just reading and suddenly understanding, priceless. Really well done."

Luca Conti
★★★★★

"Parallel reading is literally the most convenient way to learn a language without the pain."

Emily Carter
★★★★★

"Learning here feels natural: context is key. When you see the full phrase, it sticks easier and without forcing yourself."

Hugo Bernard
★★★★★

"Finally, learning that doesn't frustrate you: just read and absorb."

Carlos Hernández
★★★★★

"For me it's not about 'learning words' but keeping my language sharp. It's convenient to read regularly and stay in context, great tool for maintaining your level."

Alice Green advanced
★★★★★

"A very comfortable way to build vocabulary. I started translating less word-by-word in my head and understanding more by meaning."

Giulia Bianchi
★★★★★

"I'm starting from zero, and it's important not to drown in rules. Here I just read in small chunks and don't panic, having the translation nearby really helps."

Emma Thompson beginner
★★★★★

"Nice that the app isn't overloaded with extras. You just read and gradually start recognizing words and patterns. A calm, productive process."

Chloé Martin
★★★★★

"I love that you don't have to depend on motivation. Even when tired, just reading a couple of paragraphs is already practice."

Jonas Weber
★★★★★

"Why didn't I find this earlier? I finally have a normal rhythm: open, 15 minutes, close, and I actually learned."

Diego Castillo
★★★★★

"Open, read, understand. Everything I needed."

James Miller
★★★★★

"For intermediate level this is great: you reinforce grammar and vocabulary with real examples. You start catching fixed expressions faster."

Leon Müller intermediate
★★★★★

"I'm thrilled with the feeling of 'I'm really reading'. Not exercises for exercises' sake, but living language, and my brain starts putting the puzzle together on its own."

Valeria Navarro
★★★★★

"Reading in a foreign language used to be a punishment, now it's actually enjoyable. Parallel text saves you from getting stuck."

Thomas Moreau
★★★★★

"I liked that the focus is on understanding the text. Having the translation nearby helps you not lose the flow and learn in context. It's really more convenient than cramming."

Olivia Bennett
★★★★★

"Text + translation side by side = the perfect format for real practice."

Camille Dubois
★★★★★

"I like that you can study in small sessions. Even 20-30 minutes feels productive because it's real texts and real language."

Martina Ruiz
★★★★★

"I thought I'd quit again after two days... but this actually hooks you. You read and go: 'Oh, I got it!', and want just one more bit."

Sarah Johnson
★★★★★

"At an advanced level, volume and quality of contact with the language is what matters. Here it happens naturally: you read a lot without friction."

Francesca Romano advanced
★★★★★

"Well made: open a text, read, quickly check and continue. That's why you don't get tired and don't quit after three days."

Daniel White
★★★★★

"Very easy to get into, a little bit every day, stress-free."

Lucía Gómez
★★★★★

"Minimum fluff, maximum value, I love apps like this."

Antoine Lefèvre
★★★★★

"I actually stopped jumping between dictionaries and losing the meaning. Reading became whole, and progress is more noticeable because of it."

Mia Fischer
★★★★★

"Really love the 'read and learn' format. No prep, no searching for materials, just open and practice. Perfect for busy people."

Javier Morales
★★★★★

"My favorite moment is when you suddenly catch yourself reading faster and stumbling less on every word. It's very motivating!"

Élodie Laurent
★★★★★

"With this format I stopped getting stuck in the dictionary every minute."

Lena Schneider
★★★★★

"I find it hard to start because everything seems confusing. But here I see the meaning right away, and gain confidence to continue."

Sofía Martínez beginner
★★★★★

"I read with pleasure, and it suddenly became my 'lesson'."

Marco Rossi
★★★★★

"This is the first app where I don't feel stupid. No panic from unfamiliar words, the translation is right there, and you keep going."

Matthew Clark
★★★★★

"I already know the basics, but I was missing regular practice. This format fits perfectly into my day: I read and level up my comprehension without extra prep."

Nicolas Petit intermediate

Polyglot secrets

The 5 principles every polyglot uses, built into Lingo7.

Principle: Extensive reading, consuming large volumes of text you can mostly understand, is one of the most research-backed paths to fluency (Krashen's input hypothesis). The trick is removing friction so you can read a lot without stopping.

How Lingo7 helps: Parallel translation sits right next to the original, no dictionary lookups, no breaking flow. Turbo mode highlights words in rhythm if you lose your place, so you can devour pages instead of decoding them.

Principle: Spaced repetition is one of the most rigorously studied learning techniques of the last century. The idea: review each word just before you would have forgotten it, that's when a single repetition strengthens memory the most.

How Lingo7 helps: Lingo7's spaced repetition system tracks every word you save and brings it back at the optimal interval. You don't schedule anything, the algorithm handles timing, and 14 different exercises keep memory sharp from every angle.

Principle: Polyglots don't memorize every word in order, they focus on the ones that pay off. High-frequency words dominate everyday language: a few hundred of the most common words are enough to start understanding real books, conversations, and articles.

How Lingo7 helps: Two frequency-ranked starter collections built from corpus data, the 100 most popular words to get off the ground, then 250 more for real traction. Available in 49 languages. Learn the minimum that gives you the maximum, instead of chasing a dictionary you'll never finish.

Principle: Boring textbooks kill motivation. Polyglots choose texts they actually enjoy, favorite books, articles, scripts, because interest is what sustains daily practice for months and years, not willpower.

How Lingo7 helps: A large, growing library across genres, classic novels, contemporary articles, topic summaries. You pick what you actually care about, not what a textbook assigns. Interest does the hard work of keeping you consistent.

Principle: Real progress happens when reading, listening, vocabulary, and pronunciation reinforce each other. A word you've read, heard, and pronounced is remembered in a way that isolated drilling can't match, overall results grow stronger than the sum of individual exercises.

How Lingo7 helps: One session covers all four: you read a page with parallel translation, listen to the narration with word-by-word highlighting, tap new words to save them, and practice pronunciation on the ones you learn. Four skills trained in parallel, in 7-15 minutes a day.

Russian is FSI Category III, requiring about 1100 hours of study. The Cyrillic alphabet can be learned in a few days, but the case system, verb aspects, and unpredictable stress patterns present ongoing challenges. Reading Russian literature with parallel translations builds comprehension effectively.

Most learners master Cyrillic reading in 1-2 weeks. The alphabet has 33 letters, many of which resemble Latin or Greek letters. Once you can read Cyrillic, you unlock access to a vast body of Russian literature and can begin building vocabulary through reading.

Russian has six grammatical cases, three genders, two verb aspects, and verbs of motion with directional prefixes. However, it has no articles and relatively simple tense system (past, present, future). Extensive reading helps internalize case endings through pattern recognition.

Russian is widely spoken in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and as a second language across Central Asia, the Baltics, and Eastern Europe. It serves as a lingua franca for over 250 million people and remains important in science, literature, and international diplomacy.

Tips for Learning Russian Through Reading

Expert guides and practical advice to help you read books in Russian.

Why learn Russian?

Russian provides access to one of the world's great literary traditions from Tolstoy to Dostoevsky, is a key language in space science and diplomacy, and is widely understood across former Soviet states.

Russian uses a rich case system with six cases, a verbal aspect system that distinguishes completed from ongoing actions, flexible word order for emphasis, and lacks articles entirely.

255M Speakers
Indo-European Language family
Cyrillic Writing system
~1100h Study hours (FSI)

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