Reddit reviews Modern Russian: An Advanced Grammar Course (Russian Studies)

I'd suggest reading Penguin's Complete Russian Course for Beginners and then moving on to Modern Russian. But really, books can only help you understand concepts of the language on not to listen and speak the language conversationally. I'm an American, but I lived in Russia for a couple of years in my late teens to early twenties. I'd study Penguin's Complete Russian Course (and later Modern Russian) for an hour every morning and make mental notes of phrases I wanted to use and how to construct sentences and then I'd go out and talk with people. I'd be listening for what I was learning. It's so important to listen natives speak the language and you have to try to speak and make mistakes and have them correct you. I'd listen to native Russian podcast type programs as well and watch Russian movies. I started to be able to understand almost everything within the six to nine months. After a year, I could speak quite freely and then by 18 months I could understand the nuances of the language, make jokes, and almost always get my point across. So if you have the chance to speak with Russians, do so as often as possible. And make mistakes. Then learn from them. Study everyday. Practice everyday.

I lived in the country and was a proselyting missionary for the LDS church. Part of our morning routine was an hour in the morning to study Russian.

I used flash cards with words I had written down that I had heard the day before, but didn't know what they meant at the time. I studied a book called [Modern Russian] (https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Russian-Advanced-Grammar-Studies/dp/1853993611). I studied a Russian Grammar book called [Грамматика русского языка в иллюстрациях.] (http://nashol.com/2013010969045/grammatika-russkogo-yazika-v-illustraciyah-pehlivanova-k-i-lebedeva-m-n-1990.html) The book has really creepy puppet-looking people showing motion verbs with the proper grammar and whatnot.

I also used half of the time (another hour in the morning) I was given to study the scriptures (Bible, Book of Mormon, and some others) in Russian rather than in English.

Other than that, I was on the streets all day trying to strike up conversations with people and talk to them about life and God. Again, I would write down unfamiliar words or phrases I heard and look them up later. I would also frequently try to describe what I was doing and everything around me in Russian in my mind, whether I was walking down the street, cooking breakfast, or having people try to hurt me...

I think the key was just immersing myself in the language and the culture. Granted, it was a lot easier to do in Russia, but do what you can.

Edit: I a word

I agree with what has been said about doing much more reading, speaking, and listening. As far as grammar goes, I would go with Modern Russian from Derek Offord for more advanced concepts and expansion of what you learned with Penguin. This is coming from a native English speaker.