u/james-learns-ru

Two months ago we launched Mishka on iOS and the #1 piece of feedback from this sub was "where's Android." A month ago we said it would be ready in 2-3 weeks. It's live on Google Play today.

For anyone new here: Mishka is an app Lera and I built for Russian learners who've gotten the A1 basics down (usually on Duolingo) and want an app that actually teaches grammar in context, not just more random vocabulary drills. Content scales A1 to C1. Lera is a certified Russian tutor and the brain behind all the lesson content. I'm the developer (and an intermediate learner who needed this to exist).

What's in it: stories A1-C1 with professional audio, full grammar course, conjugation and declension drills, tap-any-word translation that feeds straight into spaced repetition flashcards, conversation practice and "missions" where you do everything from ordering coffee to talking your way out of a speeding ticket (with live AI feedback on your grammar, spelling, and vocabulary), culture/slang/idioms at B2+. There's also a home screen widget that cycles your saved vocabulary throughout the day for passive review without opening the app. Free preview at every level before any subscription kicks in.

Download on Google Play

Download on iOS

A few things we're working on next:

Grammar mastery course: almost ready. Right now the full grammar course has one lesson per topic; this new feature adds a stack of drills and exercises per concept so you can actually internalize the patterns instead of "getting" them once and then forgetting them under pressure.

B1 versions of culture, slang, and idioms: currently this content only opens up at B2+, but enough of you asked for it earlier that we're going to make a B1 tier.

More story lessons: thinking about a separate "universe" with new characters so we can keep expanding without overloading the existing storyline.

Testers who've been on the Android beta should be migrated to the full release automatically the next time you open the app.

If you've downloaded Mishka before and have feedback (what's missing, what's broken, what you'd want next), please drop it in the comments. The first two posts in this sub genuinely shaped how we built this. Multiple things in the app exist because someone here asked for them, and that's how we want to keep going.

Спасибо!

Mishka is a Russian learning app for A1 to C1. You can start using it as soon as you can read Cyrillic, but it really shines at the intermediate plateau past A2, where Duolingo and most other apps stop being useful.

It has stories from A1 to C1, professional audio for everything, and tap any word for an instant translation or to save it to your spaced repetition flashcards. The stories have recurring characters that grow with you as your level goes up. There's a full grammar course that actually teaches cases, aspect, and verb conjugation properly, plus separate trainers for conjugation and declension you can drill whenever you want. There's conversation practice and writing practice too, and a mistake tracker that watches where you keep slipping and tells you which grammar areas to focus on next.

There's no locked path. You decide what to work on. Stuck on cases? Drill cases. Want to read? Open a story. Need to practice speaking? Go straight to conversation. Everyone's weak spot at intermediate is different and Mishka treats it that way.

Mishka was built by my girlfriend Lera and me. She's a certified Russian tutor with a degree from Moscow State Linguistic University and a master's from the University of Vienna, and she wrote and edited every lesson, story, and grammar explanation. I'm the developer and an intermediate Russian learner, so I used the app the whole time we were building it.

iOS is out now, Android is being released next week. The first few levels at every level and many of the other features are free and you can try the rest for 7 days free!

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mishka-russian-intermediate/id6757408307