Learn Ukrainian for Russian speakers
Ukrainian stories at your level, with one-tap Russian translations. From passive understanding to actually expressing yourself — the part textbooks never get you to.
Free to start · no card · your first story in 10 seconds
What Russian speakers already know
Roughly 60-70% of Ukrainian vocabulary overlaps with Russian, both use Cyrillic (with four swapped letters: і ї є ґ in Ukrainian, vs ы э ё ъ in Russian), and the grammar maps almost feature-for-feature: seven cases, perfective/imperfective aspect, three genders, free word order. Russian speakers usually understand 70-80% of casual Ukrainian text on first contact.
The friction points
- Several high-frequency words have wandered semantically — неділя (week → Sunday), місто (place → city), мова (calm → language).
- Verbs of motion, particles, and small function words diverge more than nouns; you'll have to relearn them rather than guess from Russian.
- Stress patterns differ on common words (питання, телефон), which makes spoken Ukrainian feel foreign even when reading is easy.
- Vocabulary in formal/administrative registers (legal, medical, bureaucratic) is the most diverged — and the most worth learning if you live in Ukraine.
False friends to know first
Words that look familiar but mean something else. The first ones to learn so you don't embarrass yourself.
What Ukrainian looks like in Newt
Generated by Newt at the level you set. Tap any word for an instant Russian translation, definition, and pronunciation — no leaving the page.
У Києві багато людей розмовляють українською мовою щодня.
В Киеве много людей говорят по-украински каждый день.
Almost word-for-word once you spot мовою (мовою = язык, not мова in instrumental).
У неділю ми поїдемо до моєї родини у Львів.
В воскресенье мы поедем к моей семье во Львов.
Two false friends in one sentence: неділя (Sunday, not week) and родина (family, not motherland).
Why Russian speakers pick up Ukrainian
Millions of Russian-speakers in Ukraine, in the post-2022 diaspora, and abroad are actively switching to Ukrainian — for identity, work, integration, or just because. The bottleneck is rarely understanding; it's production. Reading volume is what turns "я розумію все" into "я можу говорити сам."
Read → tap → save → repeat
- Tell Newt what you care aboutPick a topic (cycling, history, coffee, indie games — anything). Newt writes you a short Ukrainian story around it at your level.
- Tap any word for instant translationTap a word — Newt shows the Russian translation, definition, and pronunciation in a popup. No page-switching.
- Save the ones you don't know yetSaved words land in your vocabulary list with the sentence you met them in — context comes free.
- Newt reuses them in your next storyEach new story tries to fold in 2-3 words you recently saved, so you meet them again in fresh context. That's how vocabulary actually sticks.
- Spaced repetition catches what slippedA short daily review session brings back words the algorithm thinks you're about to forget. Same idea as Anki, except you never had to build the deck.
Common questions
How is this different from Duolingo for Ukrainian?
Duolingo teaches isolated phrases in a fixed curriculum. Newt generates short stories from topics you actually care about, at your current level, with every word tappable for an instant Russian translation. Words you save come back automatically in future stories — that's the part that makes vocabulary stick.
How is this different from asking ChatGPT to write me a Ukrainian text?
ChatGPT can write you a story, but it forgets everything between sessions. It doesn't know which words you already learned, doesn't space them out for review, and doesn't quietly weave your saved words into the next story. Newt does all of that — it's a closed loop, not a one-shot prompt.
What level of Ukrainian do I need to start?
Any. Newt supports A1 (complete beginner) through C1 (advanced). At A1 you'll get short, very simple texts with high-frequency vocabulary; at B2+ you'll get nuanced articles and stories. The system calibrates as you tap and save words.
Is it free?
Yes — there's a free plan with 3 fresh AI texts every day, no card required to sign up. Premium lifts the daily cap and lets you study multiple languages at once; you can upgrade anytime.
How long until I can read a real book in Ukrainian?
Realistic timeline for Russian speakers: 4-8 months of consistent daily reading (15-30 min) to read a young-adult novel comfortably, 12+ months to read literary fiction. The single biggest predictor is hours of input — Newt's job is to make those hours easy to start.
Start reading Ukrainian tonight
Pick a topic, your first story lands in 10 seconds. Free to start, no card.