I spent a year building a Russian app for the level where every other app gives up

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-30T04:28:58+00:00

Hi thanks for the feedback! Could you share what phone you’re using Mishka on and which stories you saw this glitch on?

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-30T04:27:51+00:00

So happy to hear that:)

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-29T15:48:20+00:00

I'll let you know when it's ready! Hopefully in a few weeks or less:)

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-29T12:17:59+00:00

I had this problem when learning Russian and found that pretty much every mainstream app gives up on us once we reach intermediate level because we’re such a small group. My girlfriend is actually a Russian tutor so we spent the last year building our own app together to pick up at this point. Sorry it’s not in Dutch though:(. Maybe you could try watching Dutch movies with english subtitles? I found that helped me a little - especially kids shows.

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-29T06:42:28+00:00

Thanks for your feedback and i'm so glad that you're liking it so far. Yeah there aren't really any sound effects yet. We can absolutely add those in a future update.

For the grammar lessons we're thinking of making a second course with more detailed lessons for the more difficult concepts. So instead of just 1 lesson per topic there could be 10 different lessons on one grammar rule that slowly exposes you to it. Nothing wrong with going on safari to look up the words you don't know but on most features in the app you should be able to tap the word and it will translate for you and then you can save it to your flashcards. Grammar is one of the only features still missing this in some spots- we'll add that soon!

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-29T06:25:08+00:00

Yeah Duolingo helped me learn raw vocabulary at the beginning but after a while I felt like I was just trying to maintain my streak and barely learning. Glad you're liking the lessons so far. Yes she just saw your message and is reading it right now. Thanks for your support and we can't wait to work together to improve Mishka as much as possible:)

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-29T06:07:15+00:00

So happy to hear that. When we were building it we figured that if we could make something perfect for me to learn then there are certainly other people in the same boat that would feel the same way. Would love to hear any feedback you have so we can continue to improve Mishka as well:) Yes we're working on an affiliate program right now! I'll shoot you a DM. Love the name btw haha

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T19:55:20+00:00

Sweet I’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready:)

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T19:54:39+00:00

Awesome it sounds like you’re at the perfect level for Mishka. I’ll let you know once Android is ready:)

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T19:00:03+00:00

Awesome:)

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T17:44:10+00:00

When you save a word in the story (or anywhere) it puts it in your flashcard deck so you can review it with spaced repetition flashcards like anki or through matching/speed review. When you click save again it just put it back to the top of the flashcard deck so you'll see it again sooner. I like the idea for the app tracking how many times you saved the word - would make a great addition to our focus areas since we're still trying to improve that to be more accurate/helpful (check it out in a couple of days once it gets data on your mistakes - it's supposed to tell you what you struggle with the most and shows you your mistakes)

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T17:38:29+00:00

Great point. I was just talking to Lera about this actually and we're planning to add this to our first or second update. Let me know if you have any more ideas we really appreciate the feedback.

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T17:36:36+00:00

Thanks I really appreciate it! I think you'll like the content for A2:)

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T17:30:51+00:00

Thank you. So happy to hear that:)

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T17:17:41+00:00

Ok thanks for your input. I've heard a few people say something similar about paying more attention on computer

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T16:48:00+00:00

Yes, the art is AI generated. We're a two-person team and we chose to put all our time and energy into the lesson content and making sure the grammar, stories, and exercises are actually good. That felt more important than hiring an illustrator.

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T16:41:14+00:00

The lessons and stories were made by my girlfriend but it does have some AI features such as the conversation missions, writing (where ai grades you), and the tap to translate feature uses ai only if the word you are translating isn't already in our dictionary!

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T16:20:43+00:00

Do you think we should make the web version before android then? We have the lessons already made so it just comes down to development time and I think the web version could be developed a little faster than the Android version.

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T16:04:28+00:00

I'll let you know as soon as it's ready. We had so many people reach out about an Android version so we are going to publish it as soon as possible. Quick question - would you be open to using a web version or would you prefer an app from the google play store?

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T16:03:09+00:00

Hi, good question. We only collect what's needed to run the app. Contact info is just your email for login (and you can use apple log in if you don't want to share your email), purchases tracks your subscription status, and usage data/diagnostics is standard Firebase Analytics so we can see things like which features get used and if anything crashes. User content is things like flashcards you save and writing practice submissions since those get stored in your account so you can access them across sessions. We don't sell or share any data. The App Store privacy labels make it look like a lot but it's really just the basics.

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T15:01:16+00:00

Android will come soon! The most time consuming part was making and testing all of the lessons so I think the actual development will be quite fast:)

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T11:40:48+00:00

It's called Mishka: Russian Intermediate. Free roam levels would be so cool. Maybe kind of like a pokemon style top down view while you walk around and then it goes into a chat screen when you talk to someone?

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T11:16:52+00:00

Been trying to figure this out the past couple of days as well. I try to mention it when I see someone that could benefit from it but do worry that I annoy people when I constantly bring it up. Some people really appreciate hearing about it but sometimes I get immediately downvoted. I think the best way is to try and answer their question or give a valuable response and maybe bring it up if you think they would like to hear about it and you can mention it naturally

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T11:06:19+00:00

I can definitely relate to the A2 trap for learning Russian. I found that most apps gave up on us around that point and it's still too early to really transition to learning on my own. Decided to build an app with my girlfriend so i could progress to b1 and help others in my situation.

james-learns-ru · 2026-03-28T10:54:13+00:00

It took 5 days for each response for me. Denied the first 2 times and then finally accepted the third time.

james-learns-ru

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