Practice your pronunciation. In the Russian alphabet there are 20 consonant letters; each of which can be pronounced either soft or hard depending on the type of a letter that comes after them. The best rule for beginners is to remember that consonants are soft if they are followed by soft vowels and that consonants are hard when followed by hard vowels. Without mastering this, it will be very difficult to progress.
Don't get worried about your grammar mistakes. Russian is a tough language for English speakers so it's inevitable that you'll make lots of mistakes when starting to learn. Verbs of motion are one area where people struggle in; needing to use a different word, for example, for travel by car, foot, or bike can be confusing. Avoid getting worked up because you're unable to remember the ending of a certain word. Try it a few times and if you still can't get it, move on. Come back to it later and try again.
To effectively learn Russian you need to use as many different resources around you as possible. You can download Russian music, watch Russian films or news on television or the Internet and read Russian books or magazines. Identify learning resources. Once you're capable of having a basic conversation, try to make some Russian friends. Websites such as oxLingo make this easy. Learning through a combination of methods makes language learning easier and forestalls boredom. If possible, book a vacation to Russia; this will give you a real incentive to practice before you arrive.
Speak to yourself. The sounds made when speaking Russian are far from English, so it takes awhile before you will get them right. One of the best ways to practice is by standing in front a mirror and looking at the way your mouth moves and the sound that you make. When learning languages, babies repeat words over and over again until they're perfected. Although you may look silly, use this process until you've got it right.
Type on a keyboard. An excellent way to both learn and practice Russian is by typing in Russian. You can easily buy a template or stickers to place on your keyboard and switch your computer's input language to Russian. Typing or writing is important as it allows you to analyze individual words, helping you to remember better than just saying them.
Surround yourself with as much Russian language as possible. Put sticky notes on objects around the house to help you remember them and set a Russian website as your homepage so you see it every time you go online.