Pronunciation
In 1984
A desire to get to know Russian culture or do business with Russians
It's not nearly as difficult compared to Asian languages. The Russian language has a lot of borrowings from European languages and this makes it easier to understand.
Russian literature
The hardest part of teaching Russian is explaining the difference between the spelling and everyday pronunciation of Russian words.
Regular practice of listening, speaking and reading
The hardest thing is the Russian alphabet
You need to study Russian for at least 1 year to start understanding and speaking normally
1 - 1.5 years