Clean Russian Lesson Notes

Transform lesson notes into properly formatted vocabulary CSV files for Anki.

Examples

See the examples/ directory:

• •Raw input: examples/lesson-raw.csv
• •Cleaned output: examples/lesson-cleaned.csv

CSV Output Format

4 columns, comma-separated:

Processing Rules

1. Extract Key Vocabulary

Lesson notes often contain full Russian sentences or phrases. Extract:

• •The key word or expression being taught
• •Useful collocations (e.g., ма́лый би́знес, за го́родом)
• •Grammar patterns with case markers (e.g., зави́сеть от (+ gen.))

2. Stress Marks (Column 1 Only)

• •Add stress mark (´) on the stressed vowel for multisyllabic words
• •Skip monosyllables (e.g., да, нет, шерсть)
• •Skip words with ё (always stressed)
• •Only add stress marks in column 1, not in example sentences

3. Gender for Soft Sign Nouns

• •For nouns ending in soft sign (ь), indicate gender with (m.) if masculine
• •Most soft-sign nouns are feminine, so only mark masculine ones
• •Examples: день (m.) — day, гость (m.) — guest, дождь (m.) — rain

4. Verb Pairs

• •When the word is a verb, include both the perfective and imperfective forms
• •When the verb is used with a preposition in the context, include that preposition and the case used with that preposition in this context Format: imperfective/perfective (e.g., ви́деть/уви́деть)
• •Only include one form if the other isn't commonly used or doesn't make sense
• •Include both when learners should know the pair

5. Single Translation

• •Provide only one English translation per entry — the one that best fits the context of the example sentence
• •Do not list multiple synonyms separated by / (e.g., avoid to develop / to grow)
• •If the word has multiple meanings, pick the meaning used in the example

6. Grammar Notes

When a word requires a specific case or preposition, include it:

• •гото́виться к (+ dat.) — to prepare for
• •зави́сеть от (+ gen.) — to depend on
• •знако́миться с (+ instr.) — to meet

7. Full Sentences

• •Create complete example sentences if the notes only have fragments
• •Use the original sentence from the lesson if it's already complete
• •Keep examples natural and relevant

8. Remove Duplicates

• •If the same phrase appears multiple times, keep only one entry
• •Merge related entries when appropriate

9. CSV Quoting

• •Wrap any field containing commas in double quotes
• •Example: "Зависит от того, чем ты занимаешься."

Example Transformation

Raw notes (from examples/lesson-raw.csv):

Так бывает
Семья моей жены
Зависит от того, чем ты занимаешься

Cleaned output (see examples/lesson-cleaned.csv):

так быва́ет,that's how it is,Так бывает в жизни.,That's how it is in life.
семья́ жены́,wife's family,Семья моей жены живёт в Бельгии.,My wife's family lives in Belgium.
зави́сеть от (+ gen.),to depend on,"Зависит от того, чем ты занимаешься.","It depends on what you do."

Creating the Anki Deck

After the cleaned CSV is ready, the user may want to create an Anki deck using create_deck.py:

python3 create_deck.py cleaned.csv -o deck.apkg

Important: Do NOT automatically create the deck after generating the CSV. The user often wants to review and edit the CSV first. Ask the user if they want to create the deck.