Russian is one of the most abundant languages of our time. Currently, more than 200 million people speak Russian. It is also among the ten working languages of the UN. The Russian language is one of the most difficult for foreign students to study, which necessitates a better approach to the educational process. This article discusses the study of the problem of increasing the effectiveness of teaching foreign students the Russian language as a foreign language. A hypothesis is put forward about the auxiliary use of video courses to solve the problem. An analysis is made of several existing video courses available online, showing their diversity in content, approach, and language level. Some typical difficult moments that may arise in students of the Russian language are considered. It is confirmed that the creation of a new video course and the linguistic and methodological foundations of its introduction into the educational process are new and relevant.