Learn Hardcore Russian: И хотя день был длинным, я всё равно рад, что выучил новые слова про спектакль и животных. - And although the day was long, I am still glad that I learned new words about a play and animals.

Adding И in front (И хотя...) makes it sound more like a continuation of a previous thought, similar to English “And although the day was long…”.

Хотя = although / even though
И хотя = and although / and even though, tying this sentence to what was said before.

If this is the first sentence, many speakers would just say Хотя день был длинным... without И.

Why is it день был длинным and not день был длинный?

The form длинным is the instrumental case of the adjective длинный (long). In Russian, with был / была / было / были, a predicate adjective can be:

in the nominative: день был длинный
or in the instrumental: день был длинным

Both are grammatically correct and both can appear in modern Russian.

Very roughly:

день был длинный – more colloquial, neutral description.
день был длинным – a bit more “literary” or formal, often emphasizing this was the state/quality the day had.

Learner tip: you’ll very often see noun + был + adjective in instrumental, e.g.
День был тяжёлым. – The day was hard.
Урок был интересным. – The lesson was interesting.

You don’t need to worry too much about the nuance at first; just know that длинным is there because of the instrumental case after был.

What exactly does всё равно mean here, and how is it different from всё ещё (“still”)?

In this sentence, всё равно means “anyway / still / even so / despite that”:

я всё равно рад – I’m still glad anyway / I’m glad all the same

It signals contrast with the first part:

The day was long (negative)
But in spite of that, I’m glad (positive)

Important:

всё равно ≠ всё ещё
всё ещё = still (continuing in time)
- Он всё ещё работает. – He is still working.
всё равно = it doesn’t change the result / it’s all the same
- Мне всё равно. – I don’t care / It’s all the same to me.
- Было трудно, но я всё равно доволен. – It was hard, but I’m satisfied anyway.

So here всё равно is about contrast and attitude, not about something continuing in time.

Why is it я рад, with no verb “to be”? Shouldn’t it be like “я есть рад”?

In Russian, the present tense form of быть (есть) is normally omitted in simple statements like this.

So:

я рад literally is “I (am) glad”
Russian does not say я есть рад in normal speech; that sounds archaic or overly emphatic.

Patterns to remember:

Я рад. – I’m glad.
Мы рады. – We’re glad.
Он счастлив. – He is happy.
Она устала. – She is tired.

The verb быть shows up in:

the past: я был рад / я была рада – I was glad
the future: я буду рад – I will be glad
but is usually hidden in simple present-tense “X is Y” sentences.

What is the difference between рад and счастлив / довольный?

All three relate to positive feelings, but they’re not identical:

рад
- Short-form adjective.
- Means glad / pleased (about something specific).
- Often followed by что… or a noun:
  - Я рад, что вы пришли. – I’m glad that you came.
счастлив
- Short-form of счастливый (happy).
- Stronger, more general happiness, often deeper or broader than just one event:
  - Он счастлив. – He is happy (in life / in general).
довольный / доволен
- довольный is full form; доволен is short form (masc.).
- Means satisfied / content:
  - Я доволен результатами. – I’m satisfied with the results.

In this sentence, рад fits well because the speaker is glad about one particular thing: learning new words.

Why is it выучил and not учил or изучал?

These verbs differ mainly in aspect and meaning:

учил (from учить) – imperfective
- Means was learning / used to learn / tried to learn.
- Process, not necessarily completed.
- Я учил новые слова. – I was learning new words (we don’t know if I learned them fully).
изучал (from изучать) – imperfective
- Means was studying (in depth).
- More about systematic study, research, detailed learning.
- Я изучал русский язык. – I was studying Russian (not just memorizing a few words).
выучил (from выучить) – perfective
- Means learned and finished / memorized; the result is achieved.
- Я выучил новые слова. – I have learned (memorized) the new words.

In your sentence, the speaker is happy about the result (he now knows these new words), so the perfective выучил is the natural choice.

What does про спектакль mean exactly, and how is спектакль different from пьеса or представление?

спектакль = a theatrical performance (what happens on stage with actors, in a theater).
пьеса = a play as a written literary work (the script/text).
представление = more general performance / show (can be a circus show, theater show, etc.).

So:

слова про спектакль – words about a performance (the show in the theater)
слова про пьесу – words about the play as a text
слова про представление – words about the show (could be broader, not only theater)

In this sentence, спектакль suggests vocabulary connected with theater performances (actors, scenes, tickets, stage, etc.).

Why is it про спектакль и животных and not про спектакль и животные? What case is животных?

The preposition про (about) normally takes the accusative case.

про спектакль
- спектакль is masculine, in the accusative singular (looks the same as nominative here).
про животных
- животные (animals) – nominative plural
- животных – genitive plural and accusative plural of animate nouns

For animate plural nouns, the accusative = genitive form, so животных is the correct accusative plural after про.

So both nouns are in the accusative after про:

про спектакль (accusative singular)
про животных (accusative plural, animate)

про спектакль и животные would be incorrect here, because животные would wrongly be in the nominative.

Could I use о instead of про, like о спектакле и животных? Is there a difference between про and о?

Yes, you can say:

новые слова о спектакле и животных

This is grammatically correct. The difference is:

о + prepositional case (о спектакле, о животных)
- More neutral and slightly more formal.
- Common in written language and careful speech.
про + accusative (про спектакль, про животных)
- Very common in colloquial speech.
- Often feels more spoken, informal.

In your sentence, про спектакль и животных sounds very natural and conversational. In a formal textbook or academic context, you might see о спектакле и животных instead.

If the speaker is a woman, how would this sentence change?

Two things change for a female speaker: the participle/verb выучил and the short-form adjective рад.

Masculine (as given):

я всё равно рад, что выучил новые слова...

Feminine:

я всё равно рада, что выучила новые слова...

Changes:

рад → рада (short-form adjective agrees with feminine subject я (female))
выучил → выучила (past tense feminine form of выучить)

Everything else in the sentence stays the same.

Can всё равно be placed somewhere else, like я рад всё равно or я рад, всё равно?

The most natural positions here are:

я всё равно рад, что... (very natural)
всё равно я рад, что... (also possible, with a bit more emphasis on in any case)

Other options:

я рад всё равно – possible in some contexts, but without что... it often sounds like an afterthought and is less typical in this exact structure.
я рад, всё равно – sounds a bit awkward or fragmented; you’d usually continue with something like я рад, всё равно было полезно (I’m glad, anyway it was useful).

In your specific sentence, я всё равно рад, что... is the standard, most natural word order.