Russian has three common verbs for "to study" or "to learn." The one you choose depends entirely on what you are studying or where you are doing it.
Учиться: Where and How You Study
Use учиться to talk about where you study (like a university or school) or how you study (well, poorly). Because it ends in the reflexive -ся, it can never take a direct object. You cannot say "I study history" with this verb.
When talking about universities, Russians use the preposition на to indicate studying at a specific faculty/department (факультет) or in a specific year of study (курс). For example, "на первом курсе" means "in the first year."
Изучать: Academic Subjects
When you want to say what you are studying as a major or academic discipline, use изучать. This verb takes a direct object in the accusative case.
It is perfect for discussing academic fields like linguistics (лингвистика) or translation (перевод), or researching a specific dialect (диалект).
Учить and Выучить: Memorization
If you are learning or memorizing specific information — like vocabulary (лексика), a useful phrase (фраза), or grammar rules — use учить (imperfective) or its perfective pair выучить (to successfully memorize). This also takes a direct object in the accusative case.
Talking About Your Degree
Now you can combine these verbs to talk about your major or specialty (специальность) and the specific language skills you are working on, like your pronunciation (произношение).
Remember the syntax of studying: you enroll somewhere (учиться), you research a field (изучать), and you memorize the details (учить).
