Abstract: In the process of teaching Russian as a foreign language, the development of speech is one of the main tasks. For this purpose, new methods for improving the quality of teaching are constantly being searched for and existing ones are being improved. The main methods of teaching Russian as a foreign language are based on the principle of complete immersion into the language environment, that is, without a translator and the mediator language. With each topic a new vocabulary is introduced, the explanation of which is due to the lexical units studied at the elementary and basic levels. In the course of conducting classes, Yarovenko discovered an interesting pattern: when explaining a new vocabulary, in case of a misunderstanding of words, foreign students asked to call antonyms. The method of conversation revealed that they understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Yarovenko analyzes the peculiar approach of cadets to the study of the Russian language through antonymy, we came to the conclusion that it is expedient to further develop this skill in them, since the lexical composition of the Russian language is significantly enriched with the help of antonyms and synonyms. He studied the scientific literature on the methodology of teaching RCTs for the study of antonyms and their use in Russian. As a result, it was established that the antonymy of the Russian language as a strategy for learning Russian speech is not considered. The author developed recommendations for working with antonyms in Russian language classes as a foreign language and received a positive result: the speech constructs had practically no lexical errors, clarity of pronunciation was present, the fear of the language barrier was reduced. Moreover, the cadets began to independently initiate dialogues.