How to Read Russian

Desi80

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posted on 11 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Russian is a Slavic language spoken mostly in Russia although Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine also speak Russian or use the Cyrillic alphabet (which is what Russian was formed upon). There are approximately 155 million Russian speakers in the world and it is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, making it a useful language to know. This article will explain how to read the Cyrillic alphabet so that learning Russian becomes easier.

Steps

Know the basics. There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet. It consists of 11 vowels, 20 consonants and 2 pronunciation signs.

Learn the Russian alphabet. It is: А, Б, В, Г, Д, Е, Ё, Ж, З, И, Й, К, Л, М, Н, О, П, Р, С, Т, У, Ф, Х, Ц, Ч, Ш, Щ, Ъ, Ы, Ь, Э, Ю, Я.

Figure out what it translates to. In English the Russian alphabet translates to: a, b, v, g, d, e, yo, zh, z, i, y, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, f, kh, ts, ch,sh, shch, 'hard sign', i, 'soft sign', ye, yu, ya. As you can see there are a lot of letters that represent sounds, e.g. Ж = zh.

Find letters that are similar to the ones you already know in English. Russian letters that are basically the same: Aa = pronounced like the 'a' in car (not like the flat 'a' in mat). Kk = pronounced like the 'k' in kitchen. Mm = pronounced like the 'm' in mail. Oo = pronounced like the 'o' in bore. Tt = pronounced like the 't' in top.

Learn the letters that look like they're from the English alphabet, but are pronounced differently. Russian letters that look like English letters but sound different are: B = pronounced like the 'v' in vet. E = pronounced like the 'ye' in yes. H = pronounced like the 'n' in no. P = pronounced like the 'r' in rabbit (the 'P' is rolled though), C = pronounced like the 's' in snake. Y = pronounced like the 'oo' in shoot. X = pronounced like the 'h' in hello (similar sound to the ending of 'Bach' in German).

Learn the letters that have similar sounds in English, but look different from any letters in the English alphabet. Russian letters that look unfamiliar, but have similar sounds in English are: Б = pronounced like 'b' in bread. Г = pronounced like 'g' in great. Д = pronounced like 'd' in dark. З = pronounced like 'z' in zoo. И = pronounced like 'i' in taxi. Л = pronounced like 'L' in like. П = pronounced like 'p' in person. Ф = pronounced like 'f' in fish. Э = pronounced like 'e' in bet.

Learn letters that are unique to Russian, yet still have similar sounds. These letters are: Ё = pronounced like 'yo' in yonder. Ю = sounds just like the word 'you'. Я = pronounced like the 'ya' in yacht. Ж = sounds like the 's' in pleasure. Ц = pronounced 'ts' like in sits. Ч = pronounced like 'ch' in church. Ш = sounds like 'sh' in sharp. Щ = to say this letter you have to arrange your mouth as if you were going to say 'ch' but instead you would say 'sh'. Ы = pronounced like the 'i' in lip. Й = sounds like the 'y' in boy.

Figure out the pronunciation symbols. Ъ = the 'hard sign' represents a slight pause between syllables. Ь = the 'soft sign' makes the previous letter soft, so 'K' sound could sound like a 'H' if this symbol was after the 'K'.

Start reading simple words. Some example words are: БAP = BAR (not BAP!), ВИДЕО = VIDEO, ТЕКСТ = TEXT, MИHУTA = MINUTE, ИЮHЬ = JUNE, СЕНТЯБРЬ = SEPTEMBER.