You are now in the Exercises section
of the RUSLANG site. Here you will have a chance to learn
russian words, dates, numbers and alphabet. The
pronunciation lessons are not ready yet, but in near future
we are going to add sound files to our site. The only and the main reason
why there are no sound files yet, because we do not have enough
disk space for them.
Latin equivalents of Russian sounds
А
A
Б
B
В
V
Г
G
Д
D
Е
E
Е:
E
Ж
ZH
З
Z
И
I
Й
J
К
K
Л
L
М
M
Н
N
О
O
П
P
Р
R
С
S
Т
T
У
U
Ф
F
Х
H
Ц
TS
Ч
CH
Ш
SH
Щ
SCH
Ъ
Ы
Y
Ь
Э
A
Ю
YU
Я
YA
Pronunciation of Russian letters
Please, note that there are two characters in Russian alphabet,
that do not have their own sound, they are used only to change the
pronunciation of the consonant letter, which it follows.
First of them is called "the soft sign", and it looks like "Ь".
When this sign is used, the pronunciation of the letter, before it,
becomes softer than without it. Eg: Сильный (Strong), the soft sign goes after
letter "Л" (L), as we know it, and the pronunciation of L changes to "L'".
When we use English letters to represent Russian symbols, we use the
single quote mark to show Ь.
The second sign,"Ъ", is called "the solid sign",
and it changes the pronunciation of the letter, following before it to the solid sound.
This sign is used very seldom, only in a few words, but it is very important, because in
some cases it changes the meaning of the word very much. Let us look at two words: ОБЕДАТЬ
and ОБЪЕДАТЬ. As we see, there is only one sign is different in these two words, but
the meaning is really different. First means TO HAVE DINNER, second is TO EAT
SOMETHING OVERAfter learning the alphabet and pronunciation we shall move to words and then
to short phrases. Later on, we will learn how to build interrogative sentences. It is much simpler
than in English and does not require changing the structure of the sentence..
А as in words "after", "astma".
Б as in words "batch", "back".
В as in words "vegetables", "Veronica".
Г as in words "game", "gather", "guest".
Д as in words "demo", "desk".
Е as in words "examination", "emergency".
E there is no sound for this letter, and it is not supported by the most keyboard drivers, include mine, there must be two dots on the top of this letter and it's name is "YO", it sounds as in word "Yours".
Ж as in word just (without the first "d")
ЗZed
И as in E-mail
Й short sound as in "your", "Yukon".
K Same as in English
Л Same as an English "L"
M Same as in English
Н Same as English "N" in "Nest". Do not forget, this is not English "h", it is "N".
O Same as English "O".
П Same as English "P".
Р Same as English "R". Keep in mind, this is not an English "P", this is "R".
С Same as English "S", not "C".
Т Same as English "T"
У Same as English "Oo". As in Stool.
Ф Same as English "F".
Х Same as English "H", not "X". As in "Hotel"
Ц Pronounced as "Ts".
Ч Pronounced as "Ch".
Ш Pronounced as "Sh"
Щ Sound between "sh" and "ch". As in Sheep.
Ъ "hard sign". See explanation above.
Ы there is not such sound in English language, it sounds almost like "И".
Ь "soft sign". See explanation above
Э Sounds as "E" in "Electricity".
Ю As English "U". "Europe"
Я As "Ya" in "Yacht"
Pronunciation of Russian letters
After learning the alphabet and pronunciation
we shall move to words and then to short phrases. Later on, we will learn
how to build interrogative sentences. It is much simpler than in English
and does not require changing the structure of the sentence.
Exercises. Section 01
