Lesson 3. The Russian letters and sounds (Russian Alphabet).

You begin learning Russian and the best way to start is to learn to read! In this third lesson I will be talking about Russian alphabet and its sounds. We have already talked about the history of the Russian alphabet and you learned that it was created by a Greek monk St. Cyril. The contemporary Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters, some of which were borrowed from Greek and Hebrew.

You will agree with me that it is relatively easy to get started with the Cyrillic alphabet because many letters remind ones in English. There are six exact sound and look-alikes (A, E, K, M, O, T) while many other Russian letters are similar to their English counterparts by either how they look or sound. However, keep in mind that Russian and English sounds are never absolutely identical and only constant practice will help you acquire the perfect Russian accent and pronunciation.

The Russian alphabet is traditionally listed in the order from A to Я as shown below. To help you learn the alphabet faster, we have grouped the letters by look and sound and compared them with their English counterparts below.

Group 1: Same look and sound as in English

There are six Russian letters that match their English counterparts by both pronunciation and form -- A, E, K, M, O and T.

	А а	sounds like "a" in after, ask. In pronouncing this sound, the mouth is open a bit wider as compared to English
	Е е	sounds either like "ye" in yes or like "e" as in ebony . It is pronounced with preceding y in the beginning of a word or after a vowel.
	К к	sounds like "k" in kite, making, like. Try to avoid the puff of air after the sound typical for the English language.
	М м	sounds like "m" in mobile, dome.
	О о	sounds like "o" in more (without the 'r' sound). Try protruding and rounding your lips a bit more than you do in English. In unstressed positions, this letter sounds like "u" in under, but more lax.
	Т т	sounds like "t" in task, tardy. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth, as opposed the upper gum ridge in English.

Group 2: Sound-alikes but different look

There are sixteen Russian letters that do not exist in English but have familiar pronunciation. The include Б, Г, Д, ё, Ж, П, Ф, И, й, Л, Ц, Ш, Щ, Э, Ю and Я.

	Б б	sounds like "b" in buy, blue. Try to avoid a puff of air after the sound typical in the English language.
	Г г	sounds like "g" in get, guard.
	Д д	sounds like d in double, did. In pronouncing this letter, the tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth.
	Ё ё	sounds like "yo" in York or like "o" in copy, obvious depending on the position in a word.
	Ж ж	sounds like "s" in usual, pleasure.
	П п	sounds like "p" in compassion. Try to avoid a puff of unvoiced air after the sound as typical for the English language.
	Ф ф	sounds like "f" in fasten, fact.
	И и	sounds like "ee" in free, meet.
	Й й	sounds like "y" in oyster, soy.
	Л л	sounds like "l" in lock, chill.
	Ц ц	sounds like "ts" in that's.
	Ш ш	sounds like "sh" in ship, crush but with the tongue farther back in the mouth
	Щ щ	sounds like "shsh" in rush-ship. When pronouncing it, try to place your tongue higher and more forward in the mouth than in English.
	Э э	sounds like "e" in ebony, edit. When pronouncing this sound, try opening the mouth a bit wider than you do in English.
	Ю ю	sounds like the word "you" but faster. In some cases it sounds like "oo" in oodles
	Я я	sounds like "yu" in yummy. In some cases it sounds like "a" in after, ask.

Group 2: Sound-alikes but different look

There are sixteen Russian letters that do not exist in English but have familiar pronunciation. The include Б, Г, Д, ё, Ж, П, Ф, И, й, Л, Ц, Ш, Щ, Э, Ю and Я.

	Б б	sounds like "b" in buy, blue. Try to avoid a puff of air after the sound typical in the English language.
	Г г	sounds like "g" in get, guard.
	Д д	sounds like d in double, did. In pronouncing this letter, the tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth.
	Ё ё	sounds like "yo" in York or like "o" in copy, obvious depending on the position in a word.
	Ж ж	sounds like "s" in usual, pleasure.
	П п	sounds like "p" in compassion. Try to avoid a puff of unvoiced air after the sound as typical for the English language.
	Ф ф	sounds like "f" in fasten, fact.
	И и	sounds like "ee" in free, meet.
	Й й	sounds like "y" in oyster, soy.
	Л л	sounds like "l" in lock, chill.
	Ц ц	sounds like "ts" in that's.
	Ш ш	sounds like "sh" in ship, crush but with the tongue farther back in the mouth
	Щ щ	sounds like "shsh" in rush-ship. When pronouncing it, try to place your tongue higher and more forward in the mouth than in English.
	Э э	sounds like "e" in ebony, edit. When pronouncing this sound, try opening the mouth a bit wider than you do in English.
	Ю ю	sounds like the word "you" but faster. In some cases it sounds like "oo" in oodles
	Я я	sounds like "yu" in yummy. In some cases it sounds like "a" in after, ask.

Group 4: New look and sound (or no sound)

The last group includes letters that do not exist in English and either represent unfamiliar sounds or have no sound value (Ы, Ъ, Ь).

	Ы ы	No English equivalent. To produce "Ы" sound, notice the positions of the tongue when pronouncing English sounds i as in kit and u as in sugar. Then place your tongue in between and emit a voiced sound.
--	Ь	This letter is called the "soft sign" and has no sound value. It is used to modify the pronunciation of the preceding consonant by making it soft (palatalized). A consonant becomes soft when it is pronounced with the middle of the tongue raised towards the roof of the mouth.
--	Ъ	The "hard sign" has no sound value. It occurs only between a consonant and a vowel as in the word "въезд" (entry). It is used to show that the consonant should not be palatalized and that the consequent vowel is preceded by the the "y" sound as in yes.