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Learn Russian
alphabet
in a few days
The Russian alphabet is not as difficult as you think
it is. This article displays the Russian alphabet and
presents a learning method to learn Russian easily.
Read more about the Birkenbihl Approach to learn
Russian here: Learn Russian Alphabet
1|P age
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If your aim is to speak Russian one day, the first thing you need to learn is the Russian
alphabet. Understanding this alphabet is a quick and easy thing to get into the new
language. Even if you plan to go on a vacation to Russia, you might want to learn the
alphabet beforehand. If you already know some letters, you will be able to read street
signs, advertisements or even the menu card. If you do not know a bit about the
Russian language, you will probably feel helpless – a feeling that comes with illiteracy.
What is the Russian alphabet?
Actually, the Russian alphabet is easy to learn. This is true because the language is
phonetic. This means that Russian words are pronounced exactly as they are spelled.
English language is the opposite, as almost no word is spoken as it is written. Moreover,
Russian has one letter for one sound, whereas in English language, often two letters
form one sound (e.g. “sh” or “th”).
The Russian alphabet is known as the Cyrillic alphabet. The alphabet has 33 letters: 11
vowels, 20 consonants, and 2 pronunciation signs. Here is what the Russian alphabet
looks:
2|P age
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3|P age
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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
А а – Pronounced like the a in the word father or car.
Б б – Same as the English letter b.
В в – Same as the English letter v.
Г г – Same as the English letter g.
Д д – Same as the English letter d.
Е е – Pronounced like the "ye" in yes.
Ё ё – Pronounced like "yo" in yonder.
Ж ж – Like "s" in measure.
З з – Same as the English letter z.
И и – Pronounced like the "i" in taxi.
Й й – used to form diphthongs. "oй" is like the "oy" sound in boy or "aй" is like the
"igh" in sigh.
К к – Pronounced like the "k" in kitten or kangaroo.
4|P age
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Л л – Same as the English letter l.
М м – Pronounced like the "m" in man.
Н н – Same as the English letter n.
O o – When stressed, pronounced like the "o" in bore; otherwise pronounced more
like the letter a.
П п – Same as the English letter p.
Р р – Same as the English letter r, rolled.
С с – Same as the English letter s.
Т т – Pronounced like the "t" in tap.
У у – Pronounced like the "oo" in boot.
Ф ф – Same as the English letter f.
Х х – Pronounced like the "h" in hello, but often pronounced more like the Spanish
"x" in Mexico.
Ц ц – Similar to the "ts" sound in sits.
Ч ч – Pronounced like the "ch" in chips.
Ш ш – Pronounced like the "sh" in shut.
Щ щ – Pronounced like "sh" but with your tongue on the roof of your mouth.
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Ъ ъ – The 'Hard Sign' is rarely used. It indicates a slight pause between sylables.
Ы ы – Pronounced like the "i" in bit.
Ь ь – The 'Soft Sign' makes the previous letter 'soft'.
Э э – Pronounced like the "e" in fed.
Ю ю – Pronounced like the English word you.
Я я – Pronounced like the "ya" in yard.
The Birkenbihl Approach can help you to learn Russian!
As Russian is phonetic, the Birkenbihl Approach is a very good language learning tool
that can help you to get an insight into the language and become a very good Russian
speaker within a short period of time. You won´t need to learn Russian alphabet by
hard, but you will remember and recall the sound automatically.
The Birkenbihl Approach helps you to remember words and letters even though you do
no learn it by hard. Various steps of the learning process gradually lead you to speak
Russian almost perfectly.
6|P age
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The first step is translating a Russian text word-for-word into the mother tongue.
A word-for-word translation avoids that you learn the word by hard, a procedure
that makes you translating the word in your mind before speaking or writing it.
This might be okay when you write a letter, but certainly it will be too slow in
cases when you want to apply them when speaking or when you want to
understand another Russian speaker.
After translating the text, you will listen to the Russian text while you read the
translation. Thereby, you will remember the words and phrases easily. Moreover,
you will learn the correct pronunciation from the beginning. This is often a
problem with other learning methods. A new language simply cannot be spoken
from the beginning, as you need to get used to the new sounds and melodies.
Getting accustomed to the new language will be the learning success of the next
phase.
The third stage involves listening to the Russian text as often as you can. You
can even listen to it while you do other things, like watching TV, going for a
walk or doing a work-out in the gym. By listening to the text, which should be
7|P age
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spoken by a Native Speaker, your brain gets used to the language´s sounds,
rhythm and melodies. This is necessary to speak Russian afterwards.
As soon as you have the feeling that you understand the Russian text very well,
you should start speaking the foreign language. Practice speaking it by talking to
native speakers, travel to Russia etc. In order to strengthen your Russian skills,
you could also de-code another Russian text, watch a Russian-speaking movie or
listen to Russian radio.
You can use the Birkenbihl Approach to start learning Russian as a beginner. However,
it is also an amazing tool to improve your Russian skills or even perfect your
knowledge.
Different products are offered using the Birkenbihl Approach to learn a new language.
Nonetheless, you can make use of the learning method without buying any of these
products. The only thing you need is a Russian text that reflects your current Russian
knowledge, and a Russian native speaker who record the same Russian text for you. It is
very important that a native speaker reads the text and records it, as otherwise you
might learn wrong sounds and terms.
8|P age
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Find out more about the Birkenbihl Approach to learn a new language on their website.
Also have a look at the different Russian language courses that will help you to learn
Russian alphabet.
Read more about the Birkenbihl Approach to learn
Russian here: Learn Russian Alphabet
9|P age