The Russian alphabet is derived from the Cyrillic alphabet and consists of 33 letters, including 11 vowels, 20 consonants and 2 letters which make no sound, but make a word sound harder or softer. When learning, it might help to group the letters by look and sound, compared with their English counterparts: First Group: Written and pronounced the same. Six Russian letters are the same as English in both pronunciation and form—namely A, E, K, M, O, and T. Second Group: Look different but sound the same. Sixteen Russian letters have the same pronunciation as English ones but are symbolized by a completely different letter. These include Б, Г, Д, Ё, Ж, П, Ф, И, й, Л, Ц, Ш, Щ, Э, Ю and Я. Third Group: Look familiar but are pronounced differently. Eight Russian letters look very similar to some English letters and numbers but they are pronounced very differently—these are В, З, Н, Р, С, У, Ч, Х. Fourth Group: New letter and unfamiliar sound. There are some Russian letters which do not exist in English at all and either represent unfamiliar sounds or have no sound value—for example: Ы, Ъ, Ь.
One = один, pronounced “ah-DYEEN” [ɐˈdʲin] Two = два, pronounced “dva” [dva] Three = три, pronounced “tree” [trʲi] Four = четыре, pronounced “chi-TIH-rye” [t͡ɕɪˈtɨrʲe] Five = пять, pronounced “pyat” [pʲætʲ] Six = шесть, pronounced “shest” [ʂɛsʲtʲ] Seven = семь, pronounced “syem” [sʲemʲ] Eight = восемь, pronounced “VOH-syim” [ˈvosʲɪmʲ] Nine = девять, pronounced “DYEH-v’yit” [ˈdʲevʲɪtʲ] Ten = десять, pronounced “D’EH-syit” [ˈdʲesʲɪtʲ]
Attach little Russian labels to items around your house, such as the mirror, the coffee table, and the sugar bowl. This way, you’ll remember the words better by associating them with the object they describe rather how they translate into English. It is important to learn a word or phrase from ‘Russian to English’ as well as ‘English to Russian. ’ That way you will remember how to say it, not just recognize it when you hear it. [5] X Research source
Hello = Здравствуйте, pronounced “ZDRAST-vooy-tye” [ˈzdrastvʊjtʲe] “‘Hello (less formal)”’ = Здравствуй , pronounced, “ZDRAST-vooy-tye” [ˈzdrastvʊj] Hi = Привет, pronounced “pree-VYET” [prʲɪˈvʲet] Yes = Да, pronounced “da” [da] No = Нет, pronounced “nyet” [nʲet] Thank you = Спасибо, pronounced “spuh-SEE-buh” [spɐˈsʲibə] Please = Пожалуйста, pronounced “pah-ZHAH-luh-stuh” [pɐˈʐalʊstə] My name is. . . = Меня зовут. . . , pronounced “men-ya za-voot” [mʲɪˈnʲa zɐˈvut] What is your name? = Как вас зовут? pronounced “kak vas za-voot” [ˈkak ˈvaz zɐˈvut] Pleased to meet you = Очень приятно, pronounced “och-en pree-yat-na” [ˈot͡ɕɪnʲ prʲɪˈjatnə] Okay = Хорошо, pronounced “ha-ra-sho” [xərɐˈʂo] Goodbye = До свидания, pronounced “da-svee-da-nee-ye” [də‿svʲɪˈdanʲɪjə] [7] X Research source Keep in mind that when о is in an unstressed syllable, it is pronounced /ɐ/, which is a sound between о and а, but closer to а.
The case system. There are six main cases in the Russian Case System, the nominative, the accusative, the dative, the genitive, the instrumental, and the prepositional. To put it simply, a case is a set of endings that words take to indicate their function and relationship to other words in a sentence. [8] X Research source Gender. Like many other languages, every noun in the Russian language is assigned a gender. Russian nouns are divided into three separate genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter (neutral). It’s usually easy to tell the gender of a noun, as for people it’s the same as the person’s gender—for example, in Russian the word for father is masculine and the word for mother is feminine. However, with many other nouns gender is assigned arbitrarily - for example, the Russian word for “home” is masculine, while the Russian word for “door” is feminine. Fortunately for Russian language learners, most of the time you can tell the gender of a word by the letter or suffix it ends in. [9] X Research source Verbs. One nice thing about Russian is that verbs have only 3 tenses—past, present, and future. Russian also has two aspects that are only used in the past and future tense—imperfective and perfective. Aspects determine whether an action is ongoing (imperfective) or has been completed (perfective). Russian verbs change their endings depending on the subject. Sometimes this happens in English, but not as much. (Example: I work, he works). There are two patterns of conjugation (or word endings) which are known as the first conjugation, and the second conjugation. There are also a number of irregular verbs that simply need to be learned. [10] X Research source
Russian has only three tenses, much fewer than English. For example, in the past tense, they do not bother making a distinction between “I was running”, “I had been running”, or “I have been running”. Russian does not use articles (“a” and “the”). Russian uses a much simpler sentence structure than English. In fact, it’s usually possible to say exactly what you want in just a few succinct words. For example, in polite English you would need to use a long sentence like “can you please pass me the salt?” However in Russian it’s just as polite to say something simple like “give salt please. ”[11] X Research source
If you have a Russian speaking friend who is willing to help, that’s great! Otherwise, you can place an ad in the local paper or online or investigate whether there are any pre-existing Russian conversation groups in the area. If you can’t locate any Russian-speakers nearby, try finding someone on a chat application, such as Skype or Discord. They might be willing to exchange 15 minutes of Russian conversation for 15 minutes of English. Websites such as Italki can match you with someone willing to practice with you.
Look out for language courses advertised at local colleges, schools or community centers. If you’re nervous about signing up for a class by yourself, drag a friend along. You’ll have more fun and also someone to practice with between classes!
