5
The whole alphabet
Russian A1 · Unit 2
GoalReview all 33 letters and read longer words, with names of countries and cities.
New words
Росси́я (Rossíya) · RussiaУзбекиста́н (Uzbekistán) · UzbekistanТашке́нт (Tashként) · TashkentМосква́ (Moskvá) · Moscowхорошо́ (khoroshó) · good, wellспаси́бо (spasíbo) · thank you
Explanation
You know all 33 letters. Capital letters are used for names, countries and cities, and for the first word of a sentence. Reading a long word is easy if you go step by step: find the vowels, find the stress mark, read syllable by syllable. Remember the false friends: they look English but say something else. The soft sign and the hard sign have no sound. Keep reading aloud every day: the sounds will soon feel natural.
| Letter | Looks like | Really says |
|---|---|---|
| В | English B | v |
| Н | English H | n |
| Р | English P | r (rolled) |
| С | English C | s |
| У | English y | oo |
| Х | English X | kh |
Worked examples
Four names of places. Press Listen and repeat each one.
А а
Б б
В в
Г г
Д д
Е е
Ё ё
Ж ж
З з
И и
Й й
К к
Л л
М м
Н н
О о
П п
Р р
С с
Т т
У у
Ф ф
Х х
Ц ц
Ч ч
Ш ш
Щ щ
Ъ ъ
Ы ы
Ь ь
Э э
Ю ю
Я я
Two words you will use every day.
Class activity
Your name. Write your own first name in Russian letters, as it sounds, and add the stress mark if it has two or more vowels. Ask a Russian speaker or a teacher to check it. Then write the name of your city and your country and read them aloud.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Write the name you hear.
Ка́тя (Kátya), a girl’s name.
2
How many letters does the Russian alphabet have, and how many are vowel letters?
33 letters, 10 of them vowel letters.
3
Name three letters that look like English letters but say a different sound.
For example В (v), Н (n), Р (r), С (s), У (oo), Х (kh).
4
Read aloud: Узбекиста́н, Ташке́нт.
Uzbekistán, Tashként.
5
Write in Russian: “Moscow”.
Москва́