Learn to read Russian in 15 minutes!
Russian is an Indo-european language, which means it is related to English and other languages you may have already studied. Many words in Russian will be recognizable to you as soon as you learn the alphabet, which is easy. Try the following:
Letters you already know:
а о е к м т and с as in sail or circle (never like "k")
Click here to see which words you know!
Letters from Greek that you know from math class and student organizations:
б as in phi beta kappaг as in gamma
д as in delta
л as in lambda
п as in pi
ф as in phi
х as in ch
(like challah bread, a clearing-your-throat "kh")
Ready for another reading test? Click here!
Check out these "false friends," which look like English letters but designate a different sound in Russian:
в is a v as in Soviet (Совет)
н is an n as in Lenin (ленин)
р is an r (and you already know to use Greek п for p)
у is the vowel u pronounced long as in shoot
There are a few more unfamiliar letters such as:
и for the vowel i, pronounced ee as in marine
й for the y sound in boy
я for ya as in YA-hoo
Ready to see how much Russian you already know? Click here.