Russian Language Lessons

Here we will have various russian language specific lessons and practices that I found useful in my progression. It can be used as a quick reference and will be designed to be used in tandem with some of the language learning programs or books recommended.

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Russian Cyrillic Alphabet Quick Reference Chart

А а	a as in gather	Р р	r as in fair
Б б	b as in berry	С с	s as in sun
В в	v as in very	Т т	t as in tumble
Г г	g as in get	У у	u as in flu 'oo' sound
Д д	d as in dog	Ф ф	f as in foreign
Е е	ye as in yes	Х х	ch as in Bach
Ё ё	yo as in York	Ц ц	ts as in cats
Ж ж	zhe as 's' in leisure	Ч ч	ch as in choose
З з	z as in zoo	Ш ш	sh as in shipping
И и	i as in pizza	Щ щ	shsh as in schucks
Й й	y as in coy	ъ	hard sign
К к	k as in skip	Ы ы	ui as in rigor
Л л	l as in laugh	ь	*indicates preceding soft
М м	m as in middle	Э э	e as in effort
Н н	n as in Nancy	Ю ю	yu as in unity
О о	o as in bought	Я я	ya as in yacht
П п	p as in pepper

 

Russian Spelling Rules

Russian has a few spelling rules to help make pronunciation smooth. It is helpful to memorize these during the early stages of your study, it will only help the learning process later on.

Spelling Rule #1 --- Write И, never Ы after К, Г, Х, and Ж, Ч, Ш, Щ

Spelling Rule #2 --- Write A, never Я. Write Y, never Ю, after К, Г, Х, Ж, Ч, Ш, Щ, Ц

Spelling Rule #3 --- Write unstressed E, but stressed O, after Ж, Ч, Ш, Щ, Ц

Lyrics: I Asked The Ash Tree - S Lyogkim parom

I Asked the Ash Tree - Listen Here

Я спpосил y ясеня, где моя любимая,
Ясень не ответил мне, качая головой.
Я спpосил y тополя: "Где моя любимая?" -
Тополь забpосал меня осеннею листвой.

Я спpосил y осени: "Где моя любимая?" -
Осень мне ответила пpоливным дождем.
У дождя я спpашивал, где моя любимая,
Долго дождик слезы лил под моим окном.

Я спpосил y месяца: "Где моя любимая?" -
Месяц скpылся в облаке - не ответил мне.
Я спpосил y облака: "Где моя любимая?" -
Облако pастаяло в небесной синеве...

Дpyг ты мой единственный, где моя любимая?
Ты скажи, где скpылася, знаешь, где она?
Дpyг ответил пpеданный, дpyг ответил искpенний,
Была тебе любимая, была тебе любимая,
Была тебе любимая, а стала мне жена.

Я спpосил y ясеня....

I asked the ash-tree, where was my loved one
The ash-tree didn't answer me, shaking its head
So I asked the poplar, "Where is my loved one?"
The poplar only covered me with its autumn leaves

So I asked the autumn, "Where is my loved one?"
But autumn only answered me with its pouring rain
So I ask the rain, where was my loved one
For a long while rain poured its tears, under my window

So I asked the moon crescent, "Where is my loved one?"
The moon crescent hid underneath a cloud, didn't answer me
So I asked the cloud, "Where is my loved one?"
But the cloud only melted, into the blue skies

My only friend I'm asking you, where is my loved one?
Tell me where she's hiding; do you know where is she?
My loyal friend answered me, so honestly he answered me
She was your loved one, once was your loved one
She was your loved one, but became my wife.

So I asked the ash-tree