Lesson 1Урок первый

What we will learn today:

• Russian alphabet• Pronunciation: consonants• Pronunciation: vowels• Reading and stressed vowels• The number of nouns• The gender of nouns• Russian greetings• Days of the week• More words for scheduling and planning• DO’s and DON’Ts in Russia

Consonants and Vowels

• There are 21 consonant letters in Russian: б, в, г, д, ж, з, к, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф, х, ц, ч, ш, щ. The consonant letter й is sometimes called a semivowel.

• There are 10 vowel letters: а, э, ы, у, о, я, е, ё, ю, и.

• Two letters of the Russian alphabets do not designate any sounds. They are the "soft sign" (ь) and the "hard sign" (ъ).

Russian Alphabet Table

Letters vs. Sounds

• With few exceptions, Russian consonant letters can be pronounced either "soft" or "hard" depending on the type of a letter that comes after them. For this reason, the 20 consonant letters of the Russian alphabet can designate 37 distinct consonant sounds!

• In general, Russian vowels are divided into two basic types: "soft-indicating" and "hard-indicating" vowels. The "hard-indicating" vowels are а, э, ы, у, о. Russian "soft-indicating" vowels are formed from their "hard-indicating" counterparts by adding an English sound of "y" at the beginning. Thus you will get such "soft-indicating" vowels as я, е, ё, ю, и

Reading and Stressed vowels

• If you join the sounds of individual letters together you will be able to read the majority of words in Russian.

• One vowel in each word is always emphasized greater than the rest– it is called the stressed vowel and marked with the acute accent ´. While stressed vowels are pronounced rather distinctly, unstressed vowels undergo reduction and changes. For example, the vowels 'A' and 'O' are reduced to the "u"-sound as in "under" when they occur in unstressed positions.

• Placing the stress correctly is important when speaking Russian. Improper word stress not only makes you sound unnatural (imagine yourself saying "computer" with the letter "o" stressed) but it can also change the meaning of a word.

Pronunciation: Vowels

Russian letter Symbol Pronunciation

A (stressed) ah as Ah, but shorter

A (unstressed) a as u in but

O (stressed) o as aw in law

O (unstressed) a as u in but

Ы i no English equivalent

У oo as oo in wood

Э e as e in pet

• “Hard-indicating” vowels

Pronunciation: Vowels

• “Soft-indicating” vowels

Russian letter Symbol Pronunciation

Я (stressed) ya as ya in yahoo

Я (unstressed) ee as ee in meet, but very short

Е (stressed) ye as ye in yes

Е (unstressed) ee as ee in meet, but very short

Ё (always stressed) yo as yo in yolk

Ю yoo as the word you

И (stressed) ee as ee in meet

Pronunciation: Consonants

Russian letter

SymbolPronounced as

Б (soft) b b in bee

Б (hard) b b in but

В (soft) v v in view

В (hard) v v in voice

Г (soft) g g in girl

Г (hard) g g in go

Д (soft) d d in dew

Д (hard) d d in dial

З (soft) z z in zeal

З (hard) z z in zoom

К (soft) k k in okey

К (hard) k c in clock

Л (soft) l l in leak

Л (hard) l l in lump

М (soft) m m in muse

М (hard) m m in monk

Н (hard) n n in noon

П (soft) p p in pew

П (hard) p p in mop

Р (soft) r no equivalent

Р (hard) r no equivalent

С (soft) s s in seed, sew

С (hard) s s in soup

Т (soft) t t in stew

Т (hard) t t in ten

Ф (soft) f f in few

Ф (hard) f f in fault

Х (soft) kh h in huge

Х (hard) kh h in host

Ц (always hard) ts ts in what's up

Ч (mostly soft) ch ch in church

Ш (hard) sh sh in shield

Щ (soft) shch no equivalent

й (soft) j y in yes or may

The gender of nouns

Word Ending

дом in a consonant

чай in -й

• Masculine gender

The gender of nouns

• Feminine gender

Word Ending

картина in -a

семья     in -я    

история in -ия

The gender of nouns

• Neuter gender

Word Ending

письмo     in -o    

платьe     in -e    

внимание     in -ие    

время     in -мя    

The number of nouns

Noun type Ending for plural     Example    

masculine ending in a hard consonant;

feminine ending in -a-ы стол - столы

улица - улицы

any nouns ending in -ь, -й, -я -и двeрь - двериземля - земли

masculine and feminine with the stem ending in -к, -г, -x, -ч, -

щ, -ж, -ш,-и ноЖ - ножи

ноГа - ноги

neuter ending in -o -a окно - окнa

neuter ending in -e -я мoре - моря

Formality

ты

вы

you (informal)

you (formal)

My name is…

Как тебя зовут?

Как Вас зовут?

What’s your name? (informal)

What’s your name? (formal, polite)

Меня зовут... My name is…

Я... I’m…

Kak tebya zavut?

Kak vas zovut?

Menia zavut…

Ya…

Days of the week

Какой сегодня день? What day is it today?

kah-KOI see-VOHD-nyah dyehn'

Russian word   English translation   Pronunciation

понедельник Monday puh-nee-DYEHL'-neek

вторник Tuesday FTOHR-neek

среда Wednesday sree-DAH

четверг Thursday cheet-VYEHRK

пятница Friday PYAHT-nee-tsuh

суббота Saturday soo-BOH-tuh

воскресенье Sunday vuhs-kree-SYEHN'-yeh

Scheduling and planning

Russian word   English translation   Pronunciation

уик-энд weekend oo-ee-KEHND

выходной день day off vi-khad-NOY dyehn'

рабочий день working day rah-BOH-cheey dyehn'

завтра tomorrow ZAHF-trah

сегодня today see-VOHD-nyuh

вчера yesterday fcheeh-RAH

на этой неделе this week nah EH-tuy nee-DYEHL-yee

на следующей неделе next week nah SLYED-oo-yoo-shchee nee-DYEHL-yeh

на прошлой неделе last week nah PROSH-luy nee-DYEHL-yee

день day dyehn'

неделя week nee-DYEH-lyah

месяц month MHYEH-seets

год year goht

DO’s and DON’Ts in Russia

1. JUST DON'T SPILL SALT...there is no recovery.

2. Never buy an even number of flowers...and especially not yellow unless your relationship is over.

3. Red flowers are only for someone you really like..otherwise you could send the wrong message.

4. DO NOT go back to the house to get something you forgot...its bad luck...and you can recover if you look in the rear view mirror, but be careful because if there are other people with you they may not like it because you could bring bad luck on them too!

DO’s and DON’Ts in Russia

5. DO NOT do any bodily function out loud in public or at home (unless you are alone!) (i.e. burping, sneezing too loud, blowing your nose, etc.)

6. DO NOT buy a woman anything for an unborn child...this is also bad luck...

7. Do NOT drink the water...

8. DO come prepared to bring a gift to the host family and if going to visit a friend of the family...bring a gift also (e.g. bread, cake, alcohol (of course), flowers (pay attention again to bullet number 3)

DO’s and DON’Ts in Russia

9. DO NOT wear street shoes inside...there are special slippers for this...and when going out to parties at another's home...if you don't have a pair of house slippers some will be provided for you (usually)

10. DO eat caviar if the family offers...(they went to great pains to get it and want to treat you well)

11. DO drink vodka with your meal...it is expected (unless of course you have allergies to vodka and could die or become sick from it...then kindly explain that you might catch your death and they'll let you off the hook)

More coming!