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Day 1

Cyrillic Alphabet (Кириллица)

Master the 33 Russian letters – names, sounds, and how to write them.

About the Cyrillic Alphabet

The Russian alphabet (Cyrillic) consists of 33 letters: 10 vowels, 21 consonants, and 2 signs (soft sign ь and hard sign ъ). It is based on the Greek alphabet and was developed by Saints Cyril and Methodius. Learning Cyrillic is your first step to reading and writing Russian.

The 33 Cyrillic Letters (Print Form)

Block letterCursive (approx)NameSound (IPA)ApproximationExample
А ааа (ah)/a/'a' in "father"мама (mama)
Б бббэ (be)/b/'b' in "boy"брат (brat)
В вввэ (ve)/v/'v' in "voice"вода (voda)
Г гггэ (ge)/g/'g' in "go"город (gorod)
Д дддэ (de)/d/'d' in "dog"дом (dom)
Е еейэ (ye)/je/'ye' in "yes"еда (yeda)
Ё ёёйо (yo)/jo/'yo' in "yogurt"ёж (yozh)
Ж жжжэ (zhe)/ʐ/'s' in "pleasure"жена (zhena)
З зззэ (ze)/z/'z' in "zoo"зима (zima)
И иии (ee)/i/'ee' in "see"игра (igra)
Й ййи краткое (ee kratkoye)/j/'y' in "boy"чай (chai)
К ккка (ka)/k/'k' in "kite"кот (kot)
Л ллэль (el)/l/'l' in "light"лампа (lampa)
М ммэм (em)/m/'m' in "mother"мама (mama)
Н ннэн (en)/n/'n' in "no"нос (nos)
О ооо (o)/o/'o' in "more"окно (okno)
П пппэ (pe)/p/'p' in "pot"папа (papa)
Р ррэр (er)/r/rolled 'r' (trilled)рука (ruka)
С ссэс (es)/s/'s' in "sun"сыр (syr)
Т тттэ (te)/t/'t' in "top"том (tom)
У ууу (oo)/u/'oo' in "boot"ухо (ukho)
Ф ффэф (ef)/f/'f' in "fun"флаг (flag)
Х ххха (kha)/x/'ch' in "loch"хлеб (khleb)
Ц цццэ (tse)/ts/'ts' in "cats"цвет (tsvet)
Ч ччче (che)/tɕ/'ch' in "cheese"чай (chai)
Ш шшша (sha)/ʂ/'sh' in "shop" (hard)шар (shar)
Щ щщща (shcha)/ɕː/'shch' (soft, longer)борщ (borshch)
Ъ ъътвёрдый знак (hard sign)-no sound, separatesобъект (obyekt)
Ы ыыы (y)/ɨ/like 'i' in "silk" (back)ты (ty)
Ь ььмягкий знак (soft sign)-palatalizes previous consonantдень (den')
Э эээ (e)/e/'e' in "met"это (eto)
Ю ююю (yu)/ju/'you' in "you"юг (yug)
Я яяя (ya)/ja/'ya' in "yard"яблоко (yabloko)

Handwriting Tips

Russian cursive is different from print. Here are some basic guidelines:

✔ Most letters connect: м, л, я have distinct loops.
✔ Т in cursive looks like Latin m; п looks like n.
✔ Remember: и (cursive u) and ш (cursive w) can be tricky.
✔ Practice letter pairs: ли (li) and ши (shi) appear often.

Pronunciation Focus: New Sounds

  • Ы [ɨ] – no English equivalent. Make 'i' as in "bit" but with tongue pulled back.
  • Ж [ʐ] – like 's' in "treasure" but harder.
  • Р [r] – rolled R (trill with tongue tip).
  • Х [x] – guttural, like 'j' in Spanish "jalapeño" or 'ch' in "loch".
  • Щ [ɕː] – soft, long 'sh' sound.

First Words (Practice Reading)

  • мама (mama) – mother
  • папа (papa) – father
  • кот (kot) – cat
  • дом (dom) – house
  • вода (voda) – water
  • хлеб (khleb) – bread

Tip: Read each letter aloud. Most are phonetic – what you see is mostly what you say!

Exercise

Match the Cyrillic letter to its approximate English sound:

  1. Б → a) v    b) b    c) g
  2. Ж → a) zh (pleasure)    b) z    c) sh
  3. Ч → a) ch    b) ts    c) shch
  4. Ы → a) ee    b) deep i    c) oo
  5. Щ → a) sh    b) shch    c) s
Show answers

1. b) b
2. a) zh (pleasure)
3. a) ch
4. b) deep i (ɨ)
5. b) shch

Cultural note: The Cyrillic script is used by over 250 million people across Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Central Asia. Learning it opens doors to Slavic cultures, classical literature (Dostoevsky, Tolstoy), and modern technology (Russian is the second most used language on the internet). Russian handwriting can be very different from print – but for now, focus on recognising printed letters.
Learning tip: Make flashcards with the Cyrillic letter on one side and the sound/English example on the other. Practice for 10 minutes daily using the "look, say, cover, write, check" method. Use online resources like "Russian Alphabet Song" on YouTube to memorize the order. Write your name in Cyrillic as a fun first word.
Continue to Day 2

آج کا سبق – خلاصہ

آج آپ نے روسی سیریلیک حروف تہجی کے 33 حروف سیکھے۔ ان کے نام، تلفظ، تحریر کی شکل اور مشق کے الفاظ سیکھے۔ ہاتھ سے لکھ کر اور بول کر مشق کریں۔

کل ہم روسی میں بنیادی سلام اور روزمرہ کے الفاظ سیکھیں گے۔ مشق جاری رکھیں!

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