Week 1 of 76
Read all 33 letters
Three short lessons turn Cyrillic from a wall of symbols into words you can read aloud. The plate below is the whole week at a glance; each lesson works through one band of it.
АБВГДЕЁЖЗИЙКЛМНОПРСТУФХЦЧШЩЪЫЬЭЮЯ
You can read itStill to learn
You can read 0 of 33 letters. Each letter fills in when you pass its lesson.
Lessons
- Lesson 1A: Letters you half-knowNot startedMonday, before Tuesday's live session
- Lesson 1B: New shapesNot startedWednesday, before Friday's live session
- Lesson 1C: Silent signs and stressNot startedSaturday, the week's recap
Band 1A: Letters you half-know
- Same as English: А [a], К [k], М [m], О [o], Т [t].
- False friends: В [v], Е [ye], Н [n], Р [r], С [s], У [u], Х [kh].
- Examples: кот [kot], метро́ [mi-TRO].
- Tip: read the false friends twice.
Band 1B: New shapes
- Familiar sounds: Б [b], Г [g], Д [d], З [z], Л [l], П [p], Ф [f].
- Hushing sounds: Ж [zh], Ц [ts], Ч [ch], Ш [sh], Щ [shch].
- Vowels and Й: Э [e], Ю [yu], Я [ya], Ё [yo], И [i], Й [y].
- Tip: Ё is always stressed.
Band 1C: Silent signs and stress
- Ъ, the hard sign: no sound; it keeps sounds apart, as in подъе́зд [pad-YEST].
- Ь, the soft sign: no sound; it softens the consonant before it, as in мать [mat'].
- Ы, the deep i: say i with the tongue pulled back, as in сыр [syr].
- The stress mark: say the marked vowel louder and longer, as in спаси́бо [spa-SI-ba].
Live sessions with Екатерина: Tuesday and Friday mornings, 50 minutes each.