Russian, from zero to B1A1

Week 1, Lesson 1A of 3, Monday

Letters you half-know

Twelve Russian letters look like English ones. Five sound the way you expect; seven are false friends. Today you learn both groups and read your first 15 words.

1Warm-up 3 minutes

Guess before you learn. A wrong guess now still helps today's lesson stick.

2Goal 1 minute

I can read 12 letters and words made from them.

You will tick it in step 7.

3Infographic 5 minutes

The whole week is on one plate. Today is band 1A, Monday.

Week 1 on one plate: all 33 Cyrillic letters in three lessons. Lesson 1A, Monday, 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. Lesson 1B, Wednesday, 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. Lesson 1C, Saturday, silent signs and stress: Ъ hard sign, Ь soft sign, Ы deep i. The stress mark in спасибо means: say it louder and longer.
Week 1 on one plate. Band 1A follows as text.

Band 1A, as text

  • 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.

4Guided practice 12 minutes

First the table, then your turn.

LetterSoundThink of
Same as English
А а[a]father; Spanish casa
К к[k]kit
М м[m]map
О о[o]more, when stressed
Т т[t]top
False friends
В в[v]van, never b
Е е[ye]yes
Н н[n]no
Р р[r]Spanish caro: a tapped r
С с[s]see
У у[u]boot; Spanish tú
Х х[kh]Spanish jota

Your Spanish helps. Р is the tapped r of caro and Х is the j of jota: two letters English speakers struggle with, free for you. The one to watch is В: Spanish blends b and v, Russian never does.

Reading the brackets. They show how a word sounds. Capitals mark the stressed syllable, ' marks a soft consonant, and y stands for the deep vowel Ы (Lesson 1C). Unstressed о sounds like a and unstressed е like i, so метро́ is [mi-TRO]. You will practise that rule from Week 2.

Your turn

Read each word aloud, then open it to check the reading.

ма́ма

[MA-ma] mum

Hear it on Forvo
кот

[kot] cat

Hear it on Forvo
кто

[kto] who

Hear it on Forvo
там

[tam] there

Hear it on Forvo
тут

[tut] here

Hear it on Forvo
вот

[vot] here is

Hear it on Forvo
нет

[nyet] no

Hear it on Forvo
сок

[sok] juice

Hear it on Forvo
торт

[tort] cake

Hear it on Forvo
метро́

[mi-TRO] metro

Hear it on Forvo
Москва́

[mas-KVA] Moscow

Hear it on Forvo
но́мер

[NO-mir] number; hotel room

Hear it on Forvo
окно́

[ak-NO] window

Hear it on Forvo
уро́к

[u-ROK] lesson

Hear it on Forvo
рестора́н

[ri-sta-RAN] restaurant

Hear it on Forvo

5Questionnaire 12 minutes, required

The lesson counts as done when you score 80% or more.

6Feedback 5 minutes

7Recap 4 minutes

Answer each question in your head, then open it to check.

Which five letters work exactly as in English?

А К М О Т.

Which seven are false friends, and how do they sound?

В [v], Е [ye], Н [n], Р [r], С [s], У [u], Х [kh].

Which two are free for a Spanish speaker?

Р, the tapped r of caro, and Х, the j of jota.

I can read 12 letters and words made from them.

Can you do this now?

8For class 3 minutes

Tuesday's live session: read the 15 words aloud to Екатерина and ask her to listen for В, Р, Н and С.