Certificate in Russian Language

An Introduction: Shivaji Bhaskar, Assistant Professor (Russian) SOFL, IGNOU

sBasics of Russian: Communication Skills Part- I (Theory)

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ObjectiveDear learners, Welcome to the Massive Open Online Course- Basics of Russian: Communication Skills- Part I (Theory) In this programme we have included many interesting lessons like common Russian words, Greetings in Russian, Common Russian phrases, expressions, Dialogues, Texts etc. and a vocabulary of more than five hundred words. By attempting these lessons you will be able to comprehend Russian language in a better way. By completing these lessons you will be able to: Introduce yourself in Russian Communicate with your friends in Russian Speak simple sentences in Russian Express yourself in typical places like at the airport or hospital in Russian Understand Russian culture better

Russian Alphabet

In this lesson you will learn the Russian sound system and the phonetic sound of different letters of the Russian alphabet. Learning the basic of Russian alphabet will make you understand the nuances of Russian language. You will be able to understand the role of intonation and stress signs in the Russian speech and pronunciation. By learning to distinguish between different sounds, you will be able to identify different letters of the Russian alphabet in a correct manner.

Origin of Russian But before we begin with the basics of the Russian alphabet, lets know more about the history of Russian language. Russian language ( ) is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family. Russian language is closely related to Ukrainian and Belorussian with about 144 million native speakers in Russia and it is spoken in 30 other countries. The Russian alphabet derived from the Cyrillic alphabet was introduced into Russia (Kievan Rus) at the time of its conversion to Christianity (988 AD). Cyrillic script is named in honor of the Byzantine scholar and monk, Cyril (827-869 AD), who, together with his brother Methodius (826-885 AD), created the first Slavic writing system in the second half of the ninth century in order to translate the Bible and other Christian texts into the Slavic languages. The standard well-known form of Russian is generally called the modern Russian literary language ( ). It arose in the beginning of the 18th century with the modernization reforms of the Russian state under the rule of Peter the Great (1672-1725).

Now after knowing about the origin and nature of Russian language, we will begin with an introduction to Russian alphabet. In this section you will learn how to write different Russianletters and how to pronounce them in a correct manner.Lets listen to these letters of the Russian alphabet one by one.For clear understanding we have given separate examples bothin Russian and English so that you can distinguish betweendifferent sounds.

There are 33 letters in the Russian Alphabet:

10 vowels, 21 consonantsand 2 signs

a Capital letter

Small letter a

Letter name

English approximation father

Pronunciation in English Ah

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Atlas

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation bat

Pronunciation in English Beh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Sky

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation vet

Pronunciation in English Veh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Spring Season

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation argue

Pronunciation in English Geh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English City

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation do

Pronunciation in English Deh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English House

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation pay

Pronunciation in English yeh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Singer

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation audio

Pronunciation in English yo

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Xmas tree

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation pleasure

Pronunciation in English zheh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Beetle

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation zoo

Pronunciation in English zeh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Umbrella

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation sweet

Pronunciation in English ee

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Iris

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name ()

English approximation Yield

Pronunciation in English ee kratkoyeh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Yoghurt

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation milk

Pronunciation in English kah

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Book

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation pill

Pronunciation in English ehl

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Moon

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation mute

Pronunciation in English ehm

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Soap

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation noon

Pronunciation in English ehn

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Nose

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation chore

Pronunciation in English oh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Cloud

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation pool

Pronunciation in English peh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Hello

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation run

Pronunciation in English ehr

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Rainbow

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation soup

Pronunciation in English ehs

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Dog

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation tool

Pronunciation in English teh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Taxi

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation pool

Pronunciation in English oo

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Duck

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation few

Pronunciation in English ehf

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Flag

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation khan

Pronunciation in English khah

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Bread

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation tsar

Pronunciation in English tseh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Czar

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation church

Pronunciation in English cheh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Tea

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation push

Pronunciation in English shah

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Boss

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name "

English approximation shoes

Pronunciation in English schyah

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Shield

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name (tvyordiy znahk)

English approximation Hard Sign (it has no sound, used to emphasize the sound for the preceding consonant and adds a small pause before the next syllable) eg.

Pronunciation in English --------------------

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Lens

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation bee

Pronunciation in English i

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Fish

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name a (myagkeey znahk)

English approximation Soft Sign (it has no sound, softens the preceding consonant) eg.

Pronunciation in English ----------

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Horse

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation met

Pronunciation in English eh

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Screen

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation Use

Pronunciation in English yu

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Jupiter

Capital letter

Small letter

Letter name

English approximation yarn

Pronunciation in English yah

Sample Russian word

Meaning in English Apple

Summary Dear learners in this lesson you have learned about the origin of the Russian language and its structure. You have also learned about the Russian alphabet and its letters in a detailed manner.

In the next lesson you will be learning about the basics of Russian phonetics and you will be introduced to the Vowels & Consonants of the Russian language in a correct and detailed manner.

Thank you!