Maria asked me: "Hey, Alexander, could you start a Russian class here in a new thread?"
It is my pleasure! First step is to read in Russian. It is easy! Most of Russian words sound as they are written. So you need only to remember the letters and just to read the word letter-by-letter. (English or French are more difficult in this case. Look at the word "daughter" for example -- it has 8 letters but only 4 sounds, including "o" that is absent among letters, Russian is easy in this aspect).
Some Russian letters sound approximately as the same English letters. These are: а, е, к, м (that is m), о, т (that is t).
Other letters look like English, but sound different:
в is “v”( like in is “very”),
и (reversed n) is "i" (like in “is”),
н is “n”,
п is “p”,
р is “r”,
c is “s”,
y is “u” (“oo”),
x is “kh”.
Also
б and capital Б is for “b”,
л is for “L”.
Knowing this, try to read these Russian words. You know them!
Америка, Монтана, Алабама, Бостон, Колорадо, митрополит.
Try to read all Russian signs you meet in your life! It will help you to remember the letters and you will be able to read.
And here is the entire alphabet. Only 33 letters! Print it out and hang it above the dining table (not with icons!) to learn it while you eat! Soon I will give you more familiar Russian words to practice your reading.
А, а - - - a - - - (cup)
Б, б - - - b - - - (big)
В, в - - - v - - - (very)
Г, г - - - g - - - (good)
Д, д - - - d - - - (dog)
Е, е - - - ye - - - (yes)
Ё, ё - - - yo - - - (your)
Ж, ж - - - zh - - - (similar to the beginning of “jeans”)
З, з - - - z - - - (zoo)
И, и - - - i - - - (is)
Й, й - - - j - - - (like the beginning of “year”)
К, к - - - k - - - (key)
Л, л - - - l - - - (land)
М, м - - - m - - - (milk)
Н, н - - - n - - - (no)
О, о - - - o - - - (only)
П, п - - - p - - - (park)
Р, р - - - r - - - (river)
С, с - - - s - - - (sailor)
Т, т - - - t - - - (tall)
У, у - - - u (oo) - - - (book)
Ф, ф - - - f - - - (football)
Х, х - - - kh - - - (stronger than the beginning of helicopter)
Ц, ц - - - ts - - - ???
Ч, ч - - - ch - - - (chair)
Ш, ш - - - sh - - - (shoes)
Щ, щ - - - shh - - - ???
Ъ, ъ special symbol, no sound
Ы, ы - - - Y, y - - - ???
Ь, ь - - - special symbol, no sound
Э, э - - - e - - - (any)
Ю, ю - - - yu - - - (usually)
Я, я - - - ya - - - (young)
