Russian SOLT I Module 1 Lesson 1

Student Manual

Супрасльская рукопись XI в.

Саввина книга XI в.

Хиландарские Листки XI в.

Sound and Script

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 Course Overview

As students, you will need new insights and comprehensive cross-discipline skills to meet the
increasingly complex issues, assignments, and challenges of the global conflicts you may find
yourself in.
As Special Operations soldiers, you need an intensive language program that accelerates your
multi-language requirements and, in turn, enhances your career to match the rapid speed of
changes.
This language program can help you gain the added credentials and valuable learning that you need
to advance in your career and provide the specializations needed, which can immediately put your
learning on the fast track and could save your life.
This language course will be taught by leading faculty members who explore the latest concepts
and best practices available (anytime, anywhere in the world) in interactive multimedia instruction
(IMI) or advanced distributed/distance learning (ADL).
The course focuses on learning how to effectively use what you have learned in the previous lesson
and the ability to build up on and use the knowledge in each lesson as the class progresses. You
can also explore online tools such as electronic publications and web sites with particular focus
placed on how technology can support multiple modes of learning.
The target language you are about to study has been developed and delivered by highly skilled
academic designers, integrating technology in the instructional curriculum. Cognition and
technology-based instructions and imperatives are explored in relation to programming for varied
learning and motivational styles.

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 COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH TO LEARNING
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY

Task-based Learning

One of the most effective teaching methods is the Communicative Approach. Tasked-based
learning (TBL) requires students to engage in interaction in order to fulfill a task and involves
differentiating, the ability to sequence, and problem-posing activities involving learners and
teachers in some joint selection.

Tasks are a feature of everyday life. We all have things we need or want to do. We have specific
purposes and goals in mind, and we use specific competencies to complete the tasks. In daily life,
a task might be shifting a wardrobe from one room to another or planning the budget for the next
financial year.

In the classroom, communication is always part of the process, whether the task involves creativity,
particular skills to repair or assemble something, problem solving, planning, or completing a
transaction. Students become actively involved in communication and focus on achieving a
particular goal. They must comprehend, negotiate, express ideas, and get their message across in
order to reach that goal.

Bringing tasks into the classroom puts the focus of language learning on the meaning and the goal,
rather than on the form of the communication. “Real world” scenarios have been selected to make
the course relevant to the students.

These goals are transferred into activities that focus on the reading, writing, oral communication,
and/or listening skills relevant to real life needs. It also covers the goals of cross-cultural
awareness, as well as leadership, organizational, and interpersonal communication skills.

The following goals of the foreign language program you are about to study will provide each of
you with the ability to accomplish many tasks:

• Develop skills for oral presentations, group discussions, and listening comprehension.
• Provide opportunities for exercising initiative leadership and practicing organizational
and participation skills in group situations.
• Develop cross-cultural awareness.
• Prepare, practice, perform, and provide feedback. The feedback includes both instructor
and peer feedback.
• Support activities or problem-solve activities in small groups, and interactions in the
classroom situation.

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 Module I

Student Learning Strategies

As a language student, it is extremely important that you familiarize yourself with the course and
the strategies to be successful.

• Learning a language is an active and per formative phenomenon. Language itself is

indescribable and evolves frequently. Anyone who learns a new language should expect
changes and challenges; especially as adult learners.

• This course is designed to guide you through the language learning process. Activities
move from simple to more difficult and overlap to enhance communication. Module I
highlights critical and basic functions of communication.

• Each lesson presents functions (or tasks) and provides activities in which you, as a student,
will practice performing.

• For each task listed before a lesson, you will find exercises or activities that highlight the
steps to meeting every lesson objective. These creative activities emphasize
communication, pair and group work, and learning in context.

• Exercises may be developed and enhanced by the instructor to incorporate various critical
tasks or underline a specific task that may be unusually challenging for each group of
students.

• Class exercises or activities are designed to review lesson materials immediately after
instruction. In class, language practice is an important element of successful language
comprehension and you will use new information for active and effective language
communication.

• As a student, you should always practice pronunciation – especially words or language

cases that are difficult for non-native speakers. Use the language inside and outside of the
classroom. Ask questions about complex materials during class and your instructor will
guide you with more examples.

• You should read over lesson materials before engaging in an activity. The instructor will
review necessary lesson information before assignments are given.

• Learn about the culture of your language. Culture shapes language. It affects changes in
the language and helps you understand particularities of the foreign language. More
importantly, culture helps you understand the similarities in languages and how to adapt to
new forms or structures.

• As a language learner, you will regularly participate in language exchange – you contribute
as both a listener and a speaker. Active listening is part of class learning and participation,
while non-participatory listening is an individual step that happens primarily outside of
class as you go through various activities and exercises for homework, on the web, etc…

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• You will relate sounds to the individual words in each lesson.

• You will use new vocabulary words within a cultural context.

• You will recognize grammatical concepts that match communicative functions.

• Exercises within the lesson, as well as the Application and Skill Enhancement Activities,
stress all four skills: listening, reading, writing, and speaking.

• These are activities through which you can further develop your grammatical control of the
language with minimal intervention on the part of the instructor.

• You will work with and learn from your partners in small groups and role-play activities
and summarize and share information that you have learned from your partners.

• The homework section of each lesson is a follow-up for the lesson of the day. In the
homework, you will practice new expressions and grammatical concepts that fulfill lesson
tasks.

• At the end of each lesson, you will incorporate listening, reading, writing, and speaking
skills to perform comprehensive activities.

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 Instructional Technique

The instructor will incorporate various activities within one language exercise or activity. For
example, a role-play activity may be expanded to include a feedback or discussion forum where
students give personal opinions and ideas. Depending on class size and level of proficiency, the
instructor can rearrange and adapt a particular activity as follows:

IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE WITH INSTRUCTOR AS GUIDE:

1. Activity Explanation Language Tips Vocabulary in Context Student Questions

2. Class Brainstorming Group/Pair Brainstorming Group/Pair Practice

3. Performance of Activity (Situation or Scenario)

4. Expansion of Activity (Homework/Class Discussion/Cultural-related Topics)

This type of step-by-step process, where the difficulty level increases for each performance,
stimulates language comprehension.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Objectives Module 1 Lesson 1

Objectives
At the end of this lesson you will be able to read selected simple texts such as maps, signs, names
printed on business cards, etc. You will also gain the ability to understand such texts when spoken
write and speak on such basic topics. In particular, you will gain the ability to:

Identify the Russian Alphabet

• Identify consonants and vowels in alphabetical order
• Recognize each letter of the Russian alphabet
• Pronounce Russian alphabet phonetic sounds
• Write all the letters in script
• Associate Russian sounds and letter combinations

Produce Vowel Sounds

• Recognize stressed and unstressed vowels
• Pronounce stressed and unstressed vowels
• Apply the rules for vowels when reading and writing

Produce Consonant Sounds

• Identify consonant groupings
• Identify and pronounce consonant clusters
• Apply the rules for consonants when reading and writing

Recognize Cognates
• Pronounce cognates
• Write cognates
Identify Special Cases
• Identify the stress and reduction of vowels
• Identify the difference between the written letter and pronounced sound

Produce Stress and Intonation

• Understand syllabification
• Contrast stress and intonation
• Pronounce stress and intonation

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Identify the Alphabet

Tip of the day:

The Russian alphabet has 20 consonants, 10 vowels, two characters with no sound value, and one
semi-vowel or semi-consonant – 33 letters total.

There are thirty-three characters in the Russian alphabet. Thirty one characters have their
corresponding sounds, and two characters, the ‘hard mark’ ъ (number 28) and the ‘soft mark’ ь
(number 30) do not have sound value but serve to indicate phonetic separation in a word or
softening of a preceding vowel.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Exercise 1
Look at the map of the continents and study the labels in Russian. On the list of the continents,
underline the letters, which look exactly like English. Circle the letters, which are not part of the
English alphabet.

Европа, Азия, Африка, Австралия, Северная Америка, Южная Америка,

Антарктида.

Note. Several letters look English capital letters but in Russian they are used as the lower case.
Examples: в, к, т, н, м

Exercise 2
Listen to the instructor read the names of the continents in Russian. Analyze and discuss
similarities and differences in the shape and pronunciation of the letters. Listen to the instructor
read the names of the continents again and pronounce them yourself.

Европа, Азия, Африка, Австралия, Северная Америка, Южная Америка, Антарктида.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Similarities and Differences

Russian letters similar to English letters in shape and sound

A aрка – arch
O Омск – Omsk (a city in Russia)
K кухня – kitchen
M Марс – Mars
T тент – tent (in some cases Ее is pronounced as э – see below)
E кеды – keds
С сидр – cider (also found in a different category below)

Russian letters similar to English letters in shape but different in sound

E Европа – Europe (also found in a different category above)
B вирус – virus
Н нота – note (musical)
У Уругвай – Uruguay
Р Россия – Russia
X Хьюстон – Houston

Russian letters different in shape but similar to English letters in sound

Б Бразилия – Brazil
Г Гренландия – Greenland
Д Дания – Denmark
З Зимбабве – Zimbabwe
Ё Ёж – [yozh] hedgehog
Ж Жаргон- [zheh] jargon
И Индия – India
Л Люксембург – Luxemburg
П Париж – Paris
Ф Флорида – Florida
Ч Чили – Chile
Ш шоколад – chocolate
Э Эри – Erie
Ю Юта – Utah
Я Ялта – Yalta

Russian letters different in shape and in sound

Ц цунами – tsunami
Щ борщ – borshch
ы Кыргызтан – Kyrgyztan
Й Йемен – Yemen

Russian letters different in shape and having no sound

ь, ъ The soft and hard marks do not stand for any sound

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Exercise 3
Now look at the list of similarities and differences between the Russian and English letters given on
the next page and listen to your instructor pronounce them.

Exercise 4
Now work in pairs. Take turns reading the names of the continents in Russian. Then you ask your
classmate to name three of the continents and you will name four and then switch roles.
Северная Америка, Европа, Южная Америка, Африка, Антарктида, Австралия, Азия.

Exercise 5
Here comes the beautiful Russian alphabet. Listen to the sounds of the Russian letters and
pronounce both with and without looking at the Alphabet table you trying to imitate, and read the
“description” section. Read the letters on your own from top to bottom and bottom to top.
Pronounce the sounds modeled by your instructor.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

The Russian Alphabet

Letters Name and Description of Pronunciation
Printed Written Pronunciation
1 Аа а [uh] o as in mother (short)
2 Бб бэ [beh] b as in big
3 Вв вэ [veh] v as in very
4 Гг гэ [gheh] g as in go
5 Дд дэ [deh] d as in do (tip of tongue behind teeth)
6 Ее йэ [yeh] yeh as in yes
7 Ёё йо [yoh] yo as in yo-yo
8 Жж жэ [zheh] zh as in measure
9 Зз зэ [zeh] z as in zoo (tongue more to the front)
10 Ии и [ee] ee as in eat (but shorter)
11 Йй и краткое y as in boy, toy
[short ‘ee’] Example: мой – my, pronounced [moy]
12 Кк ка [kuh] k as in kit (but with no aspiration)
13 Лл эл [el] l as in lid (tip of tongue behind teeth)
14 Мм эм [em] m as in milk
15 Нн эн [en] n as in net (tip of tongue behind teeth)
16 Оо о [ogh, aw] o as in awe but shorter, and not as deep;
nor like the diphthong [ou] in go
17 Пп пэ [peh] p as in pet (but with no aspiration)
18 Рр эр [er] r as in red (but rolled)
19 Сс эс [es] s as in sit (tongue more to the front)
20 Тт тэ [teh] t as in tip (tip of tongue behind teeth)
21 Уу у [oo] oo as in soon (but shorter)
22 Фф эф [ef] f as in fit
23 Хх ха [khuh] kh, harder than in hut, like in Scotch loch
24 Цц цэ [tseh] ts as in lots (but as one short sound)
25 Чч че [cheh] ch as in chip (but softer)
26 Шш ша [shuh] sh as in ship (but more to the back, harder)
27 Щщ ща [shchuh] shch as in fresh cheese but as one short sound
28 ъ hard sign the hard sign ъ does not stand for any sound; it
твердый знак separates the prefix ending in a consonant from
(разделитель- the root starting in
ный) я, ю, е, ё
29 ы ы [ih] i as in it or is but wider (not used in the
beginning of a word)
30 ь soft sign the soft sign ь does not stand for any sound; it
мягкий знак indicates that preceding consonant is soft
31 Ээ э [eh] between eh in end and eh in add
32 Юю йу [yu] yu as in you
33 Яя йа [ya] ya as in yard

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Exercise 6
In your notebooks, print the letters by hand pronouncing each letter aloud while you write.

Exercise 7
Students hold packs of cards with the Russian letters. One at a time they pull out cards from the
pack and show them to their classmates. The student to whom the card is shown names the letter.

Exercise 8
Listen to your instructor. You will hear eight groups of six letters each. After writing them out, read
the letters again and check for correctness with your instructor.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
у г е э х щ п з
б ч р щ и ц к и
ц а с в м ч ф ы
к ю ф н ж с э ж
л д ё я й б ю ш
о п т ш ы у г я

Exercise 9
Work in pairs. Listen and say it. Pronounce the following geographical names. Then take turns
reading these words. Provide the English equivalents. What were the most difficult words to read?
Share your observations with the class.

Note: When the simple (non-yotted) vowels are illustrated, pay attention to the first vowels in the
appropriate name as they are stressed and pronounced at full sound value, while non-stressed
vowels in Russian (and in English) have reduced sound value. The consonants are shown as both
hard and soft.

А Африка, Азия К Кавказ, Кёльн Ф Флорида, Фиджи

Б Бостон, Бельгия Л Лондон, Львов Х Харьков, Хиросима
В Волга, Вена М Москва , Милан Ц Цусима, Цюрих
Г Греция, Генуя Н Новгород, Нью-Йорк Ч Чад, Чили (ч-alw. soft)*
Д Дания, Дили (Тимор) О Осло, Ольстер Ш Шанхай (ш-alw. hard)*
Е Европа, Ейск П Париж, Пенза Щ Щецин (щ-alw. soft)*
Ж Женева (ж-alw. hard) * Р Россия, Рига Э Эльбрус, Этна
З Заир, Зеландия С Сочи, Сидней Ю Юкон, Юта
И Индия, Ирландия Т Тула, Темза Я Ява, Ялта
Й Йемен, Йорк У Уж, Ужгород

* The pronunciation of these consonants will be explained later.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Russian Cursive Writing

Russian cursive writing style is not really that different from that of English or other Latin/Cyrillic
based languages and can be mastered by students with no problem. An example below shows a
calligraphic version of the Russian cursive. Some peculiarities are as follows. In writing by hand,
the letters т and ш can be mixed up. To avoid that, a dash is drawn over т and a dash is drawn
under ш. The letter д (lower case) can be drawn like … or like д. Capital letters are also often
drawn the way they are printed.

Exercise 10
Below is an example of a most common style of the Russian cursive. Look at the letters, watch your
instructor write them on board, and write them in space provided.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Authentic Russian handwriting

This is a postcard with a

view of the ancient and
beautiful Russian city of
Novgorod.

A young Russian girl from

Moscow who traveled to
Novgorod liked the city so
much that she wanted to
share her emotions with
her friend in Moscow. She
bought the postcard and
wrote a short letter to her
friend. We have her
permission to read the
letter. Let’s turn the card
and read the text.

The City of Novgorod

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Post Card Transcript and Translation

Дорогая Маша! Dear Masha,

Наша поездка проходит очень We’ve been having a very exiting trip. [lit:
интересно. Вчера мы приехали в Our trip is (has been) going on very
Новгород. Это очень красивый древний interestingly] Yesterday we arrived in
город. Жаль, что ты не поехала с нами. Novgorod. It is a very beautiful ancient
Когда приеду, расскажу все подробно. city. I wish you were with us. [lit: It’s a
Целую, Катя. pity you did not go with us. When I come
P.S. Сейчас здесь очень тепло и back I’ll tell you all in detail.
солнечно. Kissing you, Katya.
P.S. It is very warm and sunny here now.

Место Place
для for
марки stamp

Куда г. Москва 112435 Where to: City of Moscow 112435

Хорошёвское шоссе Khoroshevskoye highway
д. 28, кв. 63 House 28, Apt. 63
Кому Потаповой Марии To whom: Potapova Maria Andreyavna
Андреевне

Адрес отправителя г. Новгород 129586 Sender’s address City of Novgorod 129586

гост. Россия, ком. 208 St. Sadovaya 35, Hotel Russia, Rm. 208
Фроловой Екатерине Frolova Yekaterina

Comment:
1) The acronym P.S. – post scriptum, is widely known and used in Russia and is written with the
Latin letters.
2) There are several standard abbreviations used in the letter: г. = город – city, town; д. = дом –
house; кв. = квартира – apartment, quarters; ул. = улица – street; ком. = комната – room.
3) In the phrase расскажу все подробно the word всё should be written with ё but in practice e
is written instead since the difference in pronunciation is always clear to the native speakers.

Exercise 11
Let’s rewrite the letter on the card. The board should be separated into two parts. On the left side
instructor writes the text in cursive word by word. Students come to the board and write the same
word(s) on the right side. Other students watch and write in their notebooks. Pronounce every
word after writing. Read the whole letter pronouncing after your instructor and then on your own.

Exercise 12
One at a time, students go to the board and write their first and last names in cursive. Other
students are asked to pronounce the names trying to sound out the Russian.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Exercise 13
Listen to your instructor and write the letters in cursive during pauses (you can make your own
pauses and listen to the passage or to each letter as many times as you want). You will hear six
groups of six letters each.

1 2 3 4 5 6
ш а ё с ч ф
с к ж е б т
я х в н и ы
г щ м п ц ё
р ю з х л й
о э д у й х

Exercise 14
Imagine you are at a Moscow McDonald’s restaurant. Look at the images and tell the class your
choice.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Produce Vowel Sounds

Tip of the day:
It would not be incorrect to say that Russian has only 6 vowel sounds since the yotted vowels: e, ё,
ю, я are complex sounds, a combination of 4 simple vowels and the semi-vowel й.
Russian Vowels

а и о у ы ы
Semivowel (or glide) й
я=й+a ё=й+o ю=й+у е=й+э

Table 1 Simple Vowels

a и о
ангел импорт опера
ounce—

¾ 28.349grams

GMC is going to Japan!

у э ы
унция экспорт рыба

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Table 2
(See Grammar Notes for a detailed explanation)

й+о o+й а +й
йод – iodine койка – bed рай – Eden, heavens
йог – yogi тройка – three Николай – male name

“Yotted” vowels

я=й+a е=й+э ё=й+o ю=й+у

яблоко ель ёж юбка

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Exercise 15
Bingo Game. Listen to the instructor read the above list of words in Table 2 in the order of
presentation. Observe the differences in the pronunciation between the “yotted” vowels, the simple
vowels and the glide й in isolation. Then play the following bingo game with a partner. This sign
simply marks the free space in a card representing 11 sounds in a table with 12 slots.

A. Choose one of the cards below.

B. Listen carefully to the instructor read a random sequence of vowels and the ‘й’ in isolation.
C. The pair of students who first gets three sounds in a row either vertically, horizontally or
diagonally wins.

Card 1

Card 2

Card 3

Card 4

Card 5

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Exercise 16
Look at the map of Russia given below and study the names of Russian cities. Find the names of the
cities that include the yotted vowels and underline these vowels (Remember: the yotted vowels are
not always pronounced as yotted)

Answer:

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Vowels and Consonants

Table 3

а я

масло мясо
э е
Color white

Бэлла (women’s name) белый

о ё

поезд пёс
у ю

суда сюда
ы и

рыба рис

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Exercise 17
Listen and say it. Listen to the instructor read the list of the words given in Table 3 twice.
A. Pay special attention to the vowels from the list and consonants that precede them.
B. Listen as the instructor pronounces the ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ consonants which precede the vowels.
C. Work in pairs. Each partner will choose a random word from the table. The other partner will
point to the image of the word in the table. The activity will proceed until all the words have
been mentioned.

Exercise 18
Listen to another set of words. They are one-syllable words. Pay special attention to the consonant
preceding the vowel. Put an S if the consonant preceding the vowel is “soft” next to the number. If
the consonant preceding the vowel is “hard”, put an H (Key).

1. бар 4. мэр 7. рис 10. тот

2. да 5. бюст 8. сыр
3. дом 6. бис 9. тят

Exercise 19
Listen to your instructor pronounce the names of countries and Russian republics and areas. The
vowels in the list below are missing. Fill in the correct vowels (Key).

1. Б_льг_я 4. _р_л 7. Англ_я

2. К_рг_зст_н 5. К_мч_тк_ 8. Ч_к_тк_
3. Як_т_я 6. С_х_л_н 9. _г_сл_ви_
Exercise 20
Listen and say it. Getting used to different voices. First listen to the instructor pronounce a list
of cognates (eight cognates). Then listen to an audio clip containing the same set of cognates.
Focus on the ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ consonants. Then, listen again as instructor reads the same words
slowly. Rely on your knowledge of cognates. Each student will share one cognate from the list with
the class. The teacher will write these cognates on the board. Which cognate was the most popular
one?

танки, автомат, ракета, гаубица, граната, радио, динамит, пистолет.

Exercise 21
Follow-up on the previous exercise. Now each pair makes an activity with missing vowels based on
the words from the list. Then you switch partners. Your new partner will ask you to fill in the
vowels from his/her list. Then reverse the roles.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Exercise 22 (Optional)
Work in pairs. A. Listen to the words from both tables 1, 2 and 3 with images and fill in the
missing vowels. Compare your interpretation of the missing vowels with your partner then with the
rest of the class.

Exercise 23 (Optional)
Work in pairs. Learning strategy: using associations. It is well known that making associations
helps to learn new words and new sounds. Can you make sense of this seemingly nonsensical text?
Work with your partner trying to provide an interpretation. Use the images above to guide you.
Compare your interpretation with the rest of the class.

The first example is done for you:

Опера. Белая дама Б___лла.

Should Be: Опера. Белая дама Бэлла

Опера. Белая дама Б __лла. __блоко.

__ж!. __бка! Mо__ юбк__! Никола__
___од!!! Анг__л, ты __нг__л!!!

B. Put your imagination to work and make

a story in English based on the Russian
words in A. then compare with our story.
The same words in English. An opera.
The white lady Bella. An apple. A
porcupine! Skirt! My skirt! Nicolas!
Iodine! You are an angel! My angel!

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Produce Consonant Sounds

Tip of the day:
Consonants often give you more information about the meaning of the word (see Grammar).

During the class on the Russian alphabet you learned that many Russian vowels and consonants
look or sound similar to a number of English letters and sounds. In this section we want to focus on
the Russian characters and sounds, which may seem to be somewhat foreign to your ear or eye.
Let’s take a look at the foreign ones.

Voiced б в д г ж з л м н р
Voiceless п ф т к х ш с ч щ ц

Pronunciation: In speech consonants influence one another in a single word or at the interface of
two words: voiceless consonants make voiced consonants voiceless, and vice versa, voiced
consonants may make voiceless consonants voiced. The rule is that the preceding consonant is
influenced by the one that follows it.

Consonants in Russian fall into two categories: voiced and voiceless. In the Russian phonetics the
voiced consonants are called the ‘ringing’ consonants whereas the voiceless consonants are called
the ‘dull’ or ‘muffled’ consonants, which may help you understand better how they are perceived
by native speakers. We have organized the consonants by pairs (where applicable) to demonstrate
this feature.

Voiced change to voiceless:

1) At the beginning of a word: всё [фсё] – all, вторник [фторник] – Tuesday.

2) In the middle of a word: водка [вотка] – vodka, ложка [лошка] – spoon.
3) At the end of a word the following changes take place (if not followed by a voiced consonant or
a vowel): б → п, в → ф, г → к/х, д → т, ж → ш, з → с.

Examples: хлеб [хлеп] – bread, ров [роф] – ditch, moat, бог [бок or бох] – god, дед [дет] –
grandfather, муж [муш] – husband, груз [грус] – cargo, load.

4) When two words come together: в классе [фклассе] – in a classroom, в Сибири [фсибири] –
in Siberia.

However, there can be exceptions. For example, the letter в may not voice preceding consonants:
Москва is pronounced as it is written, that is the voiceless к is nor influenced by voiced в and
does not become voiced г.

Voiceless change to voiced:

1) At the beginning of a word: сделать [зделать] – to do, make, сбегать [збегать] – to go fetch.
2) In the middle of a word: отдать [оддать] – to give away, футбол [фудбол] – football.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Some other consonants change to voiceless:

Г before K changes to X:
лёгкий [лехкий] – light (weight), мягкий [мяхкий] – soft.

Г before Ч changes to K or X:
легче [лекче or лехче] – lighter, мягче [мякче or мяхче] – softer.

Exercise 24
Listen, write, communicate.
A. Listen to the instructor read the following Russian last names. Each name is given in three
forms: male, female and plural. Pay attention to how the ending consonants are pronounced.
They represent the singular masculine gender, singular feminine gender and the plural.
B. Choose a name of the list and write it down. This will be your assumed last name for the day.
C. Go around the classroom and find out what names other students chose. What were their
reasons? (For example, some students may choose the name because the name refers to a well-
known people, or because they heard these Russian names before or just because they like the
way the name sounds).
The instructor will circle around the classroom helping you with the pronunciation.

Смирнов – Смирнова - Смирновы, Романов – Романова – Романовы, Соколов – Соколова –

Соколовы, Иванов – Иванова – Ивановы, Сергеев – Сергеева – Сергеевы, Антонов –
Антонова – Антоновы, Селезнёв – Селезнёва – Селезнёвы, Демидов – Демидова –
Демидовы, Чижов – Чижова – Чижовы, Горюнов – Горюнова – Горюновы.

Note: In certain areas of Russia and based on the individuals preferences of the speakers the letter
в in the masculine singular may be not devoiced.

Exercise 25
Listen, write, compare. Practice word-final consonants that change from voiced to voiceless.
A. Listen to an audio clip. Some will be cognates. The list will be read twice; first, at a normal
speech rate, and then for the second time at a much slower rate.
B. Try to write down at least two words from the entire list in the space provided. Then each
student goes to the board and copies the two words he/she managed to write.
C. Compare the results. Which word was the most frequent? Which word was the least frequent?
Which words contained more mistakes, etc?

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Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Note: Pronunciation can somewhat vary from person to person or from area to area. The words will
be pronounced slowly and in a ‘neutral’ style.

Correct spelling The final consont sounds as:

Париж, ёж Париш, ёш
Санкт-Петербург Санкт-Петербурк
шоколад, поезд шоколат, поест
Колумб Колумп
Горбачёв Горбачёф
газ гас

Spelling Rules and Pronunciation Peculiarities

of Sibilants and Velars

‘Sibilare’ in Latin means to hiss, and ‘sibilants’ is the name used for the ‘hissing’ sounds. In
Russian they are the ones mentioned above: ж, ч, ш, щ, and ц. The velars are the sounds
articulated by raising the back of the tongue towards the soft palate (velum).These are: г, к, х. Here
are the rules of spelling for these consonants.

Spelling rule I: И or Ы

After
ж, ч, ш, щ, г, к, х Only и!

Examples: чихать – to sneeze, щит – shield, гильза – cartridge case, кит – whale, химия –
chemistry.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

After ж, ш, ц the letter и sounds like ы

Examples:

Written Sounds

жизнь [жызнь] life

чихать [чихать] to sneeze
ширина [шырина] width
машина [машына] machine, car
цифра [цыфра] figure (numeric)
цинк [цынк] zink

Exceptions: After ц the vowel ы is written:

1) in the words: цыган – a gypsy, цыплёнок – chicken, на цыпочках – on tiptoe, цыкать – to
hush, цыц! – hush! (and their forms and derivatives);
2) at the end of nouns when ы forms the plural: палец – пальцы – finger(s), конец – концы
end(s), etc.

Exercise 26
Listening comprehension and pronunciation. “И or Ы”. Listen carefully to the instructor.
Follow thе spelling rules and write either и or ы when appropriate (Key).

Ч____ли Чили
Ж____риновский (name of a politician) Жириновский
ц____рк цирк
Ч___каго Чикаго
ц____нк цинк
ш___фр шифр

Spelling rule II

After
г, к, х

Exceptions:
Among exceptions are some foreign words/proper names like Хьюстон – Houston, Хьюз –
Hughes, etc.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Spelling rule III

After
ж, ч, ш, щ, г, к, х Only y and a!

ю and я

Pronunciation of ш, ж, ц. Exceptions are the three words borrowed from French. Ю is

pronounced as the [у]: парашют – parachute, жюри – jury, брошюра – brochure. Proper names
can also be among the exceptions.

While sibilants ж, ш, ц are generally hard, the sibilants ч and щ are always soft. After ч and щ the
soft vowels ю and я are never written, у and а are written instead but soft ч and щ make у and а
sound like [ю] and [я].
Examples: чаща [чящя] – thicket, чужой [чюжой] – else’s, alien, щука [щюка] – pike-fish, etc.

After the hard sibilants ж and ш the vowels o and ё are pronounced as [o] (ё is made to sound as
hard o).
Examples: жёлтый – yellow, жёлудь – acorn, жёнушка – dear wife, жёсткий – hard to touch,
strict, жонглёр – juggler, жокей – jockey, etc.
Examples: шёлк – silk, шёпот – whisper, шёрстка – hair (animals);
пошёл, ушёл, нашёл – I/he went away, left, found (verbs in past tense, 1st and 3rd person sing.,
masc.); шорох – rustle, шофёр – chauffeur, шоколад – chocolate, шок – shock, шоу –show,
шоссе – highway, etc.

Note: There is no rule when to write o or ё. These and other words should be looked up in a
dictionary. This note also applies to the paragraph below.

After the soft sibilants ч and щ the vowels o and ё are pronounced as [ё] (o is made to sound as
soft ё).
Examples: чётки – rosary beads, чёрт – devil, чётный – even (number), учёный – scientist,
учёт – record keeping, чокаться – clink glasses (when drinking toasts), чокнутый – cranky,
crazy, чопорный – stiff, prim, stand-offish, etc.
Examples: щёлк – click, щёлочь – alkaline, щётка – brush.

After the soft sibilants ч and щ the vowels o and ё are pronounced as [ё].

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Soft Consonants
Tip of the day:
In the phrase Я люблю тебя – I love you, if you do not pronounce the word люблю correctly
palatalized (л should be soft two times) your Russian sweetheart may not understand you.

Softening (linguistic term palatalization) of consonants is another important feature of the Russian
language. Very often it presents a real difficulty for foreign students. Softening (palatalization) was
already discussed in this lesson in relation to the soft vowels: e, ё, ю, я, и that soften the preceding
consonants.

The soft sign ь was also discussed before when its function of separation was introduced. Now,
compare the following syllables with and without ь. This is an example of consonant softening due
to two causes: use of the soft vowels as well as use of the soft sign.

Hard Soft

сэ, дэ, пэ се – сье, де – дье, пе – пье

во, ло, но вё – вьё, лё – льё, нё – ньё
ну, бу, лу ню – нью, бю – бью, лю – лью
ша, та, ра шя – шья, тя – тья, ря – рья

Another case of softening (palatalization) occurs when words end in ь. Words change their
meaning depending on whether the ending consonant is hard or soft. Here are a few examples.

Compare:

брат – брать brother – to take

был – быль I/he was – a true story
кров - кровь shelter – blood
мел – мель chalk – shallow waters
мол – моль breakwater or ‘as if’ – (clothes-)moth
рус – Русь old for ‘a Russian’ – Rus’ (old name for Russia)
угол – уголь a corner or angle – coal

Exercise 27
Work in pairs. Choose three pairs from the above list and pronounce them. Your partner will try
to write it down in his notebook. Then reverse the roles. Switch the notebooks and check your work
against the above list.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Produce Stress and Intonation

Tip of the day: We can divide a word into syllables. We can divide into syllables speech as a whole.
Syllabification gives speech its rhythm. Rhythm is found everywhere. In the human body rhythm is
the heartbeat. Remember: To understand the Russian syllabification is to understand the heartbeat of
the Russian language.
Syllables and Stress
Syllables. In Russian, and many other languages spelling verbally is done in syllables rather than
letters. A syllable is a vowel, or a vowel-consonant combination that constitutes one rhythmic (and
very often one morphological) unit of a word. Essentially, Russian words have as many syllables as
they have vowels.

Examples:
– One vowel/syllable: я, да, нет, свет;
(I, yes, no, light)
– Two vowels/syllables: я-ма, дра-ма, бе-рет, пор-трет;
(pit, drama, beret, portrait)
– Three vowels/syllables: Ма-ри-я, ко-ме-та, по-го-да, пла-не-та;
(Maria, comet, weather, planet)
– More than three vowels/syllables: у-ни-вер-си-тет, об-ра-зо-ва-ни-е;
(university, education)

Written letter/ Pronounced sound

Nominal sound

молокo [малако] milk

зoлото [золата] gold
дeрево [дерива] tree
колесo [калисо] wheel
язык [йaзык] or [йызык] tongue, language
часы [чисы] clock, watch
жакет [жэкет] or [жыкет] jacket

Another important point about the stress is that placing the voice accent on a different
vowel/syllable can change the meaning of the word. Compare:

дорога – road, way дорога (adj, fem, short) – something deer to one’s hear
духи – spirits, ghosts духи – perfume
жила – vein (я, она) жила – I (f) / she lived
мука – torment мука – flour
(я) плачу – I weep (я) плачу – I pay / I am paying
уже – narrower уже – already

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Intonation
Intonation in any language is complex. In this lesson, we give you only a very simple example of
this linguistic phenomenon: questions versus statements. The good news is that simple “yes-no”
questions in Russian look exactly like statements. They sound differently, however. This difference
is called the question-intonation pattern, and it involves changes in the pitch. Questions use the
rising intonation and statements a falling intonation pattern. Questions use the rising
intonation and statements a falling intonation pattern just as in English. There are, however,
some subtle differences in the rise-fall pattern between English and Russian. You will learn more
about various types of questions and other intonation pаtterns in later lessons.

Exercise 28
Map activity. Now listen to the instructor point to the cities on the map according to the pattern:
Это Новосибирск. (This is Novosibirsk, etc.) This is a statement intonation pattern. Now work
with your partner. Choose a city, point to it on the map and pronounce its name making sure that
you use appropriate intonation. Take turns.

Exercise 29
Map activity continued. Scenario: guessing game. In the game below the instructor will be
asking some questions. Please pay careful attention to how he/she asks her/his questions,
especially listen how the instructor’s voice is rising for a question.
Look again at the previous map with ten Russian cities. Choose “your city”, but don’t tell anyone.
The instructor will start the game with one of the students by asking the question of the form: Это
Москва?, Это Тамбов?, Это Тверь? She/he has three guesses. If she guesses correctly, the
student will say: да. If she/he guesses incorrectly, the student says нет. Continue the same game
with your partner. Who guessed correctly?

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Introduction Module 1 Lesson 1

Recognize Cognates

Tip of the day:

Cognates in Russian do not sound the same as cognates in English. Understanding the correlation
between the English and the Russian sound system helps to recognize cognates.
Russian English

материализм, идеализм materialism, idealism

материалист, специалист materialist, specialist
демонстрация, реформация demonstration, reformation
резиденция residency
дивизия (дивизион), диффузия division, diffusion
сессия, процессия cession, procession
демократия, философия democracy, philosophy
ботаника, педагогика botany, pedagogy
арифметика arithmetic
физика physics
косметика, кибернетика cosmetics, cybernetics
гидравлика hydraulics
геология, уфология geology, ufology
геолог, уфолог geologist, ufologist
резистор, модулятор resistor, modulator
мастер, компьютер, сканнер master, computer scanner
инженер, мушкетёр engineer, musketeer

Exercise 30
Work in pairs. Come up with three English words, which are likely candidates to be cognates and
try to “russify” them. Compare them with your partner. Then go around the classroom, talk to three
people and find out what their choices were. The instructor will check your predictions. Discuss the
rules you applied with your classmates and the instructor.

Classroom Management

пожалуйста please читайте read

спасибо thank you пишите, напишите write
извините, простите excuse me, sorry повторите repeat
садитесь sit down продолжайте continue
встаньте stand up подождите wait (hold on)
идите сюда come here сотрите erase
смотрите, посмотрите look

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Grammar Points: Similarities and Differences, The Russian Alphabet, Russian Cursive Writing,
Jotted Vowels and Hard and Soft Signs, Spelling Rules and Pronunciation Peculiarities of the
Sibilants and the Velars, Syllables and Stress, Intonation, Indo-European Languages, Russian and
English, Russian Names.

Abbreviations

sh.f short form of an adjective

smth something
inf infinitive
m masculine
f feminine
n neuter
sing singular
pres present tense

Indo-European Languages
In Indo-European languages (and other language families) consonants bear the meaning while
vowels govern the melody and rhythm of a language. Example: Read the following short phrase of
two words in which consonants have been omitted and try to understand it: oo oo. Quite a puzzle,
eh? Now, let’s omit the vowels in the same phrase and try to decipher it again: gd bk. [good book]
Wow! What a difference! Needless to say those consonants are more helpful as the meaning
carriers.

Both English and Russian belong to the Indo-European family of languages. English belongs to the
Germanic Group: German, English, Dutch, Flemish, and others; whereas Russian belongs to the
Slavic Group of languages, among them are Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Polish, and others.

There is scientific evidence all these languages have descended from one common proto-language
called Proto-Indo-European. It is a reconstructed language. Sanskrit, the ancient language used in
the Hindustan subcontinent is closely related to the modern European languages. The next of kin
closer to Europe is Latin. Some European languages are grammatically based on Latin, like Italian,
French, Spanish, etc., and all European languages have different amount of Latin word roots. Even
though structurally (grammatically) English belongs to the Germanic Group, it has more Latin
heritage in its vocabulary than German, for instance. Russian has a considerable amount of Latin
word roots as well. Here are but a few examples of the words/roots found in Sanskrit, Latin,
English, and Russian (all spelt in Latin letters). Pay attention to the consonants as they bear the
meaning:

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Sanskrit Latin English Russian

agni – fire ignis – fire ignition ogon’ – fire
dvi – 2 duo – 2 two∗ dva – 2
mrita - death mortis – death mortal, murder smert’ - death
matr - mother mater – mother mother mater’, mat’ - mother
tri – 3 tres – 3 three∗ tri – 3
vidya- seeing, videre – seeing video, visual videt’, - seeing
knowing

∗ These are good examples of what in phonetics is known as the ‘interchange of consonants’. Such
groups of consonants as d/t/th, b/p/f/v, c/s/z, g/j/j (when j is pronounced [y] as in yes), l/r/w,
u/v/w, c/k/q, g/h (when h is fricative), are interchangeable trans-lingual or can change with time
within one language.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Russian and English

In this lesson you might have noticed several similarities between English and Russian. However,
the grammar of Russian often appears quite complex to many students.

You might find it interesting that several centuries ago the English grammar used to be almost as
complex as that of Russian. English underwent many changes in the course of its history. Have you
ever read any Shakespeare in school? Difficult as it must have been it was already Modern English.
First English immigrants arriving in America already spoke modern English. The complexity of
Russian can be compared to earlier stages of English before the times of Shakespeare and Queen
Elizabeth. In Modern English, the relationship between the words in a sentence is ruled not by the
word endings as in Old English or Modern Russian but rather by the position of the parts of the
sentence in a sentence and by the use of prepositions.

Almost every word of Russian may come in many different grammatical forms. The existence of
different forms makes Russian very foreign to foreign students. Let us take the Russian adjective,
for example. While the English adjective has only 1 grammatical form, the Russian adjective has
24 theoretical grammatical forms. In practice the number of the forms will be less because many
forms coincide. Also, different adjectives may have different number of forms. The adjective
белый – white, for instance, has 13 forms. The twenty-four forms are made up of the three gender
forms in the singular: masculine, feminine, and neuter plus one in the plural for all three genders.
Each of the four forms is declined by the six grammatical cases. It makes a total of twenty-four
grammatical forms. However, do not be discouraged. At the end of this course you will be able to
communicate freely in Russian. As you engage in the study of Russian you will be able to see
more and more similarities between Russian and other European languages including English.

1. Alphabet
The Russian alphabet, similarly to English, does NOT provide one-to-one sound versus letter
correspondences. In fact, no alphabet of any world language does.

In Russian, just as in English you need to learn the spelling rules. The good news, however, is that
spelling in Russian is much more rule-governed than in English. After you had practiced some of
the rules presented in the Introduction, now read the following part of the Grammar Notes
section for more detailed explanations of the Russian alphabet and the sound system.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

2. Russian Vowels
In Russian, there is no differentiation between long and short vowels. The duration of the sound
each vowel is pronounced with depends on whether the vowel is stressed or unstressed.
Phonologically, stressed vowels are always longer than unstressed vowels. Stress and
Syllabification will be discussed below.

There are 10 vowels in the Russian alphabet: а, и, о, у, ы, э, е, ё, ю, я. The vowels are classified as
simple vowels and ‘glides’ or ‘yotted’ vowels, and also as hard vowels and soft vowels.

Simple vowels are those that have only one phoneme (single distinctive sound). They are: а, и, о, у,
ы, э. Let’s look at examples of words which start with these simple vowels when these vowels are
stressed:

ангел – angel, индекс – index, опера – opera, ультра – ultra, экспорт – export, рыба – fish.

Note: There are no Russian words starting in ы.

Glides or yotted vowels are those that represent sound combinations of the glide й and simple
vowels а, о, у, э. Before discussing the yotted vowels we need to talk briefly about the Russian
semi-vowel and glide й, which name in the alphabet is ‘short и [ee]’.

Short и [ee] – й
The eleventh letter of the Russian alphabet is called ‘short и’ [ee] and is drawn as й. This Russian
sound is equivalent to the widely used ‘glide’ sound in English. Here are some examples of the
sound found in many English words. 1) In the beginning of such words as yo-yo, yes, yard. 2) In
the middle of words: rain, horizon, etc., 3) At the end of such words as word: toy, my, hi, tie, rye,
buy, by. In English, this sound can be rendered in a number of different letter combinations,
whereas in Russian it is in most cases just one letter й. (In phonetics, this letter is considered a
semi-vowel. It is true because if you try to slowly pronounce just this sound separately from other
sounds, you will find out that it consists of two sounds: [ee + y], that is to say, you need to start
with the vowel sound [ee] before you reach the glide [y] as in yes).

There are some examples:

In the beginning of a word (only in a few words):

йод – iodine, йог – yogi

In the middle of a word:

койка – bed, тройка – three

At the end of a word:

рай – heavens, Николай – Nicholas

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Now we can return to the yotted vowels е, ё, ю, я. As has been said above they are a combination
of the simple vowels э, о, у, а, and the glide й. This can be depicted in the following way:

e = й + э [yeh]; ё = й + о [yoh]; ю = й + у [yoo]; я = й + а [yah]

Note: 1) There are no letters representing a combination of the glide й and the simple vowels и or
ы. 2) The letter ё is always stressed.

The vowels е, ё, ю, я are pronounced as yotted:

In the beginning of a word:

ель – fir-tree, ёж – hedgehog, юбка – skirt, яблоко – apple

(also after ь and ъ because in these cases they are separated from the beginning of the word and
perform as if they were at the beginning of the word – see below)

After other vowels:

поезд – train, он поёт – he sings, я пою – I sing, маяк – lighthouse

In all other cases е, ё, ю, я are pronounced as simple (single phoneme) sounds:

не – not, нет – no, мне – to me, мёд – honey, дюна – dune, мясо – meat, для – for

Note: It is possible that you may never see the double-dotted vowel ё in the literature or
publications because almost always e is used instead. This is done for a very simple reason: the
Russians know when e should be pronounced as ё. In dictionaries ё is found under the letter e.

Strictly speaking, the yotted vowels could be substituted in Russian by the combinations й +
simple vowel mentioned above, but as long as these sounds are very common in Russian and
represent individual sounds, individual letters were found appropriate to be created. In fact, there
are words in Russian that do use the й + simple vowel combination instead of a yotted vowel. They
are a small number of borrowed words:
йод – iodine [not ёд], йога – yoga [not ёга], район [not раён] – region, койот – coyote [not
коёт], etc.

Note: There is another way to render the sound [ё] or [йо]. This is the combination ьо, which is
found in a few borrowed words in Russian: бульон – broth, батальон – battalion, почтальон –
mailman, медальон – medallion, etc.

Because the yotted vowels e, ё, ю, я and the simple vowel и are soft by nature and also serve to
palatalize or soften the preceding consonants (with the e, ё, ю, я yotted or non-yotted), these
vowels are also called ‘soft’ vowels, whereas the simple vowels а, о, у, ы, э are also called ‘hard’
vowels. Looking at the Russian vowels from this prospective, it will be appropriate to organize
these vowels in the following five pairs:

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

“Hard Vowels” “Soft Vowels”

а я
э е
о ё
у ю
ы и

Compare the following separate syllables:

мэ – ме лэ – ле тэ – те рэ – ре
мо – мё ло – лё то – тё ро – рё
му – мю лу – лю ту – тю ру – рю
ма – мя ла – ля та – тя ра – ря
мы – ми лы – ли ты – ти ры – ри

Let’s look at how these pairs of vowels manifest themselves in the corresponding pairs of real
words. Here are some examples:

Бэлла – Bella (fem. name), белый – white

после – after, пёс – dog (m)
суда – ships, сюда – (to) herе
масло – butter, oil, мясо – meat
рыба – fish, рис – rice

Yotted Vowels and Hard and Soft Signs

Some aspects of the usage of the yotted vowels need to be looked at in connection with the use of
the hard and soft signs. The vowels e, ё, ю, я are pronounced as ‘yotted’ in the following cases:

1) In the beginning of a word: Я ем – I am eating

2) After other vowels: Я пою – I am singing/I sing

3) After the separating soft mark ь: Я пью – I am drinking/I drink

4) After the separating hard mark ъ: Я съел – I have eaten (m)

Compare with no ъ: Я сел – I sat down (m)
Я съелa – I have eaten (f)
Compare with no ъ: Я селa – I sat down (f)

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Consonant Sounds
During the class on the Russian alphabet you learned that many Russian vowels and consonants
look or sound similar to a number of English letters and sounds. In this section we want to focus on
the Russian characters and sounds, which may seem to be somewhat foreign to your ear or eye.
Let’s take a look at the foreign ones.

However, like with the vowels, there are letters that are not found in the English alphabet, as well
as there are some sounds and characters.

Х х does not have its equivalent sound in English. The best way to pronounce it correctly is just by
imitating how the Russian people say it. This sound is normally rendered in English as [kh].

Examples: храм – temple, эхо – echo, монах – monk

Ж ж is a very common Russian sound and is pronounced [zh] as in measure, treasure, leisure, but
it's harder than its English counterpart sound.

Examples: жизнь – life, ножницы – scisors, ножи – knives

Ш ш may look very uncommon to you though it has its equivalent sound in English rendered by
the letter combination sh. Like in the case with ж, it's harder and broader than its English
counterpart.

Examples: шар – ball, sphere, лошадь – horse, вишня – sour cherry

Ч ч finds it’s counterpart in the English sound rendered by the letter combination ch, but, unlike ж
and ш it's softer in Russian than its English twin sound.

Examples: час – hour, time, мачта – mast, ночь – night

Now we have approached two Russian consonants which can be referred to as 'complex' as they
consist of more than one individual sound.

Щ щ is a combination of the two consonants above ш + ч = щ. It corresponds to the English letter

combination shch and is pronounced as one short sound.

Examples: щука – pike fish, роща – grove, мощь – power

Ц ц is a combination of the two consonants: т + с = ц. We will need two letters in English to

render this sound: ts. It is also pronounced as one short sound.

Examples: царь – Tsar, процент – percent, танец – a dance

34
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

On the contrary, there is one letter/sound in English that will need two letters in Russian to be
represented. It is j or g when pronounced as [j] in John. There is no such exact short equivalent
sound in Russian and we will need two letters д + ж to convey it. Such English words and names as
jeep, jeans, George will be written and pronounced in Russian in the following way. (Note that дж
combination is pronounced not as one short sound but as a conjunction of the two sounds).

Examples: джип, джинсы, Джордж

The English sound [ng], represented by the letter combination ng, does not exist in Russian.
Borrowings from English and other languages having the ng combination in them are found in
Russian fairly extensively. The Russian letter combination н + г serve the purpose of conveying
this sound in Russian but it is pronounced as two separate sounds.

Examples: пинг-понг – ping-pong, брифинг – briefing, рейтинг – rating

Another sound not found in Russian is [w]. In Russian it can be represented in two different ways,
either using в or у. Such English words and names like west, Windows, William will be spelt in
Russian as:

Examples: вест, виндоус, Вильям or as уэст, yиндоус, Уильям.

Traditionally, some spellings are fixed:

Examples: Вашингтон – Washington, виски – whiskey, Уэльс – Wales

Syllables and Stress

Note: When part of the word needs to be carried over to the next line, the word should be broken in
two parts somewhere between two syllables (one syllable words cannot be broken). However, there
is a restriction: one letter may not be carried over or left behind. Sometimes there can be more than
one way to split the word. For example, the word ресторан – restaurant can be split either as рес-
то-ран, or ре-сто-ран, or рест-о-ран, or рест-ор-ан. The preferred ways would be of course the
first or the second because rhythmically it is better for every syllable to have possibly an equal load
of vowel/consonant combination.

Stress is a very important characteristic feature of the Russian language and it goes hand in hand
with syllabification. When one of the syllables in a word is pronounced with more force in the
voice than the others, that syllable is called ‘stressed’. When the vowel/syllable is not stressed we
come across a phenomenon, which is known in phonetics as ‘reduction of vowels’.

35
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Reduction of vowels is found in many languages including Russian and English. One of the best
ways to show how this phenomenon manifests itself in English would be probably by looking at the
name MacDonald and others beginning with ‘Mac’. This first part of the word (the first syllable) is
never stressed, the vowel a is so greatly reduced in its sound value that such names are sometimes
written with no a at all like McDonald because this a is simply “eaten up” and does not have its
nominal value any more. Just compare how the sound [a] is pronounced in such words as father,
mother, MacDonald, America, butter, garden. Only in father, and garden we can hear [a] in its full
value while in the other words the sound [a] is reduced.

The same phenomenon is observed in Russian too. Any vowel in Russian can be reduced when it is
not stressed. Normally, the farther away the vowel is from the stressed syllable the more reduced it
can be (much depends on the individual way of talking, the area accent, and the speed of speech).
Let’s look at some examples and see what happens with unstressed vowels. The stressed vowels are
typed in bold with an accent mark. Non-stressed vowels can be more or less close to (оr distant
from) the [a] sound or other sounds. ∗

Written letter / Nominal sound Pronounced sound

молокo [малако] milk

зoлото [золата] gold
дeрево [дерива] tree
колесo [калисо] wheel
язык [йaзык] or [йызык] tongue, language
часы [чисы] clock, watch
жакет [жэкет] or [жыкет] jacket

Students should be aware that reduction of vowels as well as other phonetic peculiarities of Russian
and any other language is not a math formula. Correct pronunciation is learnt by listening to native
speakers and by trying to imitate them. With extensive practice in listening and imitating, speaking,
and reading aloud students start to get the feel of the sounds of the language.

Another important point about the stress is that placing the voice accent on a different
vowel/syllable can change the meaning of the word. Compare:

дорога – road, way дорога (adj, fem, short) – something dear

духи – spirits, ghosts духи – perfume
жила – vein (я, она) жила – I (f) / she lived
мука – torment мука – flour
(я) плачу – I weep (я) плачу – I pay / I am paying
уже – narrower уже – already

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Note: When words in Russian are verbally spelt by syllables, every syllable is stressed and
therefore there is no vowel reduction, in which case there is only one way to spell the word.

1) Браво, юбилей, добрый, вечер, жужжит.

2) Завтра, ромашка, семья, тетрадь, стрельба.
3) Пожалуйста, цветы, очень, месяц, господин.
4) Сегодня, здание, свидание, солдат, звезда.
5) Кресло, тщедушный, шуршит, студент, траншея.
6) Спасибо, вёсла, морозы, тысяча, друзья.
7) Фамилия, патрон, наощупь, утро, польщён.
8) Дожди, бассейн, госпожа, автомобиль, жульен.
9) Здоровье, бирюза, берёза, спокойный, выстрел.
10) Хребет, фортуна, секунда, радость, успех.

Recognize Cognates
Cognates are the words of international use but of a national origin. Among the cognates, there are
many Greek words like философия – philosophy, психология – psychology, химия – chemistry,
геометрия – geometry, демократия – democracy, телефон – telephone, etc.; Latin words:
республика – republic, нация – nation, армия – army, etc.; Italian: концерт – concerto,
сопрано – soprano, and, of course, пицца – pizza, etc.; Russian: спутник – sputnik,
перестройка – perestroika, and, of course, водка – vodka, etc.; Sanskrit: карма – karma,
кундалини – kundalini; English: компьютер – computer, баскетбол – basketball, and, of
course, о’кей – OK!

Even though cognates and borrowings are numerous in Russian they are often hard to recognize.
Students should always pay attention to the consonants (as discussed in Grammar Notes of this
lesson) and syllabification. Also, there are equivalent patterns that help recognize cognates and
borrowings.

37
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Grammar Exercises

Russian Names

Exercise1-6
(See Culture Notes for comments on names).
Pronounce common Russian first names, last names, and patronymics (middle names) below and
do exercises below. Your instructor will explain the procedure for each exercise. Specific tasks
are explained in each exercise.

Exercise 1
Read the given names below and find the first names that are common to both men and women.
Then read the list of the given and the last names. Select names for your imaginary family. Write
them down on a card and go around the classroom. Compare your choices with those of other
students. Which name was the most popular one?

Given names of men

Александр, Алексей, Андрей, Анатолий, Антон, Борис, Василий, Валентин, Валерий,
Виктор, Владимир, Геннадий, Дмитрий, Егор, Евгений, Иван, Игорь, Кирилл, Константин,
Максим, Николай, Олег, Пётр, Павел, Роман, Семён, Сергей, Сидор, Степан, Тимофей,
Фёдор, Харитон, Эдуард, Юрий, Яков, Рюрик.

Given names of women

Александра, Альбина, Анна, Антонина, Валентина, Валерия, Вера, Виктория, Галина, Дарья,
Екатерина, Елена, Елизавета, Жанна, Зинаида, Зоя, Инна, Ирина, Клавдия, Лидия, Любовь,
Людмила, Мария, Марина, Наталья, Надежда, Нина, Ольга, Оксана, Полина, Раиса,
Светлана, Тамара, Татьяна, Юлия.

Men’s last names (These are most common last names based mainly on first names)
Add -ов if stem ends in a consonant: Иван-Иванов, Пётр-Петров, Борис-Борисов.
If first name ends in -ий drop it and add –ьев or drop -й and add -ев: Василий-Васильев,
Дмитрий-Дмитриев.
If first name ends in -eй drop й and add –ев: Андрей-Андреев, Сергей-Сергеев.
Аdd -ский after stem, or after stem + -ов, -ев: Чайков-Чайковский, Иванов-Ивановский; if
ends in –ий drop it and add -евский: Василий-Василевский.
If first name ends in -а drop and add -ин or -ов: Никита-Никитин-Никитов.

Exercise 2
From the list of men’s given names above make men’s last names. Some first names are not
commonly used with the -ский ending but you can try adding it to all names just for practice as it
is a common ending for adjectives. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the final consonant.
Pronounce them aloud dividing and without dividing into syllables.

38
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Women’s last names

(add -а or -ская to men’s last names)
Ивановa, Петровa, Андреевa, Сергеевa, Васильевa, Чайковская, Ивановская.

Exercise 3
From the list of men’s given names above make women’s last names. Some first names are not
commonly used with the -ская ending but you can try adding it to all names just for practice as it
is a common ending for adjectives. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the final consonant before
the vowel -a. Pronounce them aloud dividing and without dividing into syllables (Key).

Men’s patronymics
Add -ич to last names ending in -ов or -ев: Иванов-Иванович, Сергеев-Сергеевич.
Replace first names ending -a with -ич: Никита-Никитич, but Гаврила-Гаврилович.

Exercise 4
From the list of men’s given names above make men’s patronymics. Pronounce them aloud
dividing and without dividing into syllables.
39
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Women’s patronymics
Add -на to last names ending in -ов, -ев, or -ич: Иванов-Ивановна, Сергеев-Сергеевна,
Никитин-Никитична.

Exercise 5
From the list of men’s given names above make women’s patronymics. Pronounce them aloud
dividing and without dividing into syllables .

40
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Grammar Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Exercise 6
Below are four popular Russian tongue twisters. First, read them slowly dividing the words into
syllables to feel the sounds and rhythm. Then, read the phrases as fast as you can. You can practice
the twisters on your own pronouncing them both in fast and slow modes.

Колпак под колпаком, на колпаке колпак. – The cap is under the cap, there is a cap on the
cap. (Колпак is a cone or dome shaped cover or cap).

Шла Саша по шоссе и сосала сушку. – Sasha was walking along the highway sucking on a
sooshka cookie. (Сушка is a ring-shaped cookie).

Карл у Клары украл кораллы, а Клара у Карла украла кларнет. – Karl stole corrals from
Clara, and Clara stole a clarinet from Karl.

Во дворе трава, на траве дрова. – There is grass in the yard, there is fire wood on the grass.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Vocabulary Module 1 Lesson 1

английский (masc), английская (fem), English (adjective)

английское (neut), английские (plural)
Америка America
американский (masc), американская (fem), American (adjective)
американское (neut), американские (plural)
возьми(те) фломастер take the marker
встань(те) stand up
дай(те) мне give me
иди(те) сюда come here
имя name (mainly first name)
напиши(те) (слово) write down (the word)
отчество patronymic (used as middle name; derived from
отец – father)
пожалуйста please
подойди(те) к доске Come up to the board!
Россия; Русь Russia; Rus’ (Old Russia) (See Culture Notes,
Lesson 4)
русский (masc), русская (fem), русское (neut), Russian (adjective and adjectival noun)
русские (plural)
скажи(те) say
славянский (masc), славянская (fem), Slavic (adjective); is derived from the Slavic
славянское (neut), славянские (plural) noun слава – glory; ‘Slavic’ people means
‘glorious’ people.
сотри(те) erase
США – Соединенные Штаты Америки USA – United States of America
сади(сь)тесь (на место) sit down (back to your place)
слово word
страница page
спасибо thank you
сядь(те) sit down
упражнение exercise
урок lesson
фамилия family (last) name
язык tongue, language

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Culture Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

History of Russian Language:

th
In the 9 century A.D. two monks Cyril and Methodius, went as missionaries from Byzantine
Greece to help bring Christianity to Slavic tribes in the North. As the Slavs did not have a written
language, Cyril and Methodius created an alphabet based on the language spoken among the Slavs.
The characters used in the new alphabet were taken mainly from Greek with Latin features added
later. Cyril and Methodius translated the Holy Scriptures into the Old Slavic language so that Slavs
could read and understand the Bible. Since then, the alphabet has undergone a number of
modifications. Today it looks quite different from its original form in Russian and other Cyrillic
based languages, but it still retains many of its previous features. To honor these two outstanding
scholars and pioneer linguists, the alphabet was called Cyrillic. Also, for their exceptional role in
bringing Christianity to Slavs, Cyril and Methodius were canonized as saints by the Russian
Orthodox Church.

In the 18th century under Peter the Great, the forms of letters were simplified and regularized, and
some of the Greek being removed. Russian language has been influenced by many foreign
languages such as: 1. Indo-European/Common Slavic/East Slavic Influence 2. Scandinavian
Influence 3. Greek Influence 4. Tatar-Mongol Influence 5.Western European Influence 6. Polish-
Latin Influence 7. French/Italian Influence 8.German/French/Dutch/English Influence.

Russian Names

The full Russian name consists of three parts: имя – first name, отчество – patronymic (father’s
name, middle name), and фамилия – family name (last name). Let’s pick as an example a popular
Russian name Иван (English – John, Italian – Giovanni, French – Jean, German – Johannes,
Spanish – Juan) and see how it manifests itself in all the three forms mentioned: Иван Иванович
Иванов (a man), or Иванна Ивановна Иванова (a woman). The endings -ов (masc) or -ова
(fem) answer the question ‘whose’ and show belonging or possession meaning that Иванов or
Иванова belong(s) to Иван. Endings -ович or -овна indicate the same belonging/possession
relationship. Traditionally, -ович or -овна show the father’s name (patronymic), while -ов or –
ова (and other forms), indicate the family name. However, the endings -ович or -овна in Russian
can indicate also the family name, which is specifically characteristic of other Slavic languages like
Serbian. The following type of a Russian name can very well exist: Иван Иванович Иванович
with a difference in the stress. Sometimes among close friends or colleagues only patronymic can
be used to address each other.

There are also short or diminutive names derived from full first names widely used as an informal
form of address, for example:

Александр – Саша, Шура, Шурик (also: Сашка, Шурка).

Владимир – Вова, Володя (also: Вовка, Володька).
Дмитрий – Дима, Митя (also: Димка, Митька).
Елена – Лена (also: Ленка).
Людмила – Люда, Мила (also: Людка, Милка).
Надежда – Надя (also: Надька).

43
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Culture Notes Module 1 Lesson 1

Note: The ending -ка for men and women shows a highest level of familiarity but very often is
regarded as being derogatory or rude.
However, if the suffixes -оч, -ич, -онь, -ень, are inserted between the stem and the ending -ка the
names change the emotional characteristic to the reverse and become an expression of tenderness,
love and affection. For example, this diminutive form is very often used when talking to children
and between sweethearts:
Сашенька, Вовочка, Володенька, Димочка, Леночка, Людочка, Милочка, Наденька.

The Name Рюрик

In the 9th century, a number of Eastern Slavic tribes were scattered over the vast area, which are
now Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, and parts of Northern Russia. There was a powerful strive
for unity between them but they could not come to an agreement as to how to choose a king from
among themselves, because the tribe to which the king was a native would become a dominating
nation.
The decision was to invite a nobility representative from Scandinavia, the lands with which the
Slavs had good and longstanding relations. The Scandinavians responded positively. They sent a
delegation headed by a noble whose name was Рюрик. (This given name has been used in Russia
ever since but is not very common). The dynasty of the Ryuriks had started. Among the prominent
representatives of the Ryurik family who reigned and ruled in Rus’ (old Russia) were Vladimir the
Great (the Baptizer), the king of Kiev who introduced Christianity in Rus’, Yaroslav the Wise, the
king of Kiev, who promoted education and arts, built churches and established relations with
Western Europe (one of his daughters was married to the king of France and later became the
queen of France), Ivan the Terrible, the tsar of the Moscow Rus’ who started the expansion of the
Russian Empire to the East. All these rulers were Рюриковичи (the plural form of Рюрикович).

Note: The Romanov dynasty started in 1613 when a Russian noble Michael Romanov was elected
tsar of the Moscow Rus’. (South-Western Rus’, or Ukraine, including Kiev was part of the
kingdom of Poland in those days).

44
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Application Module 1 Lesson 1

Activity 1
Spеаking example of simple greeting. The teacher comes into the classroom and greets the
students: Доброе утро (before noon) and Добрый день (after noon), and Здравствуйте. The
students greet the teacher and greet each other (including Здравствуй). This exercise should be
practiced every day throughout Lesson 1 (and beyond) even though the Topic Greetings comes
about only in Lesson 2.

Activity 2
The following phrases should be practiced throughout Lesson 1 as a means of emphasizing the
communicative side of language study at this early stage without detailed explanations of
Grammar.

(Name), Пожалуйста.
Встань(те). Сядь(те). Иди(те)/подойди(те) к доске. Возьми(те) маркер. Напиши(те)
(слово). Сотри(те). Сади(сь)тесь на место. Скажи(те). Дай(те) мне... Спасибо.

These phrases should be gradually introduced throughout the first week. Students will also use
them in the role-playing situations performing as teachers. Both singular and plural form of verbs
in the Imperative should be used. If necessary, more phrases can be added.

Activity 3
A. Look at the images of animals. What do these animals say in English?
B. Now listen to the instructor read what they say in Russian.

Please note that each phrase consists of a noun (the subject) and a verb (the predicate) in the 3rd
person singular.

C. Work in pairs. Then, take turns in reading the phrases again at least two times swapping out
the noun and the verb: Russian grammar allows that. This done, proceed to D
D. A student reads a phrase using any word order and points at another student who without
looking into the text (peeking in is allowed) produces the appropriate sound.

45
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Application Module 1 Lesson 1

Петух кукарекает Свинья хрюкает Овца блеет Волк воет

Ку-ка-ре-ку-у-у Хрю-хрю-хрю Бэ-э-э У-у-у

Кошка мяукает Курица кудахчет Змея шипит Пчела жужжит

Мяу-мяу-мяу Кудах-кудах Ш-ш-ш Ж-ж-ж

Лев рычит Собака лает Лошадь ржёт Корова мычит

Р-р-р Гав-гав-гав И-го-го Му-у-у

46
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Application Module 1 Lesson 1

Activity 4
A. Listen and recognize. Look at the following list of logos of Russian, American and European
cars. The instructor will read the names to you in random order, relatively fast. Circle the logos
which names you think you heard. Note the difference in pronunciation of the Russian and
English names.

_________________

Russian-produced car BАЗ 2131 _________________

________________ _________________

_________________
________________

_________________
_______________

B. Listen again and write. Now listen to the instructor slowly read the previous list of car makes
again. Write them down in the space provided above next to the logos.
C. Work in pairs. Compare your answers with your partner.
The instructor will circle around the classroom checking for correct spelling.

Activity 5
Shopping on the web. You are an office manager and you made a list of items you want to
purchase. Read your list and then read the authentic Internet announcement. Compare them. If you
find an item both in our shopping list and in the announcement, put a check next to the item in the
shopping list.

47
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Application Module 1 Lesson 1

Activity 6
Work in pairs. Read and speak. Continuation of Activity 5. Now go through the announcement
again and find all the cognates. Then make a purchase of two items from the announcement and
read them to your partner. He/she will mark them on his/her copy of the announcement and read
your purchase back to you. Reverse the roles.

Activity 7
Guessing from context. Find the Russian words, which are cognates in the announcement. Then,
find the Russian words, which are not cognates in the announcement and try to guess their
meaning from context. Compare your guesses first with those of your partner then with the rest of
the class. The person who guessed the largest number of words wins the title of a Linguistic Whiz ..

Your shopping list: The store sells the following items:

Stationery Сегодня в продаже.

Souvenirs √
Pens
Software √
Music √ Атласы
Atlases √ Карты
Poetry √
Video √

Игры
Переводчики
Энциклопедии
Словари Антивирусы
Детские книги
Проза
Поэзия
.
Брачные услуги
Поздравления
Аудио-диски
Русские архивы
Аудио-кассеты

Видео-кассеты
Видео-диски

Газеты

48
Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Application Module 1 Lesson 1

Activity 8
Work in pairs. Guessing meaning from context. Read the job announcement below and provide
English equivalents for the advertised position.

Приглашаем на работу:
Менеджера по работе с клиентами _______________________
Web-дизайнера / Администратора сервера _________________
Web-дизайнера ________________________________________

Activity 9
Now look at the job announcement and try to guess which word means 'work’. Can you think of a
related English word which sounds similar?

Activity 10
Read, listen, do.
A. Work in pairs. Now you will work with a map of the St. Petersburg subway. Learning to
pronounce the names of streets correctly is the key to finding your way around the city. Endings
of different names around town including the names of the streets are very important for name
recognition. Look at the endings. How many types of endings have you found?
Note: Просп. stands for Проспект – Prospect. Ул. stands for улица – street. Пл. stands for
площадь – square.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
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Application Module 1 Lesson 1

B. If you ever traveled in a foreign city you have no doubt observed that it is often very difficult to
understand the names of the streets when you are riding the subway and the stations are being
announced.

Metro riding simulation game

Step 1. All students come to the middle of the class. They will play the role of passengers, while the
instructor will play the role of the station announcer.
Step 2. Each student chooses one of the lines (routes) indicated on the map of the St. Petersburg
subway and his/her destination.
Step 3. The names of the lines (routes) are written on the board by the instructor. The students
come to the board and write their names, point of departure, and their destinations.
Step 4. The students pretend that they are riding different trains. The instructor reads the names of
the stations in a random order taking into account the stations the students chose as their
destination, as well as the stations, which the students did not choose. For example, two students
choose their destination stations Московские ворота and Горьковская. The instructor reads:

Станция Электросила.
Осторожно, двери закрываются. Следующая станция Московские ворота.
Станция Московские ворота (a student exits).
Осторожно, двери закрываются. Следующая станция Достоевская.
Станция Достоевская (nobody exits).
Осторожно, двери закрываются. Следующая станция Горьковская.
Станция Горьковская (a student exits).

Step 5. When the student hears his/her station he/she exits the train. The game is over when all the
students exit. Those who did not exit when their station name was called keep riding until they
notice that they missed their station.

Winners are those who exited at their destination. Losers are those who missed the most stations.
The game is played several times with different list of the stations.

Activity 11
Reading biographical names. Work in pairs. Take turns in reading the following biographical
names. Which one was the most difficult to read?

1. Джордж Вашингтон 6. Генерал Эйзенхауэр

2. Авраам Линкольн 7. Бенджамин Франклин
3. Джон Кеннеди 8. Генерал Пауэл
4. Уолт Дисней 9. Мэрилин Монро
5. Мухаммед Али 10. Мартин Лютер Кинг

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Activity 12
Listen and match. Look at the images. Listen to the teacher read captions from the list on the left.
Match the image and the picture.

1. Екатерина Гордеева

2. Никита Хрущёв

3. Борис Ельцин

4. Гарри Каспаров

5. Екатерина Великая

Activity 13
Map activity. Word recognition. Fluency circle.
Country/Capital. The class forms two circles, one inside the other. Each student is given a card
with the name of a country and its capital. When teacher says начали – start, the students show
each other their cards. The students on outside circle begin to read the cards of the students on the
inner circle, and then the students in the inner circle will read the cards of the students in the outer
circle. When the teacher says стоп – stop, the outside circle will move clockwise one space, and
the activity will continue with a new partner.

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Activity 14
Look at the blank contours of the continents. Label the continents in Russian.

Activity 15
A game “Make a word”. What does a Russian word look like? Some letters make a word and
some do not. Work in groups of three or four. The instructor brings cards with the 33 letters of the
Russian alphabet and places them on the desk face down. Students pull the cards two for each.
Each group will have a total of at least 6 letters. The group tries to make a word and shows it to
the instructor. The group who is successful first wins.

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Skill Integration Module 1 Lesson 1

Activity 1
The instructor will give you an index card. Fold it into two. Write your name and the name of the
state you are from in Russian on the card. Place your card on your desk. Keep it there for the
duration of Lesson 1.

Activity 2
Adventures of a businessman/businesswoman in Russia
Situation. Assume the role of an American
businessman/woman Bill Wilson or Claire Marlow who is
an employee of the Интеркоммуникация Russian-
American Company. You are sitting in the lobby of the hotel
Невский Палас (The Neva-river Palace) sipping a drink.
You are looking through a list of the people you are
supposed to meet in Russia. All of a sudden someone calls
your name: Билл Робертович! or Клара Давыдовна!
Startled, you spill the drink. Now you have to reconstruct
the list below. Fill in the missing letters.

1. Анна Михайл Стахaн

2. Мария Антон Смирновск
3. Александр Витальев Александровск
4. Павел Петров Синельщик
5. Александра Алексеев Марков

Situation. You are invited to a celebration in the Интеркоммуникация Russian-American

Company headquarters in St. Petersburg. You have the opportunity to meet your Russian
colleagues during a cocktail party. They give you their business cards. (Some of the students will
play the role of these individuals).
A. Read the business cards given below.
B. Write down the names of places your newly met colleagues are from.

ИТК - Интертелекоммуникация ИТК - Интертелекоммуникация

Михаил Борисович Ленский Герман Леонидович Сухов

Президент Директор

Санкт-Петербург Нижний Новгород

Невский проспект 120 Тихий проезд 14
тел: 7-812-435-8269 тел: 7-812-435-8269
факс: 7-812-435-8270 факс: 7-812-435-8270
е-mail: [email protected] е-mail: [email protected]

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Skill Integration Module 1 Lesson 1

ИТК- Интертелекоммуникация ИТК- Интертелекоммуникация

Анна Павловна Каренина Пётр Ильич Невядомский

Финансовый директор Программист

Москва Тверь
ул. Тверская 45 Дегтярный пер. 8
тел: 7-095-513-6122 тел: 7 (3822) 415-479
факс: 7-095-513-6132 факс: 7 (3822) 279-003
е-mail: [email protected] е-mail: [email protected]

ИТК - Интертелекоммуникация ИТК- Интертелекоммуникация

Галина Андреевна Доброва Лариса Сергеевна Бунина

Менеджер по контрактам Бухгалтер

Ярославль Тамбов
Никольское шоссе 100 пл. Свободы 1
тел: 7-812-435-8269 тел: 7 (3952) 255 1069
факс: 7-812-435-8270 факс: 7 (3952) 255-004
е-mail: [email protected] е-mail: lrbunin@@itk.globnet.spb.world.com

Activity 3
Listen and speak.
A. Listen to your instructor.
Situation. Now the award ceremony begins. Listen to the voice of the director as he reads the
names of the Company award recipients. Look at the business cards again and mark those with
the names of the people who received an award.
B. Go around the classroom and speak. After the ceremony, come to your new Russian friends
and congratulate them using their first name and patronymic. Write these names down. (Some
of the students will play the role of these individuals).

Поздравляю вас,
Поздравляю вас,
Поздравляю вас,
Поздравляю вас,

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Activity 4
Find the places where employees whose business cards you read are from on the map below. You
will have to visit them in their offices after the end of the 3-day conference in the St. Petersburg
headquarters.

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Sound and Script Russian SOLT 1
Homework Module 1 Lesson 1

Activity 1
Just letters. Pronounce the letters in the following pairs of words (one pair per student). Use the
Alphabet table to name the letters correctly.

Соловей щебечет. Пчела жужжит. Петух кукарекает. Змея шипит. Воробей чирикает. Свинья
хрюкает. Лошадь ржёт. Курица кудахчет. Корова мычит. Голубь воркует. Лев рычит. Собака
лает. Цыплёнок пищит. Волк воет. Овца блеет. Кошка мяукает. Ёжик фыркает. Слон трубит.
Ворона каркает. Кот мурлычет. Обезьяна кричит. Щенок тявкает.

Activity 2
In your workbook, practice writing letters by hand in cursive using the model. Pronounce each
letter out loud while you write.

Activity 3
Write in Russian cursive the following geographical names. Try to pronounce them in Russian.
Listen to the sounds and pronounce with and without looking at the words.

Австралия, Азия, Америка, Антарктида, Африка, Европа.

Австрия, Греция, Люксембург, Россия, Швеция, Эстония.

Афины, Брюссель, Кёльн, Париж, Санкт-Петербург, Хельсинки.

Аляска, Вайоминг, Джорджия, Иллинойс, Огайо, Юта.

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Activity 4
Write in Russian cursive the following biographical names. Pronounce them in Russian. Listen to
the sounds and pronounce with and without looking at the names.

Джордж Вашингтон, Абрахам Линкольн,

Франклин Рузвельт, Айк Эйзенхауэр, Джон Кеннеди,

Рональд Рейган, Джордж Буш, Билл Клинтон.

Пётр Чайковский, Юрий Гагарин, Михаил Барышников,

Игорь Сикорский, Владимир Набоков,

Александр Солженицин, Елена Блаватская.

Activity 5
Write in Russian cursive the first and last names of your classmates, also your name and your
teacher’s name.
_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Activity 6
Listen to the following letters and write or type them. These are phrases where the words are
pronounced by letters. There is a pause after each word. Your task is to write the letters correctly.
You can listen as many times as you need. You will check this exercise in class the next day.

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

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Activity 7
Practicing й. Read the following words slowly with one syllable stressed and with no reduction of
the non-stressed vowel. Then read them quickly. Afterward write them by looking and then without
looking.

1) Ной, бей, чей, буй, дуй, крой, некий, твой, герой, конвой.
2) Двойка, гайка, шейка, пройма, обойма, войска, тайга, майна, бойца, байт.
3) Майор, белый, пегий, ей, Дарий, тонкий, крайний, райский, портной, бройлер.

Activity 8
Practicing the yotted vowels. Read the following words slowly with one syllable stressed and with
no reduction of non-stressed vowels. Afterward write them by looking and then without looking.

Едва, Ермак, ярмарка, яд, ел, Елена, яйцо, ария,

ёрш, ёмкий, Мария, юла, Юкон, даёт, яма, Юма,
крою, явка, магнолия, Чехия, ясно, ёкну, ясная, юзом, ею.

Activity 9
Practicing soft and hard vowels (including yotted vowels pronounced as simple vowels. Write or
type the words you see (twelve pairs of words). Now read slowly with one syllable stressed and
with no reduction of non-stressed vowel.

Мыс – миска, этак – небо, лыбы – либо,

гуси – гюйс, гусак – гуся, эфир – кефир,
ловит – Лёва, дом – найдём, плоский – плёс,
эрг – серб, выла – вилы, эпос – деспот.

Activity 10
Practicing consonants. Write or type the words you see paying attention to the consonants (fifty
words). Now read the words slowly with one syllable stressed and with no vowel reduction of non-
stressed vowels.
Хижина, дюжина, сжиженный, крекинг, паркинг, дриблинг, гонг, Джимми, Джексон,
лов, плов, столов, снопов, цевьё, цистерна, цилиндр, цинга, щель, защёлка,
тощий, сущий, есть, рыть, рвать, реле, желе, гжель, трель, апрель, лью, льющий, пью,
пьющий, злой, злющий, кара, карающий, видение, телевидение, сновидение, бдение, зрение,
Шура, шут, шаровары, шаркать, пишу, слышу, шипы, мозг.

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Activity 11
Practicing palatalization. Write or type the words you see paying attention to the soft and hard
sounds (fifty words). Then read them quickly. Practice it several times.

Рад, ради, рады, ряды, гряда, грядки, грядой, град, градом, пан, пьян, пьяный,
сера, серый, серая, серое, серую, сьерра, сюртук, зашью, полью, зайду, пойду,
щенок, щёлочь, мелочь, ельник, мельник, быстро, бистро, бирка, бюро,
бью, бьёт, бьём, бьёте, бьют, бьются, смеются,
грань, гранью, гранями, гарь, нагар,
лазурь, базар, базарь, бульон, батальон, медальон.

Activity 12
Rewrite the following words in cursive dividing them into syllables where appropriate. Pronounce
the syllables aloud while writing. You will read the words by syllables the next day in class as a
check-up.

Хи-жи-на, дю-жи-на, сжи-жен-ный, кре-кинг, пар-кинг,

дриб-линг, гонг, Джим-ми, Джек-сон, лов, плов,

сто-лов, сно-пов, цевь-ё, ци-стер-на, ци-линдр, цин-га,

щель, за-щёл-ка, то-щий, су-щий, есть, рыть, рвать,

ре-ле, же-ле, гжель, трель, ап-рель, лью, лью-щий,

пью, пью-щий, злой, злю-щий, ка-ра, ка-ра-ю-щий,

ви-де-ни-е, те-ле-ви-де-ни-е, сно-ви-де-ни-е, бде-ни-е, зре-ни-е,

Шу-ра, шут, ша-ро-ва-ры, шар-кать, пи-шу, слы-шу, ши-пы.

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Activity 13
Can you recognize these cognates? Write or type the cognates. (Fifty words are from different
areas including geographical and biographical names). Provide English equivalents.

Радио, радар, лазер, монитор, гелий, алкоголь, кальций,

холестерин, медицина, математика, генетика, фонетика,
сенат, конгресс, министр, премьер, процесс, цензура,
бабуин, анаконда, шимпанзе, пингвин, маршал,
батальон, армия, револьвер, гаубица, команда,
командир, Флорида, Орегон, Джорджия, Арканзас,
Япония, Гавайи, Владивосток, Кавказ, Урал, Волга,
Камчатка, Ельцин, Горбачёв, Брежнев, Хрущёв,
Гор, Голдуотер, Рокфеллер, Морган, Черчилль, Тэтчер.

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