How to read Russian
Course for beginners: learn how to read Russian letters and words
Lesson 3: Меня зовут Наташа, а тебя?
My name is Natasha, and yours?
In this lesson you will learn:
- to read an important phrase in Russian: "my name is..."
- to pronounce 7 new consonants (м, н, з, в, т, ш, б) and 5 vowels (а, о, е, у, я)
Step 1
After the first two lessons, you are familiar with the Russian alphabet and you already know how to read the word "hi" in Russian. Now it is time to learn how to introduce yourself! In Russian, when we want to say "my name is..." we use "Меня зовут...". Let's learn how to pronounce this phrase like native speakers.
Listen to the following the audio in Russian and repeat. You will hear first the whole Russian word and then the sound of each letter separately:
М е н я з о в у т н а т а ш а
[m] [ye=i] [n] [ya] [z] [a] [v] [u] [t] [n] [a] [t] [a] [sh] [a]
Tip
How to pronounce "o"
In Russian, some vowels are read differently in unstressed and stressed positions.
The most important change happens to the Russian vowel "о". When unstressed it turns into the sound [a].
For example, "хорошо": it contains 3 times the letter "o", but only the last one is stressed and sounds [o].
Pay attention to the following example. Listen to the Russian audio and repeat:
зонт [zont] the vowel "o" is stressed
зовут [za-vut] the vowel "o" is not stressed
хорошо [ha-ra-sho] This word contains the letter "o" three times, but only the last one is stressed and pronounced [o].
Step 2
We can already introduce ourselves and say our name! That's great!
Now we have to ask the name of the person we are talking to. The easiest way is with the question "а тебя?" (which means "and you?"). Let's study the pronunciation more closely:
А т е б я?
[a] [t] [ye] [b] [ya]
Step 3
Time to practise!
Below you can find a list of syllables that contain the letters you have learnt in this lesson.
First, read them aloud. Then, listen to the recording in Russian and check how you did. Good luck!
мо бо зо на ша та мя тя
шу шо бу бо му ме ту то
шум зов имя шуба нет вот
Useful vocabulary
Remember some useful words:
нет (no)
зонт (umbrella)
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Test
Check how much you have learnt in this lesson:
