Tag Archives: pronunciation
15 Funny English Phrases To Help You Learn Russian Expressions Posted by Nadya on Jul 9, 2020
The Phonetic Association Method is a way to make vocabulary learning easier. The strategy is based on the selection of resembled sounds. With it, you can memorize up to 30-50 words per day. It is a life hack, when in a short time you need to learn a large number of words. Using this method…
Word Stress Patterns in Russian Posted by Maria on Jun 26, 2019
Word stress (ударе́ние) is probably one of the most challenging things about the Russian language. Where the emphasis falls in a word is highly variable in Russian, and there is no single rule set, unlike in such languages as Spanish. To put things in perspective, this is also the case in English. If you speak…
Spelling and Abbreviating Bulky Words in Russian Posted by Maria on Mar 14, 2019
Thanks to their numerous prefixes, suffixes, and endings, Russian words can be pretty long. In addition, the “morphology principle of spelling” (морфологи́ческий при́нцип правописа́ния) dictates that we spell Russian word roots consistently, even if they are pronounced differently in related words. Think of го́род (city) vs. города́ (cities). If they were spelled phonetically, they would…
Do Native Speakers Ever Struggle To Pronounce Russian Sounds? Posted by Maria on Feb 12, 2018
Perhaps you struggle to pronounce certain sounds in Russian. Can’t roll your Rs? Have a hard time making soft consonant sounds? First, be sure to check out our pronunciation tips. Second, you’re not alone! There are native speakers who have articulation challenges and need to see a speech pathologist (логопед). Let us look at some…
Does Russian Sound Different in European Russia and the Far East? Posted by Maria on Oct 13, 2016
Very often I hear people say that, Russia being so large, there must be distinct regional accents. A person from Moscow surely speaks differently than someone from Novosibirsk. However, in the case of Russia we find that the variation is not nearly as drastic as one would expect. As explained in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, “The degree…
Three Basic Russian Words You Shouldn’t Be Scared To Pronounce Posted by Maria on Mar 14, 2016
This post is geared towards beginner students of Russian or those who have casually picked up a few words from their friends or from living in a Russian-speaking environment. Perhaps you’ve been in this situation, where you casually ask your Russian friend how to say “Hello” in Russian. After all, that should be easy. Hola and Hallo…
Why Won’t Russians Answer Me In Russian? (Part I) Posted by Maria on Apr 16, 2015
So we’ve all probably been there. You spend a lot of time learning a language and finally get to a point where you can understand some spoken phrases and form coherent responses. You run into a native speaker and happily start talking Russian (or whatever language you’re learning) to them — only to get a blank…