Living in Moscow

Learn Russian

The Russian Alphabet

Here are some words you can already read. Read the word and the clue, and then write the English word in the last column:

	To do with chemicals	atom
	Diplomacy
	A part of a play
	When a kitten grows up
*	Something you wear over your face to disguise yourself
	The universe, space

* "c" is always pronounced as in "centre", not in "coat".

These symbols may look familiar but they have a different sound in Russian. The table below contains Russian and English words which have the same or similar sounds and meanings. Match the Russian to its English equivalent.

1.		a.	Metro
2.		b.	Sputnik
3.		c.	America
4.		d.	restaurant
5.		e.	kilogram
6.		f.	Tanya
7.		g.	tattoo
8.		h.	Volga (River)
9.		i.	Loch Ness Monster

Using the table above to help you, underline the letters, which correspond to the Russian symbols, in the example English words in the table below.
For example, - = m, е = ye, = t, p = r, o = o.

Russian symbol	English symbol	Example English words
	v	Pavlova
		Gorbachev
e	ye	yesterday
		Nabokov
p	r	Romanov
x		Loch
y		luna/moon
		Vladivostok
		Yalta

Task 3: You don't recognize the face but you know the voice.

These symbols may not be familiar to you but they have very similar sounds to English letters. As in the previous task, match the Russian and English words in the table below. (Be careful! There's one word which has a different sound.)

1.		a.	bank
2.		b.	dollar
3.		c.	cocktail
4.		d.	radio
5.		e.	coffee
6.		f.	vodka
7.		g.	problem
8.		h.	echo
9.		i.	Yuri Gagarin
10.		j.	zebra
11.		k.	beer

As per the previous task, using the table above to help you underline the letters, which correspond to the Russian symbols, in the example English words, in the table below. For example, - = z, е = ye, = b, р = r, а = a.

Russian symbol	English symbol	Example English words
	B	Boris
		Dima
		Lenin
		Pavel
	Z	Zina
		Faberge
		Nikolai
		Yuri
		Edward

Task 4: Some new sound kombos.

The following word have the same or very similar meanings in Russian and English and are words you are probably already familiar with. Using the table at the bottom of the page to help you put these words into the relevant categories in the table below.

People	Food and drink/ Places to eat	Places of interest	Miscellaneous
	(a cheap, tasty, chain restaurant in Moscow)		(genre)

Underline the sound combination in the English example word. Use this table to help you with the above task.

Russian symbol	English symbol	Example English words
	yo	yonder
	zh	pleasure
	ts	hits
	ch	chair
	sh	fresh
	shch	pushchair
	i	No real equivalent in English. A bit like the "y" in "busy"
	hard sign	These two symbols change the pronounciation of the previous letter a little. Just ignore them now.
	soft sign

Task 5: Getting around Moscow - the Metro.

All BKC schools in Moscow are named after the nearest metro station, so it is worthwhile becoming acquainted with them as soon as you can.

It should be noted that Moscow metro is unlike the London underground in that where lines intersect Moscow metro stations have different names. However, this doesn't apply to the circle line.

Below are some of the names where BKC have schools, transliterated into English. Find them in Russian on the attached Moscow metro map.

(Answer key)

A lesson compiled by Tanya Martin,
Senior Teacher for Elektrozavodskaya School,
March 2004