Russian

Study the whole book, but also pay special attention to the topics outlined below. These are common areas of difficulty for native Russian speakers.

Consonants

Hard and Soft Consonants

Almost all Russian consonants come in hard/soft pairs. The soft consonant (Mягкий) is created by adding a sort of /y/ sound. In some common English words, Russian speakers tend to use the soft /n/ and /l/ when they are followed by the /i/ and /I/ vowel sounds— but /n/ and /l/ are almost always hard (Tвёрдый) in English. To fix this common mistake, make sure you are using just the tip of your tongue to create the /n/ and the /l/ when they are followed by /i/ and /I/. If the middle of your tongue touches your gum ridge, it creates a soft consonant. Also, be careful not to use the soft /h/ after an /æ/ sound as in have and happy. Again, this error has to do with how much of the surface of your tongue you are using to create the sound.

Words for Practice

Don’t use a soft /n/ when pronouncing the following common words.

1. any
2. money
3. general
4. Chinese
5. communicate
6. anything
7. near
8. many
9. beginning
10. Nick

More Words for Practice

Don’t use a soft /l/ with the following common words.

1. believe
2. analyst
3. really
4. actually

Voiced and Voiceless Consonants

Review voiced and voiceless consonants in Chapter Three. There is a tendency for Russian speakers to change the final voiced consonant into a voiceless one.

Word Contrasts for Practice

Make sure you pronounce the two words in each pair below differently.

The th sound

Review Chapters Three and Four to learn the correct pronunciation of this sound. A common mistake is to substitute a /t/ or a /d/ for th.

Confusing /v/ and /w/

All explanations and exercises for the /v/ and /w/ sounds are in Chapter Four.

The /r/ sound

Learn to pronounce the correct American /r/ sound by studying Chapter Three, and by doing all the /r/ exercises in Chapter Four. Make sure you do not roll the /r/ with the tip of your tongue, as this creates a harsh sounding Russian /r/.

Russian speakers tend to roll the /r/ particularly when it is followed by another consonant, as in bring, program, friend, or when it is in the beginning of the word, as in red and right.

When the /r/ sound is at the end of the word, as in far and computer, or before another consonant, as in dark and concert, Russian speakers do not pronounce it at all. Remember, the /r/ is never silent in Standard American English, whereas in British English it sometimes is.

Word Pairs for Practice

Make sure you don’t pronounce these pairs of words the same:

Pronouncing ing

Over-pronouncing ing is another common mistake Russian speakers make. Be sure not to release the /g/ sound in words that end with ing, such as going and doing. Also make sure that you don’t change the /g/ into a voiceless /k/ sound. Review the rules for this sound in Chapter Four.

Vowels

It is recommended that you study all of the American vowel sounds in detail. (See Chapters One and Two.) However, pay special attention to the vowel sounds highlighted below which are the most problematic for Russian speakers.

The /ɔ/ Sound

Be careful that your /ɔ/ sound (as in saw) is not influenced by the very different British version of this sound. In British English pause sounds almost like “pose,” but in American English it sounds much more like /pɑz/, and has the same /ɑ/ sound as in father or watch.

Word Contrasts for Practice

Don’t pronounce the two words in each pair below the same way.

Words Spelled with o

English words spelled with o are particularly difficult for Russian speakers since o is usually pronounced as /ɑ/ as in stop and hot, but it can also be pronounced as /ɘ/ as in love and Monday or even as /ou/ as in so and only.

Another common mistake is to pronounce a final o as /ɘ/ or /ɑ/. Make sure it’s pronounced as /ou/ instead.

The /I/ Sound

You might have a tendency to pronounce /I/ (as in sit) incorrectly. Make sure you pronounce the following words differently:

The /ɘ/ Sound

You might confuse /ɘ/ as in fun, with /ɑ/ as in hop. Practice pronouncing the following words differently:

The /ʊ/ Sound

Do not make the common error of confusing /ʊ/ as in good, with /u/ as in food. Make sure you pronounce the following words differently: