A Piece of Cake: Russian Alphabet

Learning Russian begins with that fascinating alphabet. 33 characters, just 7 more than in our ABC, so how hard can it be? Find out for yourself, of course. Try apps, for example: plenty of options on Google Play and Apple App Store, often for free. Or by watching and listening to clips – also for free. The second language is usually English.

Apps

Starting simple is recommended. For Android users: Russian alphabet for kids is great for beginners and looks cheerful. You’ll also learn some basic words right away. Russian Alphabet is less about cheerfulness but is clear and practical. Some example words are (too) difficult for beginners. For Apple users, there’s also a Russian Alphabet. And a Russian Alphabet Now (with cursive letters too), but that costs 2 dollars. Russian Alphabet Learn is free.

YouTube

Even easier is watching videos. And once you’ve watched them a few times, you can play them while doing other things. Plenty of options here too. Though again, everything is in English – but hey.

• Russian Alphabet in pictures
  With pictures and a carefree tune that says: this is fun. You need that sometimes.
• Russian Alphabet
  Handy and clear, but rather fast-paced. There’s also a milder (slower) version: Russian Alphabet – Slower.
• Russian ABC
  A bit Soviet in style, but great for those who don’t want to be distracted by fancy design or overly perfect sound. Old-school reliability.

Russian Alphabet in 10 minutes (or 12)

The title is misleading, and it doesn’t look very flashy – but ‘Learn Russian alphabet in 10 minutes!’ has a logical structure and teaches you some words along the way. Bonus: it’s narrated by a lovely voice, in her English and по-русски (pa roesski, in Russian). You’ll want that too – so listen and repeat, another 10 minutes (or really 12), and then 10 more times. Удачи (oedatsji), good luck!

More

• Learn Russian Alphabet with fun (Hack Your Russian, 2020, 24 m)
• Russian Alphabet in 3 Minutes. From Zero to Hero (Russian Up, 2019, 3 m)
• The Alphabet. Russian language for beginners (Russian with Nastya, 2019, 7 m)
• Russian alphabet (Russian ABC) (E-Russian, 2019, 10 m)
• Russian language – learn Russian alphabet and sounds (Russian with Aurora, 2019, 13 m)
• Russian alphabet for beginners (Katya 2RU, 2019, 24 m)
• Russian Alphabet Made Easy (Rush into Russian, 2019, 26 m)
• Russian Alphabet, Phonetics and Pronunciation (Elena Komleva, 2018, 46 m)
• 5 confusing letters in Russian you should know about (italki, 2018, 4 m)
• Fast and easy way to learn Russian Alphabet (Cafe Russian, 2017, 10 m)
• Russian Alphabet for Beginners (Daria Mikhay, 2017, 8 m)
• How to learn Cyrillic – Russian ABC for beginners (Real Russian Club, 2016, 5 m)
• Russian alphabet pronunciation (Dennis Fedorov, 2016, 6 m)
• Nail Down The Russian Alphabet (Elena Jung, 2016, 30 m)
• How to memorize Russian alphabet (Dennis Fedorov, 2016, 6 m)
• Russian Alphabet | Russian Language (Be Fluent, 2016, 7 m)
• Russian Alphabet: Showcase (Amazing Russian, 2016, 7 m)
• Learn Russian Alphabet – Lesson for Beginners (Weekly Russian, 2014, 6 m)
• Russian Alphabet & Pronunciation (Learn Russian, 2016, 9 m)
• How to Say the Alphabet in Russian (Howcast, 2013, 3 m)

For the Russian alphabet with some commentary (in English), see How to Read Russian (NFKRZ, 2020, 17 m). For those who like visuals, check out Epic Cyrillic (A1, 2015, 4 m) and these cartoons (AlphabetCartoons.com), and also don’t miss How Much Do You Know About Russian Alphabet? featuring Some Rare and Beautiful Cyrillic Fonts (Russia Insight, 2019, 1.5 m).