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IN THIS CHAPTER

Deciphering the letters of the Russian alphabet

Pronouncing Russian letters properly

Suppose that you’re walking in the Russian district of an American city and are suddenly in the mood for food. You’ll be glad you can read Russian when you see a building with the sign PECTOPAH (ree-stah-rahn) on it, because you’ll know that the building is exactly what you’re looking for: a restaurant!

You need to know that the connotations of English “restaurant” and Russian Pecтopaн are very different. In the United States, for example, any place where food is served is a considered a restaurant. This includes McDonald’s and Wendy’s. The Russian word pecтopaн indicates places where people would go for a nice weekend dinner or even special occasion, such as for example one’s birthday or anniversary. Places where you can have a quick breakfast or lunch are more often referred to as кaфe (cafe).

Knowing how to read Russian is a great stepping-stone to speaking Russian properly. As you read this chapter, trust your eyes, ears, and intuition, and you’ll quickly discover that reading Russian isn’t that hard after all. In this chapter, you discover how to recognize all the letters of the Russian alphabet, and we introduce you to the basic rules of Russian pronunciation.