Cyrillic I: Old & False Friends
Cyrillic looks like a wall. It isn't — it's a door with a slightly different handle. Of its 33 letters, you already know a third, another third is a squint away from letters you know, and only the rest is genuinely new (that's the next lesson). Ten minutes from now, you'll read real Russian words.
Old Friends
Five letters look and sound just like in English:
| Letter | Sound | Read this |
|---|---|---|
| А а | a | мама — mama (mom) |
| К к | k | кот — kot (cat) |
| М м | m | метро — metro |
| О о | o | то — to |
| Т т | t | торт — tort (cake) |
You can already read кот — cat. That's your first Russian word, no dictionary required.
False Friends
These letters look familiar but sound different — the classic tourist traps:
| Letter | Looks like | Actually sounds like | Proof |
|---|---|---|---|
| В в | B | v | Москва — Moskva |
| Н н | H | n | нет — nyet (no) |
| Р р | P | rolled r | Россия — Rossiya |
| С с | C | s | спасибо — spasibo |
| У у | Y | oo | утро — utro (morning) |
| Х х | X | kh (as in loch) | хорошо — khorosho |
Quiet Cousins
A few letters are one squint away from shapes you know — several came straight from Greek:
| Letter | Sound | Hint |
|---|---|---|
| Д д | d | a little house — think Greek delta |
| П п | p | Greek pi |
| Л л | l | Greek lambda |
| И и | ee | a mirrored N |
| Б б | b | a b with a flat hat |
| Г г | g | Greek gamma |
| З з | z | looks like a 3 |
| Ф ф | f | Greek phi |
| Е е | ye | like 'yes' without the s |
Read Like a Spy
Thousands of “international” words read straight across once you swap the letters. Decode these — no vocabulary needed:
| Russian | Decoded |
|---|---|
| спорт | sport |
| банк | bank |
| парк | park |
| такси | taxi |
| вода | voda — water (yes, vodka is 'little water') |
да · нет · кот · мама · метро
yes · no · cat · mom · metro
Note: Read them out loud. That's Cyrillic — working for you already.
Common Mistakes
- Reading В as B. Москва is “Moskva”. The В-is-V swap is the single most common slip — drill it first.
- Reading Р as P. Р rolls: Россия is “Rossiya”, парк is “park”.
- Trying to learn all 33 at once. This lesson's letters carry most everyday signage; the genuinely new shapes (Ж, Ш, Щ, Ы…) get their own lesson next.
What You Can Do Now
You can read да, нет, кот, метро, Москва and a hundred international words hiding in plain sight. Next lesson: the letters English doesn't have — and then nothing on a Russian street will be unreadable.