Reading Practice and Next Steps

Congratulations — you now know all 33 letters of the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, the pronunciation rules, and a foundation of essential vocabulary. This final lesson provides reading practice with progressively more challenging texts and maps out your path forward.

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Reading Exercise 1: Simple Words

Read each word aloud, then check the pronunciation and meaning:

Russian	Pronunciation	Meaning
книга	kniga	book
стол	stol	table
стул	stul	chair
окно	akno	window (note: О is unstressed)
дверь	dver'	door
ручка	ruchka	pen / handle
тетрадь	tetrad'	notebook
карандаш	karandash	pencil
компьютер	komp'yuter	computer
телефон	telefon	telephone

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Reading Exercise 2: Cognates (Borrowed Words)

Russian has borrowed many words from European languages. These are easy to read once you know the alphabet:

Russian	Pronunciation	English
автобус	avtobus	bus (autobus)
аэропорт	aeroport	airport
банк	bank	bank
бизнес	biznes	business
интернет	internet	internet
музей	muzey	museum
паспорт	pasport	passport
проблема	problema	problem
такси	taksi	taxi
университет	universitet	university
футбол	futbol	football
шоколад	shokolad	chocolate
ресторан	restoran	restaurant
президент	prezident	president
информация	informatsiya	information

Tip: Once you can read Cyrillic fluently, you will be amazed at how many Russian words you can understand just from their similarity to English.

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Reading Exercise 3: Short Sentences

Read these sentences, applying all the pronunciation rules you have learned:

1. Москва — столица России.
   Maskva — stalitsa Rassii.
   "Moscow is the capital of Russia."

2. Я люблю читать книги.
   Ya lyublyu chitat' knigi.
   "I love to read books."

3. Сегодня хорошая погода.
   Sivodnya kharoshaya pagoda.
   "Today the weather is good."

4. Мой друг живёт в Санкт-Петербурге.
   Moy druk zhivyot v Sankt-Peterburge.
   "My friend lives in Saint Petersburg."

5. Русский язык — красивый язык.
   Russkiy yazyk — krasivyy yazyk.
   "The Russian language is a beautiful language."

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Reading Exercise 4: A Short Passage

Try reading this paragraph about Moscow:

Москва — самый большой город в России. В Москве живёт
более двенадцати миллионов человек. Красная площадь —
самое известное место в Москве. Там находится Кремль
и собор Василия Блаженного. Московское метро — одно
из самых красивых в мире.

Maskva — samyy bal'shoy gorad v Rassii. V Maskvye zhivyot
boleye dvenadtsati millionov chelavyek. Krasnaya ploshchad' —
samoye izvestnoye myesta v Maskvye. Tam nakhoditsya Kreml'
i sabor Vasiliya Blazhennava. Maskofskaye metro — adno
iz samykh krasivykh v mire.

"Moscow is the biggest city in Russia. More than twelve
million people live in Moscow. Red Square is the most
famous place in Moscow. The Kremlin and Saint Basil's
Cathedral are located there. The Moscow metro is one
of the most beautiful in the world."

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Reading Exercise 5: Signs and Labels

You might encounter these in a Russian city: