Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
19
Useful Russian
Terms & Phrases
The Cyrillic alphabet scares off
most tourists from trying to pick up any
useful Russian, and that's a great shame.
The 33-letter alphabet is really not hard to
learn, since many of the letters are the
same as in English. Knowing how to read
those dizzying signs will make your trip
through Russia much less mysterious and
more comfortable. Kids are remarkably
quick at picking out the new letters, and
can turn the learning process into a family
game of who can read that street sign
faster. If you have any experience with col-
lege fraternities or sororities, you'll note
that Cyrillic shares many letters with
Greek, too.
Most Russians in hotels, restaurants,
and shops will speak some English, espe-
cially those of the younger generations.
Any effort to speak Russian will be wel-
comed, and in smaller establishments even
a few words of Russian may get you out of
a bind or improve service. Below is a
rough guide to the alphabet, with pho-
netic English equivalents, followed by
useful words and phrases with which to
navigate Russian streets and restaurant
menus. Words are printed in Russian fol-
lowed by a pronunciation guide.
1 ALPHABET
Russian
Pronunciation
A a
ah
B b
b
V v
v
G g
g (hard g)
D d
d
E e
yeh
|\
Z z
z
" '
zh (like “s” in measure)
I i
ee
J j
ee (slightly harder than above)
K k
k
L l
l
M m
m
N n
n
O o
o
P p
p
R r
r (rolled r, like the Spanish or Scottish)
 
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