learning Russian, should I use the Cyrillic alphabet even if I don t know it?

Question

so I m just starting to learn Russian, I practice through books, apps, (trying to gt Rosetta stone,) and dulingo (beta version ATM) and I noticed on dulingo it had a choice of Cyrillic alphabet or not, I haven t ever used the Cyrillic but all the Russian words ive learned so far have been in that, when I switched it off the Cyrillic it didn t even look Russian? is it still Russian? the Cyrillic alphabet is really hard but I want to learn the correct type of Russian.

Answer 1

If you wish to write and read Russian... how could you do it without knowing the Russian alphabet?

But if you consider it's enough for you to know 2 or 3 dozens of Russian phrases (greetings, saying good-bye, apologies) then you don't need it because one could learn them by ear.

Some English-speaking people think that Russian alphabet is very difficult. It is not. I'm sure the most difficult aspect for a foreigner is Russian grammar (declensions of nouns, adjectives and pronouns; verb conjugations).

Well, sometimes we can use Latin. One can do it writing SMSs when the phone is bought abroad and doesn't have Cyrillic keyboard layout. But there are no Russian books or magazines in Latin alphabet. Nobody writes letters or e-mails by Latin letters.

So, you should (even must :)) learn Russian alphabet if you are keen to learn the language. If not, don't even start learning Russian.

Yet, good luck and may you be successful!

Answer 2

You must know the sounds (regular plus exceptions) of Russian letters to be able to read the language.



I think it is best to learn to pronounce Russian words properly before trying to read them, because there are exceptions to the simple reproduction of the alphabetic sounds. Reading them first, using the sounds from the recitation of the alphabet will introduce error. Native speakers learn the language this way, first by speaking it with their family and then to read it from their teachers.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_orthography



You can learn to recite the alphabet and associate the letters with the sounds by singing an alphabet song while keeping track of the letters.



https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Russian+Alphabet%2C+Sesame+street+song



It is best to write Russian using the standard Russian keyboard layout. You may remap your keyboard to do that, There are other methods that allow you to select letters with a mouse or even to hand write using a stylus. .



http://learnrussian.rt.com/speak-russian/how-install-cyrillic-keyboard-windows-7



The big exceptions in writing Russian are the unvoicing of some consonants at the end of words, the replacement of the sound of letter "г" with a "в" sound in the pronoun, "his," "его" and in the ending of the masculine animate genitive or accusative "его." Vowels are also reduced from their value from reciting the alphabet depending on stress. o > a > ə.



The Russian word for "good," "хорошо" shows this. Russian has the sound of the schwa, but only occurs when another vowel is reduced, so Russians don't write it. Written phonetically, хорошо would be written хəрaшо.



Despite these exceptions, Russian spelling is far more phonetic than English. It may just be my opinion, but I think it is better to learn how to actually pronounce the words and then how they are written rather than learn all these rules. The alphabet is a very good way to remember the pronunciation, but not definitive.

Answer 3

Cyka Blyat.



Just kidding, you can use both Cyrillic and Latin alphabet. There is no correct type, ex: in Macedonia, Bulgaria, Russia official is Cyrillic, but most know Latin also. Serbia, Croatia use both Cyrillic and Latin as official. While Polish and Czech use only Latin since they were under influence by the Latin users in the XII- IX century

Answer 4

Not only should you use Cyrillic letters but you should learn to touch-type on a Cyrillic keyboard.

Answer 5

The best way to learn a language is through the Pimsuler method. I am learning eastern Arabic, a language I though was impossible, pretty easily with it. The Pimsuler courses are expensive, though. But depending on what you plan to do with your language, I reccomend learning to speak, before learning to read and write.