Who Am I? - Family and Personal Characteristics
Start reading Russian and talking about your family. Learn the key words in Cyrillic and sound, and spot the letters that trick English readers.
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Reading Russian 📖
Russian is written in the **Cyrillic** alphabet, read from **left to right** and, like English, it **has capital and small letters**. In this module every word is shown three ways: the **script**, the **sound** (transliteration in brackets), and the **English**, so you learn to recognise it and say it.
Saying who you are 🙋
Two words to introduce yourself: - **я (ya)** = I - **имя (imya)** = name So меня зовут... (menya zovut...) is the usual way to say "my name is...".
The family 👨👩👧
The core family and friends words: - **отец (otets)** = father, **мать (mat)** = mother - **брат (brat)** = brother, **сестра (sestra)** = sister - **семья (semya)** = family, **друг (drug)** = friend
Match each Russian word to its meaning
- я (ya)
- имя (imya)
- семья (semya)
- отец (otets)
- друг (drug)
- I
- name
- family
- father
- friend
Spot the word
Which word means "father"?
- отец (otets)
- мать (mat)
- брат (brat)
- друг (drug)
Match each family word to its meaning
- мать (mat)
- брат (brat)
- сестра (sestra)
- mother
- brother
- sister
Spot the word
Which word means "sister"?
- сестра (sestra)
- брат (brat)
- мать (mat)
- семья (semya)
Letters that trick you 🔤
Cyrillic is an **alphabet**, read left to right, with capital and small letters, just like English. But some letters are **false friends**: they look like English letters and sound different. For example **С** sounds like **s**, **Р** like **r**, **Н** like **n**, and **В** like **v**. That is why сестра is read "sestra", not "cectpa".
True of Russian?
Which statement about Russian writing is correct?
- It uses the Cyrillic alphabet, with capital and small letters
- It uses the same alphabet as English
- It is written right to left
- Each symbol stands for a whole word
Family members
Select ALL THREE words that are family members.
- отец (otets)
- мать (mat)
- брат (brat)
- друг (drug)
- я (ya)
- имя (imya)
Introduce yourself
An interactive activity.
One more word
Which word means "friend"?
- друг (drug)
- семья (semya)
- отец (otets)
- я (ya)
The right word
Using the transliteration, complete: "father" is _____, "mother" is _____, "brother" is _____, and "friend" is _____.
Russian summary
Russian is written in the _____ alphabet, from _____ to right, and it has _____ letters like English. The word for family is _____.