Pronunciation Course for Russian Speakers

Free 21-Day English Pronunciation Course for Russian Speakers

Introduction

Is Russian your first language?

Do you believe people sometimes have trouble understanding your English?

Improve your English pronunciation in 21 days with this free course. The goal of the 21-Day English Pronunciation Course for Russian Speakers is to improve intelligibility and raise awareness of common pronunciation challenges faced by people who speak Russian as their first language.

Again, the goal is to improve intelligibility and raise awareness of Russian speakers' common pronunciation challenges.

Why did I say the goal twice?

Because this is not intended to be a magic cure for all your speaking problems, instead, expect significant improvement in your English-speaking intelligibility. In other words, by the end of this course, people will be able to understand you better when you speak English.

Over the next 21 days, we will target twelve specific sounds (four consonants, four vowels, and four consonant clusters) that often give Russian speakers trouble. When you practice each sound, you will complete five different activities:

• Minimal Pairs
• Vowels
• Syllable Stress
• Reduced Sounds
• Tongue Twisters

The sounds of English do not exist in a vacuum, so we practice these sounds on the word level and sentence level. These activities will improve your understanding of American English stress patterns, reduced sounds, and speech music.

There are a multitude of Russian dialects with distinct features. This 21-day course is a general guideline, so feel free to tweak the recommended daily practice based on your needs.

If you would like more ideas on how to work on your pronunciation outside of this program, you can jump to the section Additional Resources for Russian Speakers.

Do You Need This 21-Day Pronunciation Course?

Many English language learners believe pronunciation is their biggest weakness.

A student recently confessed, “If I improve my pronunciation, my English will be perfect.”

She was wrong.

The fact is you might NOT need to work directly on your pronunciation.

Listen to these three speaking samples from Russian speakers preparing for the TOEFL iBT. The original questions can be found on TST Prep’s official website.

Read the summary below each response and compare your pronunciation.

01, Female, Russian, Comparing Physical and Digital Books

The first thing you probably noticed about this student is that she speaks quickly. Since she speaks at a fast pace, the example is sometimes hard to follow. Still, this 21-day pronunciation course is NOT a good fit for her. She pronounces most vowels, consonants, and consonant clusters well.

02, Male, Russian, Talking About Switching Jobs

While his speaking speed was a bit slow, his pronunciation was clear. He spoke confidently, varied his intonation, and linked words together. This 21-day pronunciation course is NOT a good fit for him.

03, Female, Russian, Talking About The Yips

This student struggled with pronouncing the topic “The Yips.” You can learn more about this phenomenon here. Besides the subject, this student also had trouble linking words and bringing her thoughts together. Her response was most likely impacted by nervousness. Still, she needs to work on her pronunciation and speech music. This 21-day pronunciation course is a good fit for her.

If you want feedback and pronunciation advice from an experienced teacher, send an email to Josh at [email protected].

The 21-Day Pronunciation Course for Russian Speakers

The Speaker English collection of sound practice includes 18 consonant sounds, 20 vowel sounds, and 25 consonant clusters. These are the sounds of American English.

Consonants: p, b, t, d, k, g, v, l, r, z, s, h, dʒ (dg), m, n, w, j (y), f

Vowels: æ (a), eɪ (A), e(ɛ), i: (ee), ɪ (i), aɪ (ai), ɒ (o), ɘʊ (O), ʌ (u), Ʊ (oo), u: (oo), aʊ (ow), ɔɪ (oi), ɪə (eer), ə (“uh”/schwa), ɜ: (er), ɔ: (aw/or), a: (ar), eə (air), ʊɘ

Consonant Clusters: zh (ʒ), ng (ŋ), sh (ʃ), ch (tʃ), th (ð, voiced), th (θ, unvoiced), bl, br, st, sw, cl, cr, dr, fr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, tr, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp

Each day, you will complete various activities on four different sounds.

Even though there may be other sounds you struggle to pronounce well, we have selected 12 sounds most Russian speakers find challenging. This represents a large sample size that will target current weaknesses and improve your overall intelligibility.

Consonants:

• p
• d
• dʒ
• w

Vowels:

• æ
• eɪ
• aʊ
• ɔɪ

Consonant Clusters:

• ŋ
• ʃ
• ð
• tʃ

Follow the links below and complete the given assignments. Set aside approximately 30 minutes each day to complete all activities.

Additional Resources for Russian Speakers

It is important to note that this 21-day pronunciation course is not a one-size-fits-all solution. I encourage you to tweak this plan based on personal preference.

Regarding particular sounds, I have highlighted sounds often identified as troublesome for Russian speakers.

Consonants: p, b, t, d, k, g, v, l, r, z, s, h, dʒ (dg), m, n, w, j (y), f

Vowels: æ (a), eɪ (A), e(ɛ), i: (ee), ɪ (i), aɪ (ai), ɒ (o), ɘʊ (O), ʌ (u), Ʊ (oo), u: (oo), aʊ (ow), ɔɪ (oi), ɪə (eer), ə (“uh”/schwa), ɜ: (er), ɔ: (aw/or), a: (ar), eə (air), ʊɘ

Consonant Clusters: zh (ʒ), ng (ŋ), sh (ʃ), ch (tʃ), th (ð, voiced), th (θ, unvoiced), bl, br, st, sw, cl, cr, dr, fr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, tr, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp

If you went through the pronunciation course, you know there are five activities to complete each day:

• Minimal Pairs
• Vowels
• Syllable Stress
• Reduced Sounds
• Tongue Twisters

While these activities are helpful, Russian speakers should emphasize word stress and intonation. Word stress is also an area of your speech that could use some work. Unfortunately, we do not include any daily activities about word stress, but you might find this site helpful.

Rising and falling intonation is also an aspect of prosody that Russian speakers must practice. As a general rule of thumb, commas in the middle of a sentence often indicate a rising intonation, while the sound directly before a period requires downward intonation. This advice is a general rule and often broken. Check out this podcast episode from Hadar Shemesh for some ideas on how to practice intonation.

Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or feedback below. I’m always learning :)