If you've learned the Russian alphabet, now it's time to find out what happens to letters when they combine into words! The first thing you need to remember is that in Russian we use far less articulation than we would in English - think of it as "the rule of least effort." For example, unstressed О turns into А, and unstressed Е turns into И. See if you can hear the difference in the pairs of words presented in this audio! You will also find examples of words beginning with the letters Е, Ё, Ю and Я, which are pronounced with a Y sound at the front (think of "yes" or "yoke").
