The Russian Language
Очень интересно.
Established in 1988 in the twilight of the Cold War, Staten Island Technical High School started teaching Russian due to a demand of Russian engineers. Today, when incoming students discover that the only foreign language taught to our students is Russian, they are often intimidated. However, once they get used to the basics and alphabet of the language, it is fun to learn! Today, we study the language to explore the history and culture of eastern Europe, communicate with the increasing Russian population in the U.S., bring a unique skill to future workplaces. Click on these links to learn more:
"Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Be Learning Russian" - Marion Maurin at Babbel Magazine
https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/reasons-learn-russian/
"The History of the Russian Language at Staten Island Technical High School" - former SI Tech Russian Teacher, Martin Doyle
https://www.siths.org/apps/news/show_news.jsp?REC_ID=319654&id=0
The Cyrillic Alphabet
Russia uses an entirely different alphabet than us! Understanding the Russian alphabet is the first step in learning how to read and write Russian. The language uses Cyrillic script, which is not as difficult to read as you think. Each letter corresponds with one unique phonetic sound, which makes Russian already easier to understand than English's Latin alphabet. (No letter combinations that make new sounds like how s+h=sh in English.)
The Russian alphabet in print and cursive. Photo from www.LinguaJunkie.com
Here's what each letter sounds like:
А а - Ah (Like in father)
Б б - B (Just the regular b sound: bumblebee)
В в - V (You read that right. V! The "B" doesn't make the "b" sound. You'll get used to it.)
Г г - G (Like good, not germ.)
Д д - D
Е е - Ye (Pronounced like "yeah.")
Ё ё - Yoh
Ж ж - Je
Зз
