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in several hours. That’s how easy the Russian alphabet is!

      Don’t believe us? Consider this: The Russian alphabet, often called the Cyrillic alphabet, was named after a ninth-century Byzantine monk named Cyril, who developed it with the help of his brother, Methodius. (Please don’t ask us why Methodius’s name wasn’t added to the name of the alphabet. Life isn’t fair.) Cyril and Methodius wanted to translate the Bible into one of the Slavic languages spoken by the Eastern European pagan tribes, because the brothers were planning to convert those tribes to Christianity. These languages had never been written down before. When the brothers were creating their alphabet, they borrowed quite a few letters from the Latin alphabet to indicate the sounds produced by the tribes. Luckily for those tribes (and for anyone studying Russian), a lot of the borrowed letters sound the same in Russian as they do in any Latin-based alphabet (like English).

      Are you ready to jump in and start reading Russian? Chapter 2 shows you how to sound out the letters of the Russian alphabet.

Tackling Basic Grammar

      In addition to the alphabet, grammar is responsible for earning Russian its reputation for being a difficult language. Don’t worry, though! Chapter 3 makes your transition from English grammar to Russian grammar as smooth as possible. We give you the scoop on Russian nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and sentence construction.

       One benefit of Russian: Compared with English, which enforces the strictest order of words on its speakers, Russian allows a completely free, almost anarchic order of words. In the sentence “The dog chased the boy,” for example, the Russian words for boy and dog can switch places, but the sentence will still mean “The dog chased the boy.”

      But to fully enjoy this freedom of word order, Russians had to pay a dear price in the form of six grammatical cases (nominative, genitive, accusative, dative, instrumental, and prepositional), which anybody who speaks Russian has to juggle constantly to create sentences that make sense. Don’t let this fact intimidate you, however. With the guidelines we provide in Chapter 3, you’ll have a handle on cases in no time.

Easing into Common Expressions

      In Chapter 4, we present numerous basic Russian expressions that enable you to start speaking Russian immediately (and politely). Here are just a few of the easiest, shortest ones:

       Пpивeт! (pree-vyeht!) (Hi!)

       Кaкдeлa? (kahk dee-lah?) (How are you?)

       Пoкa! (pah-kah!) (Bye!)

       Cпacибo! (spuh-see-bah!) (Thank you!)

       Пoнятнo! (pah-nyat-nah!) (I see!)

       Дa. (dah.) (Yes.)

       Дa-дa-дa! (dah-dah-dah!) (Yes-yes-yes!) The repetition makes your yes stronger.

       Heт. (nyeht.) (No.)

       Heт-нeт-нeт! (nyeht-nyeht-nyeht!) (No-no-no!) You guessed it: This expression makes your no stronger.

       Пpocтитe! (prahs-tee-tee!) or Извинитe! (eez-vee-nee-tee!) (Sorry!) This word is a bit longer than its English counterpart, but it comes in handy for acknowledging the blunders you may make as a beginning Russian speaker.

       Oй! (ohy!) (Oh!) This term serves to express a wide range of emotions, such as fear, surprise, delight, anger, and many more.

       Aй! (ahy!) (Ah!) Use this expression in place of Oй if you prefer, or use it just for the sake of variety.

Counting on Numbers, Times, and Measurements

Even if you were bad at math in high school, don’t underestimate the importance of numbers, times, and measurements while learning a new language (including Russian). Just think about the activities you’ll be able to perform: using currency, calculating prices, exchanging phone numbers, setting meeting times, making sense of addresses and zip codes, and a lot more. So don’t even think about missing Chapter 5; it brings you up to speed on all these topics.

       In the meantime, you can start using Russian numbers by counting on both hands:

       oдин (ah-deen) (one)

       двa (dvah) (two)

       тpи (tree) (three)

       чeтыpe (chee-ti-ree) (four)

       пять (pyat’) (five)

       шecть (shehst’) (six)

       ceмь (syehm’) (seven)

       вoceмь (voh-seem’) (eight)

       дeвять (dyeh-veet’) (nine)

       дecять (dyeh-seet’) (ten)

Speaking Russian around the House

       A great way to practice Russian is to wander around your home! Each time you enter a room, recall its name in Russian:

       куxня (koohkh-nyeh) (kitchen)

       cтoлoвaя (stah-loh-vuh-yeh) (dining room)

       гocтинaя (gahs-tee-nuh-yeh) (living room)

       cпaльня (spahl’-nyeh) (bedroom)

       туaлeт (tooh-uh-lyeht) (bathroom)

       гapaж (guh-rahsh) (garage)

      Chapter 6 introduces you to Russian words for common rooms, household items, and regular everyday activities such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and doing chores.

Using Russian in Social Scenarios

      After practicing Russian at home, you can take it outside. Part 2 comes in handy in a lot of life scenarios: making small talk with new acquaintances, asking for directions, eating out and shopping, going out on the town, communicating and handling routine tasks at work, and enjoying hobbies. The following sections give you a sense of what to expect.

      Starting conversations

      Have you ever been on bus, plane, or some other public transportation and some stranger just tried to talk your ear off? Small talk makes some people really uncomfortable, but allowing yourself to get over those initial fears could mean making a new friend or feeling more comfortable in a foreign place. In fact, if you want to learn a new language, making small talk is a valuable skill. So we encourage you to take a risk and

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