5 Keys to Russian Pronunciation [ Day 2 of a 4-Semester College Course in Russian ]

Today's video is a bit longer than I'd prefer, but there's a lot to cover — five concepts that are key to mastering Russian pronunciation: 1) Vowel purity, 2) Stress, 3) Vowel reduction, 4) Devoicing of consonants, and 5) Softening of consonants. Of course, we can't expect to truly master all of this overnight... some of it will take a lot of practice. The important thing is to be aware of these issues so that you'll know what to work on!

Leave any questions about today's content in the comments.

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To see these lessons in order, and for accompanying grammar exercises and conversational activities, visit:

For grammar exercises, conversational materials, and blogs on late Soviet (and post-Soviet) rock, classical music, poetry, and film, check out:

This video accompanies the textbook "Russian Through Propaganda, Book 1," available from Amazon and other retailers in multiple countries.

Your host, Mark Pettus, holds a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literature from Princeton University, where he now teaches Russian, Polish, and Czech (and occasionally Church Slavonic), as well as a survey of Eastern European literature.

[chancejohnson]

Thanks so much for the videos and books!! I stumbled across your books and it's been a life saver for me, as I cannot afford Russian tutoring lessons. It's a very challenging language but you make it accessible and fun. I have had so much fun learning Russian ever since I found your books and I think it's unique and creative that you have accompanying video lessons. I would like to share with you that I have a deeper understanding of books like the Gulag Archipelago and I am now able to speak with native Russian speakers at a conversational level. Thanks again!!

[celticrasta]

Доброе утро,
Thanks very much for all your very detailed videos;
1 question regarding the "о" pronunciation at 6:10, though :

I really hear a kind of [Oa] sound (with a very short “a” sound at the end, thus) instead of a pure [o] (or [ɔ]) when you pronounce the 2 samples words кто and метро and, strangely enough, you never refer to this kind of diphthong/double sounds, although you are just explaining that, in English, these "o" are not as "pure" as in Russian …
Am I dreaming hearing this short "a" after the "o" sound ?
Could you clarify this point ?
Спасибо

[emptinessatethewitch]

i'm so glad i found your channel! i stopped studying for a few weeks after the decision to learn russian because the channel i was learning from wasn't that good. you've reignited my interest to learn because you explain things easily and don't overlook things that seem unimportant. you create good habits for a beginner.

[blindknitter]

Just for your interest, in Irish we have 'broad and slender' consonants, which coincide closely to the Russian system, so it's much easier for us to make the distinctions as to hard and soft consonants; we just use a different term for it.

[elianamckee]

Great as lesson 1. Following with his book is great!!❤️

[dfnkt]

Great timing, my first book just arrived on Friday. I've been taking lessons since February but I have a particular interest in the history behind propaganda posters.

[blindknitter]

I'm glad I decided to watch these, despite 'knowing' the alphabet - you've really helped my pronunciation. Wish I'd been able to learn with these from scratch.

[MathwithMing]

Thanks for uploading two videos a day. A little issue: is this video only in 360p? It’s still watchable but the previous video has better resolution.

[LHCb]

Is с in стихи not soft as it "borrows" softness from the т? Are there regional differences in this?