Mnemonics for learning Russian alphabet (Cyrillic)?

Question

I'm looking for resources that use mnemonics for the Cyrillic script, so I can learn the writing system in less time.

There are several Cyrillic alphabets, but I am only interested in the Russian alphabet.

Are any such resources available? Digital or in print?

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 26 '17 at 14:29

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Learn to Read Russian in 15 Minutes by Peter Starr Northrop and Ryan Estrada uses a number of mnemonics. For example,

Д is a dancer,
Р is an R with a leg ripped off,
П is a podium that makes a p sound, etcetera.

The page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike licence (CC BY-NC-SA).

answered Sep 26 '17 at 14:29

Tsundoku

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It's a very good resource in an excellent style, but it has a couple of typos. 1. Russian "туй" is pronounced as "tooy", not "twee". 2. Mickey (as in Mickey Mouse) is typically spelled and pronounced as "микки", not "мыки". – Vitaly Sep 27 '17 at 21:50
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@Vitaly Thanks for pointing that out. Would you be willing to contact the creator of that resource? – Tsundoku Sep 28 '17 at 18:41
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I emailed the author. – Vitaly Sep 29 '17 at 13:12
@Vitaly Great! Thanks. – Tsundoku Sep 29 '17 at 14:40

JBentley · Answer 2 · 2017-09-30T02:11:13.983

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Memrise has several courses that focus solely on the Russian alphabet and provides mnemonics plus the ability to add your own. Some are better than others so I suggest trying a few briefly before you settle on one that you like.

The "Speed Review" feature is also particularly suited to learning alphabets. You can learn the whole alphabet very fast just by running that a bunch of times.

edited Sep 30 '17 at 02:11

answered Sep 27 '17 at 18:44

JBentley

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Robert Columbia · Answer 3 · 2017-09-29T12:52:13.987

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I had previously learned the Greek alphabet before learning the Cyrillic one. Being able to mentally map Cyrillic letters to their corresponding Greek ones was helpful to me.

Г = Γ
Д = Δ
Л = Λ
П = Π
Р = Ρ
С = Σ
У = Υ
Ф = Φ
Х = Χ

If you see the Cyrillic С not as a weird version of the Roman C that somehow always sounds like an S, but see it as a Greek Sigma (Σ) that has been transformed from bent to curved, you are likely to remember it a bit better. Likewise, the Greek Delta (Δ) and Lambda (Λ) have been fancied out in Cyrillic by adding top bars that do not change the pronunciation of the character.

edited Sep 29 '17 at 12:52

answered Sep 29 '17 at 12:42

Robert Columbia

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Also, C is an alternative form for Sigma in Greek, called a lunate sigma, because of its crescent shape. – Casey Rodarmor Sep 12 '21 at 13:34
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This is the way. Most of us are already familiar with the Greek alphabet after math classes, so that's an excellent starting point. – Trang Oul Oct 18 '23 at 20:16

Mnemonics for learning Russian alphabet (Cyrillic)?

3 Answers3