How to Learn the Cyrillic Alphabet

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Whether you're planning to study Russian or just hoping to read some street signs on your trip to Bulgaria, knowing the Cyrillic alphabet is definitely useful. At 33 letters, the Cyrillic alphabet may be a little longer than the Latin one, but even so it only takes most people a few days to learn the Cyrillic alphabet in printed form and bit longer for cursive.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

A copy of the printed Cyrillic alphabet
A copy of the cursive Cyrillic alphabet
Reading material in printed Cyrillic
Reading material in handwritten Cyrillic

Step1

Get a copy of the printed Cyrillic alphabet and learn how each letter is pronounced. Use language learning tapes or look for recordings online to help you learn the sounds of the Cyrillic alphabet. Russian and other languages using this alphabet have a few sounds not used in English and it's hard to pronounce these sounds correctly based on descriptions in a book.

Step2

Transliterate from Latin to Cyrillic. Find some words in the language you're studying, whether it's Russian, Bulgarian or Uzbek, that have been written in Latin letters. Write those words using the printed Cyrillic alphabet. Check your spelling in the dictionary. Because words in your native language may not use the same sounds as the language you're learning, trying to spell them with Cyrillic letters may only confuse you.

Step3

Start reading printed Cyrillic. Grab a newspaper, print out a web page or otherwise get your hands on some reading material in your target language and start practicing. Have your list of Cyrillic letters and equivalent Latin letters handy so you can look up letters you forget. It may be slow going at first, but you'll quickly pick up speed.

Step4

Learn to read cursive Cyrillic handwriting. Get a copy of the Cyrillic alphabet in handwritten cursive. You'll also need a sample of handwriting, such as a letter, to show you how the letters are connected. Find something handwritten in Cyrillic and practice reading the same way you did with the printed alphabet.

Step5

Learn to write cursive Cyrillic. Practice your handwriting by writing out any printed text that appeals to you or by just writing your own thoughts. As you write, make sure you're connecting the letters correctly. Joining letters incorrectly can make your handwriting hard to read and you could even end up writing a completely different word from the one you wanted.

Step6

Practice reading and writing faster. If you're going to Russia or another country that uses the Cyrillic alphabet, you'll need to learn the alphabet well enough to read signs on passing busses, quickly jot down information and do other everyday reading and writing. Flash cards and dictation are 2 good ways to increase your reading and writing speed.

Tips & Warnings

Remember that some languages use a modified version of the Cyrillic alphabet. Just because you can read the Russian alphabet, that doesn't mean you can read Kyrgyz Cyrillic correctly. If you're learning one of these languages, be sure to learn that language's own variant of the Cyrillic alphabet.
Don't assume Cyrillic letters that look similar to Latin letters have the same sounds. The Cyrillic letter "P," for example, makes the sound of the Latin letter "R."
Handwriting examples in text books are usually a lot neater than most real life handwriting. If you have a friend who speaks the language you're studying, ask if they can write out a few paragraphs for you so you can practice with the real thing.