Cyrillic begins: А, К, М, О and Т

Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, with thirty-three letters. Begin with А, К, М, О and Т, which look familiar to readers of Latin print. Be careful: later letters such as В and Р look Latin but have different sounds. Learn the Cyrillic letter and the word it helps write.

The tracing guides use print capitals for clarity. Ordinary Russian words normally use lowercase, while names and sentence beginnings use capitals. Read мама, там, кот and том from their Cyrillic spelling after listening. The English sound guides are approximate aids: capitals in those guides indicate stress, and the actual Russian audio is the better sound model.

Learn the stressed syllable, the one that stands out, with each Russian word. In мама, the first syllable is stronger: MA-ma. Ordinary Russian writing usually leaves stress unmarked, so the lesson’s written targets use normal spelling. In your own study notes, you can add a temporary stress mark, but keep it separate from the required letters. Listen before copying: an unstressed vowel can sound different from its letter name.

Watch each print model, trace it twice, then write it with the outline hidden. Keep a common baseline and a clear gap between words. On paper, copy мама and кот in lowercase, then reproduce one from memory. Your handwriting can differ a little from the model as long as each letter is clear. A photo of your paper shows the finished letters, but it cannot show your stroke order.