If you are familiar with the concept of hard and soft consonants (or palatalized and non-palatalized), Ш is a hard consonant, and Щ is soft. Ш sounds harder than the English "sh", and you need to put the tip of your tongue slightly further back than for "sh". Try searching forvo.com for such words as шапка, шуба, шнур. Щ, on the other hand is softer than "sh", but more intense, and you need to move the tip of your tongue more forward. Search forvo.com for щука, щель, щипцы. Also try listening to the following pairs side by side: шапка - счастье ("сч" gives the same sound as "щ") шерсть - щель ширма - щит шорох - щёлочь шум - щуплый

I'm not Russian, but the way i see it with щ you are actually pronouncing "sh" and then "ch" (shch) very similar to a long "shhhh"

Those are two different sounds so you should pronounce them differently. Strictly speaking, they do not have an exact equivalent in English. Wikipedia has a detailed explanation on IPA phonology: ш – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_retroflex_fricative щ – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_alveolo-palatal_fricative English /ʃ/ – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_postalveolar_fricative Here's a video you might find helpful: https://youtu.be/zltpo15toe0?t=7m58s

You should pronounce them differently. But may I ask a question first? Do you tell the difference between palatalized and non-palatalized consonants? What about the first sound in these words: был - бил (б - бь), выл - вил (в - вь), мама - мята (м - мь), мода - мёд (м - мь again), рука - рюмка (р - рь), сэр - сера (с - сь), etc.? Are they different for you (in each pair)?