Should I learn Russian without learning alphabet and spellings? Russian words are little difficult to remember for beginners and Russian alphabet have different sounds than English alphabets which is

Abhinav

Should I learn Russian without learning alphabet and spellings?

Russian words are little difficult to remember for beginners and Russian alphabet have different sounds than English alphabets which is making it more difficult to read, and confusing.

So I was thinking what if I learn only by listening not reading.

Will it prove to be a bad decision?

Help me please, Veterans.

May 31, 2020 5:34 PM

Comments · 11

The Cyrillic alphabet isn't really very difficult. I strongly advise that you learn it, otherwise it'll be very difficult to get over the beginner stage. When you read Russian with the Cyrillic alphabet, you're less likely to accidentally pronounce words with English pronunciation.

May 31, 2020

As someone who is learning Ukrainian, which has a similar alphabet, I would strongly recommend that you not skip learning the alphabet. I think you will find that the learning materials, regardless of your end goals, will be limited. Moreover, I find that when I am presented with the Cyrillic form of Ukrainian words together with a phoneticized, latin version, the Cyrillic version is much easier for me to sound out and pronounce correctly.

I would say that the amount of time I had to put into learning the alphabet was very minor in comparison to the time I am needing to learn words, master grammar, etc. It might seem off-putting at first, but I think in the long run you will find that learning the alphabet was well worth it, and ultimately one of the easier aspects of learning the language.

Best of luck!

May 31, 2020

Interesting question....

To learn an alphbt you need 2-3 days

To learn any language from 0 to B2-C1 800-1000 hours good work which is 3 years time

And you want to skip those 3 days?

However , you can use ANY way you want to learn a language .. Why not?

Just to be familiar with some topics ( A1 level) you need only 1-2 months

May 31, 2020

@Abhinav, no, I learned Russian and English as entirely separate entities + they come from different language families, so that never happens. If you're not learning languages that are closely related (Spanish and Italian, for instance) simultaneously then that's nothing to worry about.

Naturally, you WILL make mistakes. It's part of the process. You don't necessarily need to be passionate about literature, but if you're aiming to be fluent then there's just no way around learning to read. As another commenter said, in the grand scheme of things it's only a tiny percentage of the input that's required of you to get to fluency, but it reaps tremendous benefits.

May 31, 2020