I think that you need to memorize phrases and not just words. But do not try to read Russian words into English transliteration. Look at how it's hard to pronounce. http://youtu.be/LaVKwKlg5Gs

I make flashcards on Cram.com. You can test yourself and play games. So far that is one of my favorite methods that I believe works. Удачи!

1) You can try soft for making flashcards like anki. 2) Try machanical memorizing (repeating words, writing them several times, making cards and learning the words in public transport for example), making lists and checking words from the lists every period of time, making sentences with the words you need to learn. The important thing is that you need to rewise things in equal periods of time. It's better to learn words 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the afternoon, 10 minutes in the evening, not half an hour in the morning and then forget about them for the rest of the daytime. So, practise regularly. 3) When I learn Japanese, it helps me to say the words that I need to learn, imagining I'm talking to somebody. :) It may sound a little bit crazy, but if you imagine a situation in which you can need this words, and say a sentence with the word, it will be also helpful for your pronunciation and intonation. And when you need to use the word in real situation, it will be more natural to say it as you already did. 4) There are memorising methods, you can find them on the net, they are called mnemonics. For example, if the word sounds completely rubbish, very strange, you need to find a silly idea for it. The more unexpected and senseless the better. A bed is __"кровать"__ = __craw: "what?!"___ (a CRAW said WHAT when she was goind to BED because it was too early to sleep) Something like that. You have to find your own method. Which way is easier for you to memorize things - when you look at them, hear them or write them? If you can't memorise how to write letters, try to find the word in your language that can help. For example, I couldn't learn how to write "sa" in Japanese - さ or　ち. But I remembered, that "き" [ki] looks left. There's a word in Russian "киса" (kitty) - in Japanese it would be きさ　[kisa]. So a kitty looks left. That way I could learn which way to write it. Hope it helps! Good luck!

it so difficult question for native speaker). I have similar problem with english words. Maybe can i help you with that?