Russian
sounds
lesson 10. ‘hissing’ COnsonants Ч and Щ
Russian consonants Щ and Ч are softer than in English. Remember about the “smiling” trick.
Ч [ch] – Russian Ч sounds like CH in ‘church’. Try Russian words ЧАС, ЧУТЬ, ТУЧА.
Щ [shch] – There is no equivalent in English. However, this sound is much easier for English speakers than, for example, Ш. The old trick to understand this sound is to say ‘fresh chicken’, and this combination of SH+CH somewhat resembles Russian Щ. Try words ТЁЩА, ЕЩЁ.
As for softness and hardness, everything is simple here – they both are ALWAYS soft. Even if a hard vowel follows Ч and Щ, they stay soft.
Look at these examples:
ЧАСТЬ, ЧУТЬ-ЧУТЬ, ЧАЩА, ЩУКА. Now practice with the exercises below.
Lesson 10 – Listen and repeat
Exercise: Listen and repeat:
ЧАС, ЧАС, ЧАС; ЧУТЬ, ЧУТЬ, ЧУТЬ; ЧЕК, ЧЕК, ЧЕК; ТУЧА, ТУЧА, ТУЧА; ЧАСТЬ, ЧАСТЬ, ЧАСТЬ; ЧЕПЕЦ, ЧЕПЕЦ, ЧЕПЕЦ; САЧОК, САЧОК, САЧОК; ПОЧТА, ПОЧТА, ПОЧТА; ЧАЩА, ЧАЩА, ЧАЩА; ЩУКА, ЩУКА, ЩУКА; ЩЕКА, ЩЕКА, ЩЕКА; ЩИ, ЩИ, ЩИ; ЩЁТКА, ЩЁТКА, ЩЁТКА; ЩЕКОТКА, ЩЕКОТКА, ЩЕКОТКА.