Russian
sounds
lesson 5. Letter Й
In today’s lesson, you will learn how to pronounce the sound of the letter Й. There can be three positions of the letter Й.
1. Before a vowel, it is pronounced as [y] in words like ‘yogurt’, ‘yet’, and ‘yank’.
2. After a vowel, it sounds like [y] in ‘boy’ or ‘toy’.
3. Between two vowels, it is like [y] in the word ‘coyote’.
Repeat after me: МАЙ (May), БОЙ (Battle), ЙОТА (Iota), КОЙОТ (Coyote).
Now practice with the audio exercise. We will need this sound in the next lesson, so be sure you understand it before moving on.
Do you feel the difference? Now go to the exercises, please.
Lesson 5 – Listen and repeat
Listen and repeat:
И – Й, И – Й, И – Й;
МАЙ – МАЙ – МАЙ, БОЙ – БОЙ – БОЙ, ВОЙ – ВОЙ – ВОЙ, ПОЙ – ПОЙ – ПОЙ, ЙОТА – ЙОТА – ЙОТА, ЙО-ЙО – ЙО-ЙО – ЙО-ЙО, КОЙОТ – КОЙОТ – КОЙОТ.