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False Friends

📖 Lesson 2 of 5 ⏱ ~12 min 🎯 6 letters
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The trap

Six Cyrillic letters look almost identical to Latin letters — but make completely different sounds. These are the #1 cause of misreading Cyrillic. Knowing them turns garbled signs into readable words.

From Lesson 1 you already know these letters (they were the safe ones):

А
К
М
О
Т
В
Н
Р
С
У
Х

Grey = Lesson 1 (known). Blue = today's 6 false friends.

The 6 impostors

trap!
В
в
looks like: B / b
"V"
like "v" in victory DE: wie in Wasser, Vater
trap!
Н
н
looks like: H / h
"N"
like "n" in north DE: wie in Nacht, Nein
trap!
Р
р
looks like: P / p
"R"
rolled R — like Spanish rr DE: wie in Rad (gerollt)
trap!
С
с
looks like: C / c
"S"
always like "s" in sun — never soft-C DE: wie in Sonne
trap!
У
у
looks like: Y / y
"OO"
like "oo" in boot DE: wie in Uhr, Buch
trap!
Х
х
looks like: X / x
"KH"
like "ch" in Bach or Nacht DE: wie in Bach, Nacht
Letter Looks like → Actually sounds like → German anchor
В B V Wasser, Vater
Н H N Nacht, Nein
Р P R Rad (gerollt)
С C S Sonne
У Y OO (U) Uhr, Buch
Х X KH (Bach-ch) Bach, Nacht

Drill — flash the letters

A letter appears. Ignore what it looks like. Think of its actual sound, then reveal.

0 of 0 correct
What sound does this make?
В

Word challenge — you know 11 letters now

With your 5 true friends + today's 6, you can read these real place names. Sound each one out before tapping.

МОСКВА
САМАРА
МУРМАНСК
АСТАНА
НАРВА
КУРСК
ВОРОН
ХАОС
ВОСТОК
СТРАНА
ТРАКТОР
МОТОР
САХАР
МОНАХ
КАКТУС
МУРМАНСК
МОНСТР
GeoGuessr tip: МОСКВА on any sign = Russia. АСТАНА = Kazakhstan. НАРВА = likely Estonia/Russia border zone. You just unlocked real location clues with only 11 letters.
🎉
Lesson complete!

Word reading round

You know 11 letters — enough to decode real Russian words. Sound each one out before revealing.

0 of 0 correct
What does this say?
Think before revealing…
Space / Enter to reveal
0
Got it
0
Almost
0
Missed
📚 Lesson 2 · Cyrillic False Friends ← Lesson 1 Full alphabet reference → Lesson 3: Vowel Reduction →
Ask your teacher anything. Confused about a letter or a word? Ask a follow-up in the chat — your teacher (Claude) can clarify any sound, give more examples, or test you further.