Five new letters — read country names

You know 11 letters. Add 5 more and you can decode РОССИЯ, УКРАИНА, БОЛГАРИЯ, МОНГОЛИЯ.

Your current alphabet

Letters you already know (from lessons 1–3):

А   К   М   О   Т   —   В   Н   Р   С   У   Х

Today you add 5 more: И   Я   Л   Б   Г

The five letters

Ии
= "ee" (long i)
Sounds like ie in German Bier, or ee in English see.
Shape: like a backwards N — note the diagonal goes the other way.
Examples: РИМ (Rome) ТАКСИ (taxi)
Яя
= "ya"
Sounds like ja in German — "ya".
Shape: a backwards R. Think "Я = ja" — both start with j/y sounds.
Examples: РЯД (row/rank) РОССИЯ
Лл
= "l"
Like l in Lampe.
Shape: looks like an upside-down V with a flat left leg — like the Greek Λ.
Examples: ЛАМБАЛА НАКАЛ (glow)
Бб
= "b"
Like b in Ball.
Shape: looks like a 6 — or a ъ with a top bar. The tail hangs right, unlike В which is a W shape.
Examples: БАР (bar) БАБА (grandma)
Гг
= "g" (hard)
Like g in gut — always hard, never like English "George".
Shape: like the Greek Γ (Gamma) — an upside-down L.
Examples: ГАЗ (gas) НАГАН (Nagan)
Tip: И vs. Н — these look similar. The difference: И has the diagonal going bottom-left to top-right (╲ style but mirrored). Н is a straight crossbar in the middle, like H. When in doubt, look at where the crossbar sits — middle = Н, diagonal = И.

Country names unlocked

With your 16 letters (11 old + 5 new) you can now sound out these Cyrillic-script countries:

РОССИЯ
ras-SI-ya
Russia — new letters: И, Я
УКРАИНА
uk-RA-i-na
Ukraine — new letter: И
БОЛГАРИЯ
bol-GA-ri-ya
Bulgaria — all 5 new letters!
МОНГОЛИЯ
mon-GO-li-ya
Mongolia — new letters: Г, Л, И, Я
СЕРБИЯ
SER-bi-ya
Serbia — new letters: И, Я
Note: Б was already covered — it's И and Я doing the work here
МАКГЛ...
КАЗАХСТАН
ka-zakh-STAN
Kazakhstan — almost all letters known (З and Ь are still ahead)

Yellow letters = the new ones from today's lesson. White = letters you already knew.

Quiz — identify the letter

Read each word and answer the question. Click 🔊 to hear it spoken.

Word reading — sound it out

All 16 letters you know are in play. Sound out each word before revealing. Space to reveal, 1/2/3 to score.

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