
Russian Alphabet
COURSE
Listening
It's the first day of a beauty trade fair that Anna and Ella are attending in Moscow. As they are chatting, Anna spots an old friend. Listen to the dialogue and just get your ear tuned to the way Russian sounds.
If you can pick up on any word, that’s great but there is no need to understand everything at this point.
Vocabulary
Listen to the recording and repeat the words and phrases you hear. It's important to say them out loud to train your vocal cords to pronounce the sounds they aren't used to.
Speaking
Listen to the dialogue again. Now you should be able to understand much more clearly what’s being said. Then take part in the dialogue yourself. Remember: you learn to speak by speaking!
Grammar
You’re probably familiar with the concept of cases in Russian. Each case shows the role that a word plays in a sentence: who or what performs the action, where the action takes place, or the means by which the action is performed and etc. There are 6 cases and even more word endings to learn.
The use of incorrect endings won’t stand in the way of your communication with Russians - you will be still perfectly understood. However, for those of you who want to sound professional and speak ‘good’ Russian, here’s a grammar refresher on the Accusative and Prepositional cases.
For an extensive review of all 6 cases please check my blog here.

РУССКИЕ ЛИДЕРЫ!
Catherine the Great
1729 - 1796
The woman who turned Russia
into an empire
She was born in Prussia and spoke German.
She also had the wrong name.
That didn't stop her from learning Russian, joining the Russian orthodox church, and eventually becoming the greatest ruler of Russia.
Share your thoughts
I hope you enjoyed the lesson. There are other students on this course who, like you, are learning Business Russian so don't be shy and say hi.
In the comments below, you can share your thoughts on what you have learnt in this lesson and how this can be useful in your job.
It's a good exercise to practise your writing skills in Russian but English is just as welcome!