The Russian alphabet, called the Cyrillic alphabet, is your first step to reading and speaking the language. It might look intimidating, but it's more familiar than you think. It has 33 letters. Some look and sound just like their English counterparts, some look familiar but have a different sound, and a few are completely new.

Let's break the alphabet down into groups to make it easier to learn.

This first group is easy. These letters look and sound almost exactly like letters you already know.

Be careful with this next group. These letters look like English letters, but they make completely different sounds. This is where most beginners trip up.

These letters look brand new, but their sounds exist in English. You just need to connect the new shape to a sound you already know.

This final group contains letters with shapes and sounds that might be totally new to you. Don't worry, they're not as difficult as they seem.

Finally, there are two letters that have no sound at all. They're called "signs."

The hard and soft signs change how other letters are pronounced. You'll get the hang of them as you start reading more Russian words.

Just like in English, Russian has both printed and cursive forms. Some cursive letters look quite different from their printed versions. For example, the printed letter т looks like a T, but the cursive form т looks like a lowercase English m.

Don't feel pressured to master cursive right away. Start by getting comfortable with the printed letters first. As you progress, you'll naturally start recognizing the handwritten forms.

Ready to test your knowledge? Let's see how well you remember these new letters.

Learning a new alphabet is a huge step. Keep practicing, and soon reading Russian will feel natural.