In the pronunciation of the vowel Ы the bulk of the tongue is retracted from the front teeth while the back of the tongue is raised. The lips are passive, motionless.

Read these vowels. Watch the position of the tongue and the lips.

а - ы	  а - и - ы	        а-о-у-ы-и-э-а
а - у -ы      а - э - и - ы	        а-э-и-ы-у-о-а

Russian Pronunciation wilth Lubov

Vowel Ы Training. Listen and repeat.

After consonants, the vowel letter pairs а/я, э/е, о/ё, ы/и, and у/ю represent 
essentially the same vowel sound. Their only difference is that the letters in the bottom 
row tell you that the preceding consonant is palatalized, or soft.*

HARD CONSONANTS             SOFT CONSONANTS

Да-да! - Oh yes!                       дядя - uncle 
мэр - mayor                             мер - of measures 
быт - daily life                          бит - computer bit 
живот - belly                            живёт - he/she lives 
музыка - music                        мюзикл - musical (show)

* a palatalized consonant is pronounced with the blade of the tongue pressed up 
against the hard palate, it sounds like a consonant plus the [y] sound of “yes” pronounced at the exact same time.

HARD / SOFT CONSONANTS PRACTICE. Живот Или Живёт? Listen and Repeat.

Let’s work on our pronunciation today and explore the peculiar world of Russian tongue-twisters.  This one is a great way to check if you’re getting your sh [ш] and s [с] right.

Шла Саша по шоссе и сосала сушку.

[Shla Sasha po shosseh i sosala sushku]

English translation: Sasha was walking on the highway sucking on a sushka.

Can You Pronounce This Well-Known Russian Tongue-Twister? Listen and Repeat.

A palatalized consonant is pronounced with the blade of the tongue pressed up against the hard palate. A palatalized consonant sounds like a consonant plus the [y] sound of “yes” pronounced at the exact same time. The letter ь ( мягкий знак ) indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized.

In addition to ь, the vowel letters е, ё, и, ю, and я also indicate that the preceding 
consonant is palatalized. 

на - ня
но - нё
ну - ню
ны - ни
нэ - не
нь

ма - мя
мо - мё
му - мю
мы - ми
мэ - ме
мь

да - дя
до - дё
ду - дю
ды - ди
дэ - де
дь

та - тя
то - тё
ту - тю
ты - ти
тэ - те
ть
