/s//ʂ/
сокшок
Learn to hear the difference between s and ʂ in Russian words.
CHOOSE A SOUND
Russian contrasts.
Start with a difference you find hard to hear. Words stay hidden during practice until you choose to show them.
Browse the examples below, then listen to A and B and match their target sound in a different word, X.
Practice
/d//t/
домтом
Learn to hear the difference between d and t in Russian words.
/b//p/
бакпар
Learn to hear the difference between b and p in Russian words.
/o//u/
столстул
Learn to hear the difference between o and u in Russian words.
/l//lʲ/
столсоль
Learn to hear the difference between l and lʲ in Russian words.
/n//nʲ/
сонконь
Learn to hear the difference between n and nʲ in Russian words.
/t//tʲ/
матмать
Learn to hear the difference between t and tʲ in Russian words.
/s//sʲ/
носось
Learn to hear the difference between s and sʲ in Russian words.
/r//rʲ/
жардверь
Learn to hear the difference between r and rʲ in Russian words.
/ɨ//i/
мылмил
A pedagogically important sound comparison omitted from the first pack. Non-native perception research directly examines this sound distinction.
/a//o/
бакбок
Adds the central low versus mid-back stressed-vowel comparison with plain consonants on both sides.
/i//e/
милмел
Separates two front vowels while keeping preceding consonants palatalized in both categories.
/ɨ//u/
мылмул
Adds unrounded versus rounded high-vowel comparison while retaining plain onsets and codas.
A CLOSER LISTEN
What is a
minimal pair?
Two words form a minimal pair when one sound difference changes the word. Keeping the surrounding sounds the same gives you a specific difference to listen for.
Some lessons focus on tone or word stress instead of a single consonant or vowel. We label those separately, so you know what each exercise is testing.
In the exercise, listen to A and B, then a different word X. Choose the reference that shares the target sound, tone, stress or consonant feature. Words and IPA stay hidden unless you enable text hints, including after answering; you can replay the audio whenever you need it.
Read about the learning approach