Learning cyrilic

[Hedonologist]

How long did it take everyone here to learn Cyrillic? It took me about 3 weeks in total, but that was with minimal effort and poor technique. I find Cyrillic to be the easiest foreign script to learn, even perhaps more so than Greek. It's a shame how off putting Cyrillic is to new potential Russian learners who seem to assume it would be extremely difficult.

[Meera]

Are there any sites online that teach Cyrillic for free? It would be a very useful script to learn. 

[russian_pianist]

Hello,

There are quite a few web-sites where you can find helpful info on learning Cyrillic alphabet.

Here are some of them:

http://learn-cyrillic.ehpes.com/

http://www.russianforfree.com/lessons-how-to-read-in-russian-01.php

http://www.russianforfree.com/lessons-how-to-read-in-russian-01.php

Good luck!

[russian_pianist]

Привет.

Как жизнь?

Not sure, why Cyrillic alphabet may seem off-putting to someone starting to learn Russian. Are the letters really that difficult? They are very simple to write, not that difficult to pronounce, especially if you have someone to show you "where your tongue actually goes and how your lips are supposed to move" to produce the sound.

Think of the letters as keys to a cypher and you'll find them fascinating to learn.

Try scribbling the letters on a piece of paper, on a side-walk with a chalk in the summer, on the sand by the sea (kidding, it is freeezing where I live, so I can't help but think about warm seas and sandy beaches) and the letters will be forever imprinted on your memory.

Удачи!= Good luck!