Something for beginners

[freedomcry.livejournal.com]

An interactive multiple-choice test of your knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Several other alphabets and writing systems are also available.

Comments

[beltspinner.livejournal.com]

if this site is correct, can someone tell me how й equates to the english J?

[belacane.livejournal.com]

yeah i just noticed that.

ha

[this-bugs-4-you.livejournal.com]

was wondering the same...but maybe it equates to a german j?

[belacane.livejournal.com]

In europe, as opposed to america, 'ya', tends to be written as 'ja'

Novoslabodskaya vs. Novoslabodskaja

which makes it a little clearer, but I still wouldn't equate it with a standalone 'j'.
it should be something like 'ji' or 'yi' or something.

[belacane.livejournal.com]

the above comment written in complete disregard to the official system of transliteration.... silly officials!

[freedomcry.livejournal.com]

Either way, it's Novoslobodska[?]a.

Anglocentrism! :-)

[ekeme-ndiba.livejournal.com]

It equates to the plain Latin (as well as, yes, German etc. etc. etc.) "j".

[nyessax.livejournal.com]

I like the format, but it's difficult for someone who was never taught any formal system of transliteration. My teacher avoided teaching us that, so that we would learn Cyrillic thoroughly and not rely on mental transliteration when we read. So I know the sounds, but it doesn't register right away that y = ы while j = й or that punctuation symbols represent ь and ъ, though I would get it if I saw them in full words instead of by themselves. And someone who hasn't been taught this particular system of transliteration and hasn't come across enough transliterated material to pick it up either is going to be lost.

[beltspinner.livejournal.com]

So are you saying that you understand the conversion of j to й?

[nyessax.livejournal.com]

I didn't at first, but I do now after I've looked through some transliterated passages using this system. It's because y is used to represent ы, and it would be very confusing to have y represent both ы and й so it uses j instead, and also ja and jo and ju for я and ё and ю, presumably because j is pronounced like a consonant y in some languages.

[beltspinner.livejournal.com]

well, since I know you didn't make the program, I won't argue with you. But for the record, I think it is ridiculous, since it is translating English to Russian and vice verca

[coldmacana.livejournal.com]

It's not the least be ridiculous. It's a perfectly acceptable translitteration method -- I think it's used in the preferred method in Europe. In the States, we seem to use a different one, where y = BOTH ы and й (so you'd see words like syn AND kayma, where it's used in both capacities). It does make more sense, if you think about it, since it allows you to use a single equivalent rather than having to distinguish between the two.

[bridgetdarcy.livejournal.com]

this is the internationally accepted transliteration. scholarly literature always takes j for й, so if you ever want to find a russian book in a catalogue of a library you'd better get used to that ;)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Hey, English language is not the only one that uses Latin alphabet :) In LATIN j=й, definitely. As well as in German, Finnish, Estonian, Croatian, and several other languages that use the Latin alphabet. Note that there is no such thing as English alphabet, it's Latin.

[this-bugs-4-you.livejournal.com]

and also....a test of your ability to take online tests in german :)