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Introduction to Ukrainian language and culture
Introduction to Ukrainian language and culture

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4.1 Let’s learn the vowels!

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Audio 25
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Audio 25 transcript

There are 6 vowels in Ukrainian: а, о, у, е, і, и.

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Audio 26
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Let’s look at the letters more closely

The Ukrainian letter y looks like the lower-case English letter y, but it is a false friend. In Ukrainian it indicates sound oo. Now listen to the sound again. It is the same sound as in the English word ‘book.’ The last of the vowels looks like a mirror reflection of upper-case N in English, but in fact it is a vowel. Listen to this sound again and repeat after me: и and once again и. There is no exact equivalent in English, but it is close to ‘i’ in ‘sit.’

Activity 9: Listen and repeat

Timing: 10 minutes

Listen and repeat to train your face muscles for the pronunciation. Read the table at the same time. You will hear the sounds read in columns.

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Listen and repeat to train your face muscles for the pronunciation. Read the table at the same time. You will hear the sounds read in columns.

Audio 27 transcript
To practise a To practise o To practise y To practise e To practise i To practise и
а – о – а о – а – о у – а – у е – а – е і – а – і и – а – и
а – у – а о – у – о у – о – а е – о – е і – о – і и – о – и
а – е – а о – е – о у – е – у е – у – е і – у – і и – у – и
а – і – а о – і – о у – і – у е – і – е і – е – і и – е – и
а – и – а о – и – о у – и – у е– и – е і – и – і и – і – и

Answer

You can hear the pronunciation on the recording and there is a written version in the transcript.

Activity 10: Can you hear the difference?

Timing: 15 minutes

Listen attentively. Can you hear the difference? Repeat after me.

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Audio 28 transcript

Listen attentively. Can you hear the difference? Repeat after me.

Ти – тут, ви – звуть. Ty – tut, vy – zvut.

Well done if you spotted the difference between у and и!

Answer

You can hear the pronunciation on the recording and there is a written version in the transcript.