The Russian soundshiding in plain sight.

Russian pronunciation turns on a difference most learners never learned to hear: hard and soft consonants. брат is a brother, брать is to take. Add moving word stress, and you have what PronounceFit trains for Russian — and how.

SOUNDS

Sounds that trip up Russian learners

Each pair below is a real set from the app. The only difference is a softened consonant — and it’s a different word.

Hard vs soft T
- брат / брать
- быт / быть
- тук / тюк
A soft consonant is said with the tongue raised towards the palate, as if a faint “y” followed. It’s what separates брат (brother) from брать (to take), and быт from быть (to be).
Hard vs soft L
- лук / люк
The hard Russian L is deep and dark; the soft one is light and forward. лук is an onion, люк is a hatch.
Hard vs soft R
- рад / ряд
The same hard/soft split, on the rolled R: рад (glad) and ряд (row) are different words.
Ш vs Щ
- плюш / плющ
Ш is hard and low; Щ is soft and longer. They are two letters because they are two sounds — and two different words.

TRAINING

How PronounceFit trains Russian

Word stress
Russian stress moves, isn’t written, and changes how the vowels sound. A dedicated trainer shows the word split into syllables — with nothing marked — and you put the beat in the right place.
Hard and soft pairs, scored
Hear the hard and soft versions, say them back, and see whether the difference came through.
Real sentences, word by word
Read any Russian text aloud or speak freely; every word comes back marked clear, close or off, and any slip opens in Word Coach.

All of it runs on the same core loop: Learning path · Read & score · Word Coach

Privacy

Your voice stays on your device during normal practice.

During normal practice, audio is analyzed on your device and recordings stay there. If you sign in, your scores, error history and practice progress sync across your devices. Personal texts and their transcripts sync only if you turn that on. A recording is sent only when you explicitly choose a sharing option, such as feedback, a support request or an improvement donation.

Audio analyzed on device
Signed-in progress syncs
Text sync is opt-in
Recording sharing is opt-in

FAQ

Questions about Russian pronunciation

What are hard and soft consonants in Russian?

Most Russian consonants come in two versions: hard, and soft — said with the tongue raised towards the palate. Swapping them changes the word, as in брат (brother) and брать (to take).

How accurate is the feedback for Russian?

Russian is fully supported: the clear / close / off marks and the scores are tuned specifically for Russian.

Does PronounceFit help with Russian stress?

Yes — Russian has a dedicated stress trainer: the word appears split into syllables with no mark, and you place the stress yourself.

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