Ж = zh 🕷️ Ш = sh 🍴 Щ = shch Ю = yu Я = ya

Ж is a beetle with legs. Ш is a fork with three prongs. Nothing here can trick you, because nothing here pretends.

🎒 What you need

sand or chalk
a stick
somebody to show off to

✋ Do this

Draw Ж really big. It is a beetle with three legs each side. Its sound is the 'zh' in 'measure' or 'treasure'. Buzz it: zhzhzh.
Draw Ш. It is a fork with three prongs, or a bench. Its sound is 'sh'. Now draw Щ — the same fork with a little tail — and say 'shch'.
Draw Я. It is a backwards R and it says 'ya'. It is also a whole word by itself: я means 'I'. Point at your chest and say я.
Draw Ю. It says 'yu'. Write Ю Г — юг — and read it: yug. It means south.
Write ШКОЛА in the sand using your new letters and your old ones. Read it: shkola. School. Then write ЖИРАФ — zhiraf — giraffe.
Bring someone outside, point at your two words, and read them aloud without help.

💡 Why it works

Strange shapes stick because your memory has nothing to confuse them with. That is why the letters that look most alarming turn out to be the fastest to learn, and why grouping them separately from the tricksters stops the two problems tangling together.

🔥 Challenge

Write your own name in Cyrillic in the sand. Sound out every letter. Then write your friend's name and let them approve it.

📖 New words

школа shkolaschool

жираф zhirafgiraffe

щенок shchenokpuppy

я yaI

юг yugsouth

мы mywe

🪲

Beetle Letter

Tap when you have finished this module.