Russian has exactly twice as many vowels as English. Four vowels (а [a], э [e], о [o], у [u]) have iotated equivalents, which means that there is a vowel that makes the same sound but with a y-like sound at the beginning (я [ya], е [ye], ' [yo], ю [yu]). The other two vowels, и and ы, are also related to each other, but not in the same way; и is pronounced like the "i" in machine. Ы has a pronunciation not found in the English language: it is transcribed as y, and is somewhat like the "i" in "it," but you will need to hear this letter pronounced aloud to produce it correctly (see Resources below).
Most of the consonants in the Russian alphabet are simple for English speakers to pronounce. These include: 'б (b), 'в (v), Гг (g), "д (d), ---з (z), Йй (y as a consonant), Кк (k), Лл (l), Мм (m), Нн (n), Пп (p), Рр (rolled r), Сс (s), Тт (t), Фф (f), Цц (ts), Чч (ch as in "chair") and Шш (sh). Гг is pronounced "v" in genitive case endings (as in ...орошего, "of the good") and in some common words like today (сегодня) and his (его) that are based on genitive constructions (сегодня literally means "of this day." while его literally means "of him"). Other exceptions will be discussed in the section "Devoicing."
Russian has three consonants it may be difficult for speakers of English to pronounce. These are --ж, Х... and Щщ. --ж is pronounced like the "s" in "measure" and is normally transcribed as zh. Х... is pronounced like the "ch" of the Scottish word "loch" and may be transcribed as kh to avoid confusion with Чч. Щщ is pronounced somewhat like the "shch" in "fresh cheese," although there is a lot of regional variation in the pronunciation of this letter, ranging from "sht" to "shsh."
Russian has two more consonants that will be totally unfamiliar to the speaker of English. These are Ьь (мягкий знак--myagkiy znak, meaning soft sign) and Ъъ (тв'рдый знак--tvyordyy znak, meaning hard sign); these letters are silent on their own but affect the way other letters are pronounced. Ьь, as you might guess from its name, softens (specifically, palatalizes) the consonant before it. The difference between palatalized and unpalatalized letters in Russian is very important: for instance, the word for mother is мать (with a soft, palatalized t sound), while the word for profanity is мат (with a hard, unpalatalized t sound). Ъъ is a fairly rare letter, but indicates that the consonant before it is not palatalized even though it normally would be. It appears mostly in verbs of motion that begin with a vowel to which a prefix that ends in a consonant has been added (for instance, объе...ать, "to go around"). Ъъ does create some important differences in Russian: it is, for instance, what separates the pronunciations of сесть (to sit down) and съесть (to eat all of something).
Almost every Russian word has only one stressed syllable (with some exceptions for very long words or compound words) and therefore only one stressed vowel. Only a stressed vowel receives its full pronunciation value in Russian; all others are shortened. This especially affects the vowels Аа, Ее, Ии, Оо, Ыы and Яя. Aa is shortened to "uh" (like the second "a" in "mama") in unstressed positions. Ее commonly loses its y-like initial sound (unless it is the first letter in a word) and is shortened to the "i" in "machine" in unstressed positions. Ии is often pronounced like the "i" in "it" in unstressed positions. Оо is the most dramatically affected vowel, and its pronunciations in unstressed positions vary between ah and uh; the classic example of this is the word ...орошо (well), which contains only о as a vowel but is pronounced "khah-ruh-shoh." Ыы is either pronounced simply shorter or as the "i" in "it" but never as the "i" in "machine" in unstressed syllables. Яя varies in pronunciation in unstressed positions between Ее and Ии. Ээ is almost always pronounced "eh" no matter what position it is in, as are Уу and Юю. Ё' is always stressed, so it has no short equivalent. Because of vowel shortening, it is very important to know where the stress in a Russian word is to pronounce it correctly.
Consonants in Russian are highly influenced by their environments and may either become voiced or unvoiced based on their location within a word or phrase. (When pronouncing a voiced consonant, you feel your vocal cords vibrate, whereas you do not when pronouncing an unvoiced consonant.) At the end of a word, the voiced consonants ', ', Г, ", -- and --- are pronounced like their unvoiced equivalents: П, Ф, К, Т, Ш and C. This same effect can be seen within words: for instance, the word второй (second) is pronounced фторой because the voiced consonant в is followed by the voiceless consonant т. Though less common, unvoiced consonants can also be voiced when followed by a voiced consonant, as in the verb for "to give back," отдать (pronounced оддать).