Part of the series (of very dubious usefulness) on getting a Russian accent if you don't already have one
Rule 3. Keep aspiration to a minimum. For instance, if you're aspiring to have a good Russian accent by reading this blog, forget about it! Har har har. But seriously, Russian-accented English should just not be breathy. The classic example in English is the difference between the "p" in pin (/pʰɪn/) and spin (/spɪn/). This example is slightly confusing for me, because I pronounce the two very similarly, and many other westcoasters do, even if they aren't Russian. I think take (/tʰɛɪk/) and steak (/stɛɪk/) is more clear. A Russian, then, would pronounce take as [teɪk], like an s-less steak. Try to de-aspirate word-initial "t", "ch", "k", "p" and word-final "p" and "t". A side benefit of making everything unaspirated is that you will find it hard to pronounce word-initial θ, as I think most people aspirate it (albeit only slightly). There, you're sounding more Russian already.
Rule 3. Keep aspiration to a minimum. For instance, if you're aspiring to have a good Russian accent by reading this blog, forget about it! Har har har. But seriously, Russian-accented English should just not be breathy. The classic example in English is the difference between the "p" in pin (/pʰɪn/) and spin (/spɪn/). This example is slightly confusing for me, because I pronounce the two very similarly, and many other westcoasters do, even if they aren't Russian. I think take (/tʰɛɪk/) and steak (/stɛɪk/) is more clear. A Russian, then, would pronounce take as [teɪk], like an s-less steak. Try to de-aspirate word-initial "t", "ch", "k", "p" and word-final "p" and "t". A side benefit of making everything unaspirated is that you will find it hard to pronounce word-initial θ, as I think most people aspirate it (albeit only slightly). There, you're sounding more Russian already.
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