Listen carefully as your instructor reads the following pairs aloud. Try to detect the (subtle) difference between the "hard" consonant sound (the first in the pair) and the "soft" consonant sound. Notice also the differences in the orthography.

Listen carefully as your instructor reads the following words aloud. Pay close attention to the differences between the "soft" consonants (look for the vowels я, е, ё, ю and и or the "soft sign" ь) and the "hard" ones.