Listen and compare

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You already know which sound the letter Т makes. Now let's learn about the letter Ь. It's called the soft sign. It's an interesting letter because it doesn't make any sound actually. Instead, it makes the consonants sound softer. In other words, it palatalizes most consonants. Listen to the two sounds, compare and try to repeat them. T sounds just like we learned it earlier, but ТЬ is pronounced with the middle of your tongue pressing against the roof of your mouth (palate). Russians say that T sounds hard while ТЬ is soft or palatalized.

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