The lie of the land
Belarusian and Russian are both official. In everyday city life you'll hear mostly Russian; Belarusian lives on road signs, metro announcements, literature and a proud revival among younger people. Everything here works in either language — and any attempt at Belarusian is received as a genuine compliment.
English is increasingly common among younger people in Minsk, patchier elsewhere. Translation apps fill the gaps happily.
Flashcard trainer
Test yourself — tap reveal, then mark whether you knew it.
…
Phrasebook
Greetings & politeness
| Hello (formal) | Добры дзень | DOB-ry dzyen |
| Hi | Прывітанне | pry-vi-TAN-nye |
| Goodbye | Да пабачэння | da pa-ba-CHEN-nya |
| Thank you | Дзякуй | DZYA-kuy |
| Please / you're welcome | Калі ласка | ka-LEE LAS-ka |
| Excuse me / sorry | Прабачце | pra-BACH-tse |
| Yes / No | Так / Не | tak / nye |
Getting by
| I don't understand | Я не разумею | ya nye ra-zu-MYE-yu |
| Do you speak English? | Вы размаўляеце па-англійску? | vy raz-maw-LYA-ye-tse pa an-HLIY-sku |
| How much is it? | Колькі каштуе? | KOL-ki kash-TU-ye |
| Where is…? | Дзе…? | dzye |
| Where is the toilet? | Дзе туалет? | dzye tu-a-LYET |
| Help! | Дапамажыце! | da-pa-ma-ZHY-tse |
At the table
| Bon appétit | Смачна есці | SMACH-na YES-tsi |
| Very tasty! | Вельмі смачна! | VYEL-mi SMACH-na |
| Water | Вада | va-DA |
| Bread | Хлеб | khlyeb |
| Beer | Піва | PEE-va |
| The bill, please | Рахунак, калі ласка | ra-KHU-nak ka-LEE LAS-ka |
| Cheers! | Будзьма! | BOODZ-ma |
Numbers
| 1–5 | адзін, два, тры, чатыры, пяць | a-DZIN, dva, try, cha-TY-ry, pyats |
| 6–10 | шэсць, сем, восем, дзевяць, дзесяць | shests, syem, VO-syem, DZYE-vyats, DZYE-syats |
| 100 | сто | sto |
Cyrillic crash course
Thirty minutes with the alphabet pays for itself all trip — suddenly menus, metro maps and town names snap into focus. Most letters are friendly: А, К, М, О, Т read as you'd guess; С = "s", Р = "r", Н = "n", В = "v", У = "u".
And keep an eye out for Ў ("short u") — a letter used by no other national language in the world. Belarusians are so fond of it that Polatsk has a monument to it.