Ukrainian.

Let’s look at the Ukrainian language. I’ve learned a handful of words while here:

Dyakayoo – Thank you
Tak – Yes
Nee – No
Perushkey – tasty sweet bread with filling
Marushkah – a bus or shuttle that holds about 15-18 people
Borscht – a really great beet stew
Verenikey – a dumpling, usually sweet
Chi – tea
Smachno – It is delicious
Nahmyah – No one is here
Dva – two
Znovvum Rrrokum – Happy New Year!

The alphabet is pretty unusual. Unlike Chinese, where the characters are so unique from the English language that it’s impossible to relate to, the Ukrainians use Cryllic which has an alphabet that, at first glance, looks similar to English. Here are the cryllic letters along with the sounds for each letter bolded. There are 33 letters.

А-ah
Б-bat
Ð’-Vice
Г-hat
Ґ-goat
Д-Dan
Е-fell
Ñ”-yesterday
Ж-dodge
З-zebra
И-e(soft)
I-feet
Ñ—-yeast
Й-e(not soft)
К-cat
Λ-Lion
М-Mom
Н-New
О-home
П-prank
Р-rice
С-salt
Т-tent
У-scoot
Ф-foot
Ð¥-haunt
Ц-cats
Ч-chair
Ш-shout
Щ-freshcheese
Ь-silent
Ю-you
Я-ya

I don’t really know why there’s a letter that’s always silent, but I’m cool with it. Anyway, using the alphabet above the proper spelling of Altynivka is:

АΛТИНІВКА

And the spelling of Kiev is:

КиЇВ

Using this, it should really be pronounced Keeve instead of Key-ev.

Here’s a beautiful print I got in Kiev with the proper spelling of the city. I really love this print.