Voiced and voiceless consonants in Russian - your key to sound like natives!

Every Russian learner knows this reading rule: unstressed O is pronounced like [a]. But do you know why you should pronounce [клуп] when saying клуб? It's all about voiced and voiceless consonants. There are 6 pairs of voiced and voiceless consonants. Voiced consonants are pronounced by means of our voice, and voiceless ones are pronounced without the vibration in our vocal cords. Most consonants are paired for voicing. That means each voiced consonant is paired with a voiceless one. The rule is easy: all voiced consonants at the end of the word are pronounced like their voiceless counterparts.