ИСТИНА

The Russian phonetic system is very rich in consonants, especially coronal fricatives. This research presents some challenges and mispronunciations typical for native speakers of Greek language, who study Russian, in regards to coronal fricatives. After asking Greek respondents to read focused reading materials we analysed their speech and marked out some typical difficulties in acquisition of Russian coronal fricatives, such as • Pronunciation of Russian palatalized and velarized consonants; • Differentiation between [ʃ] – [ʐ] and [ɕ]; • Pronunciation of [stɕ] or [ʃtɕ] instead of [ʃ]; • Affricates instead of [ʃ] and [ɕ]; • Palatalized [tʲ] instead of affricate [tɕ] and others. The results of the research can be implemented in Russian pronunciation classes for students, whose native language is Greek.