I have downloaded the following very helpful Free Android Apps

Russian Alphabet by DG software and they have transliteration very close to the
1997 passport system and as well as pronunciation
Easy Russian Language Learning by Pin Drop Apps has great listing of the top
1000 Russian words you can flip through. Very, very, handy to build up your
vocabulary first with the most common words out there.
To help you grasp the apps better I have included below my system for attacking
the Russian alphabet. Partly inspired by the web page below to which I added a
bit of my own ideas.
http://masterrussian.com/russian_alphabet.shtml
I am just in the process of teaching myself Russian and I know a daunting task is
the Russian alphabet here is how I made it easier for myself.

I think the best way to get a grasp on the Russian alphabet is to look at
transliteration of the Russian alphabet into our own Latin alphabet.
YES you can actually write Russian with the Latin alphabet. The Passport 1997
system that equates the Russian alphabet to one or two Latin letters put together
is pretty neat. By anchoring yourself into being able to convert the Russian
alphabet to Latin you are able to build a bridge between the two.
Below I included the Passport 1997 system for changing Russian alphabet to Latin
letters so you can get a grasp as you make the transition. There is but one letter I
would change and I talk about it later.

What we have are of course the letters that look and sound the same like in the
English alphabet
MOKTAE is my mnemonic for that.
If you look at vowels A E I O U you notice that A E O are the same letters but the
Latin letter U is actually written as a letter Y in Russian, I just think of it like U with
a little tail at the bottom. Now Latin letter I is written as a backwards N in
Russian. Pretty simple those are all your vowels.
It also seems like Russian has a Y sound in front of all the vowels and thus has
alphabet letters for these sounds, YA YE YI YO YU, here is what I mean
We have in English alphabet the sounds YA (written as a backwards R in Russian),
YE (written as the familiar looking letter E in Russian), YI (a hard I sound written as
bI and sounds like the y in oyster), YO (is an E with two dots above it, I think of
yodeling during Christmas, and the e stands for an evergreen ie Christmas tree
with two lights on top, note in the passport system they write it as ye but it really
should be yo since that is the sound, like Yo in York), YU (a unique letter that looks
like a stylized fish swimming to the Right) its the first letter you see in Yuri
Gagarin, Yuri is a common name.
So to Review:
1) MOKTAE are letters the same in both alphabets
2) Know your Latin vowels AEIOU with Latin E letter and sound being written
as a backwards E in Russian, I and U replaced by N (backwards) and Y letters
respectively.
3) Know the YA YE YI YO YU sounds letters. YA sound is R (backwards) in
Russian, YE is written in Russian as our normal letter E in Latin, YI is a hard I
sound written as bI in Russian and transliterated as the letter Y in the Latin
Alphabet.
4) So keep in mind the ways to write the Y and I, the Russian letter N with a
little smile on top (pronounced like the Y in Soy) is one way to write the
Latin letter Y and the other is bI (described as a hard y sound) though both

have different y sounds. The backwards Russian letter N is the only way to
write the letter I found in the Latin alphabet.
5) Now there are other unique letters that come from Greek. The G is Greek
Gamma letter. The D looks like a squared off Delta. The L looks like a
cropped off and squared Lambda. The Latin letter P is the Greek letter Pi
found in Russian. The Russian letter P is actually written as the Greek Rho
and looks like an R (think CCCP ie C is the letter S and stands for Soviet
Socialist Republic that is the mnemonic I use to remember transliterations
of C and P). The Latin F letter in Russian is the Greek Phi pronounced Fie
and its an O with a vertical line straight down the middle. The Russian
letter X is the Greek Chi and corresponds to KH transliteration in Latin.
6) Unique letters are the transliterated Latin letter combinations ZH, TS, CH,
SH, SHCH sounds. One thing that helps with the Russian letter for ZH it
looks like a bug and is the beginning letter for the word Bug in Russian! For
mnemonics there are several. CH letter looks like a chalice (a large goblet)
with a long stem or you can think of it as a c one way and an h upside down
the other, together giving you ch. The SH looks like a pitchfork, picture
yourself shooing away a critter with the pitchfork.
7) Latin letter Z (looks like a 3 in the Russian alphabet)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Russian

From the master Russian web page here are the sounds of the letters.
Group 1: Same look and sound as in English
There are six Russian letters that match their English counterparts by both pronunciation and
form -- A, E, K, M, O and T.

sounds like "a" in after, ask. In pronouncing this sound, the mouth is open a bit
wider as compared to English

sounds either like "ye" in yes or like "e" as in ebony . It is pronounced with
preceding y in the beginning of a word or after a vowel.

sounds like "k" in kite, making, like. Try to avoid the puff of air after the sound
typical for the English language.

sounds like "m" in mobile, dome.

sounds like "o" in more (without the 'r' sound). Try protruding and rounding
your lips a bit more than you do in English.
In unstressed positions, this letter sounds like "u" in under, but more lax.
sounds like "t" in task, tardy. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth, as
opposed the upper gum ridge in English.

Group 2: Sound-alikes but different look

There are sixteen Russian letters that do not exist in English but have familiar pronunciation. The
include , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and .

sounds like "b" in buy, blue. Try to avoid a puff of air after the sound typical in the
English language.

sounds like "g" in get, guard.

sounds like d in double, did. In pronouncing this letter, the tip of the tongue touches
the lower teeth.

sounds like "yo" in York or like "o" in copy, obvious depending on the position in a
word.

sounds like "s" in usual, pleasure.

sounds like "p" in compassion. Try to avoid a puff of unvoiced air after the sound as
typical for the English language.

sounds like "f" in fasten, fact.

sounds like "ee" in free, meet.

sounds like "y" in oyster, soy.

sounds like "l" in lock, chill.

sounds like "ts" in that's.

sounds like "sh" in ship, crush but with the tongue farther back in the mouth

sounds like "shsh" in rush-ship. When pronouncing it, try to place your tongue
higher and more forward in the mouth than in English.

sounds like "e" in ebony, edit. When pronouncing this sound, try opening the mouth
a bit wider than you do in English.

sounds like the word "you" but faster. In some cases it sounds like "oo" in oodles

sounds like "yu" in yummy. In some cases it sounds like "a" in after, ask.

Group 3: Look-alikes but different sound

The following eight Russian letters look like their English counterparts (or even digits) but have
different pronunciation--, , , , , , , .

sounds like "v" in voice, visit

sounds like "z" in zodiac. This letter might look like the number three (3) but it only
conveys a sound and has nothing to do with digits.

sounds like "n" in noon, nose. Like with the Russian letter T, the tip of the tongue
touches the lower teeth when pronouncing this letter.

sounds like "r" in "rest" but rolled.

sounds like "s" in sun, sale. Unlike in English, the tip of the tongue touches the
lower teeth.

sounds like "oo" in oodles. This sound is pronounced shorter than in English, with
lips more rounded and protruded.

sounds like "ch" in church, cheek. Do not confuse this letter with the number four
(4).

sounds like "ch" in loch when pronounced in Scottish manner. It remotely reminds
"h" in hoopla.

Group 4: New look and sound (or no sound)

The last group includes letters that do not exist in English and either represent unfamiliar sounds
or have no sound value (, , ).

--

--

No English equivalent. To produce "" sound, notice the positions of the tongue
when pronouncing English sounds i as in kit and u as in sugar. Then place your
tongue in between and emit a voiced sound.

This letter is called the "soft sign" and has no sound value. It is used to modify the
pronunciation of the preceding consonant by making it soft (palatalized). A
consonant becomes soft when it is pronounced with the middle of the tongue
raised towards the roof of the mouth.

The "hard sign" has no sound value. It occurs only between a consonant and a
vowel as in the word "" (entry). It is used to show that the consonant should
not be palatalized and that the consequent vowel is preceded by the the "y" sound
as in yes.

Russian Cursive
Here's how the Russian handwritten alphabet looks like. You will find that it is very different
from print letters and you need to pay attention to how the letters connect with each other.
Additional study time is required if you want to learn how to write in Russian cursive.

For a cool drill that will empower you, try rewriting the words in the alphabets below into
Latin words. After you are done you will immediately feel more familiar with the Russian
Alphabet and you will feel EMPOWERED !!!!
For Example the first row will be Arbuz, Byelka, Vinograd, Grib, Dom, pretty cool.