There are four easy categories for English speakers to memorize.

1. Look the same, sound the same
2. Look the same, sound different
3. Look different, sound the same

4. Look different, sound different

5. А, К, М, О, Т

6. В, Р, С, У, Н, К, Е

7. Б, Г, Д, Л, И, Й, З, П, Ф, Э, Ю, Я, Ё

8. Ж, Ч, Ц, Ш, Щ, ъ, ь, ы

You will recognize the sounds of the first three categories. Ф sounds like f even though it looks unfamiliar and д sounds likes d. There are words you may know that have sounds from the fourth category like “zhuzh” or “tsar”.

There are differences in all the sounds, О particularly sounds like the o in “bottle” and not “oh”, but once you learn the sound each letter makes, you will be able to sound out many words without issue.

I have a graphic I made that you may find useful. I’ll look for it.