Pronunciation of Russian Ш (sh) and Щ (shsh). What's the difference?

Описание: Russian alphabet pronunciation can be tricky for Russian learners. While some of the letters of the Russian alphabet have direct counterparts in English in terms of pronunciation, some don’t. One of such confusing letters is the Russian Щ.
See, most sources portray the difference between the Russian Ш and Щ something like this: the Russian Ш is pronounced as a “sh” in “ship” and Щ is usually referred to something vaguer, like to a “shsh” or a “shch” combination.
This approach is wrong because the English SH /ʃ/ is really a middle sound between Ш and Щ. So, it would be more correct to say that both Russian Ш and Щ are pronounced approximately like an English SH. The keyword here is “approximately” because Ш and Щ are pronounced differently in Russian, otherwise, why would we have 2 separate letters for them, right?
In this video, you’ll understand the difference between the Russian Ш and Щ and will learn how exactly to pronounce them which in turn will improve your Russian pronunciation.

00:00 Men, mustache, and pronunciation
02:27 The difference between Ш and Щ
05:27 How to pronounce Ш
08:20 How to pronounce Щ
10:43 Reading practice
13:42 Conclusion