Quick answer
М м is the m of “map”. Nothing to relearn. Lowercase printed м is a small м, not a Latin m.
Мм
Мм
m
ма́маmum
How to say it
Exactly the English m.
ма́маmum
мо́реsea
молоко́milk
ме́стоplace, seat
мыwe
мирpeace, world
М and Ж on doors
Public toilets are marked М for мужско́й (men’s) and Ж for же́нский (women’s). It is the single most practically useful pair of letters in the alphabet, and worth fixing in memory before you travel.
Not a Latin m in cursive
In handwriting, lowercase м starts with a small upstroke and can blend into и and л in a row of humps. Meanwhile cursive т looks like a Latin m — so a handwritten мост can be genuinely confusing at first.
Typical mistakes
Confusing М and Ж on a door
М = men, Ж = women
мужско́й and же́нский.
Reading cursive т as м
Count the humps and read the word
Cursive т resembles a Latin m.
Check yourself
Which word contains М?
ма́ма — mum.