Product Description
Your essential guide to understanding and speaking Russian - fast! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The BEST Russian course for the money
I have searched high and low for a good and easy russian course at libraries and book stores, have tried at least 5, and this is by far my very favorite!The voices on the tapes (there's a man and a woman who alternate) are very pleasant, unlike the others, which has annoying/grating voices and accents.The speakers on the tapes are native to Russia, of course.

Each lesson is easy and fun, and each chapter has a vocabulary list, folllowed by a realistic conversation between the speakers, which uses vocabulary words from the list.The conversations are connected, creating a kind of story line as you go through the book.The last chapter is an epilogue in Russian describing the fate of the characters you've come to know throughout the book.

I would listen to the lesson on the tape and follow along with the book a few times, then I could listen to the tape in the car a few times.When I felt confident, I'd move on to the next lesson.It is very feasible to finish this entire course in three months, and feel ready to travel to Russia and hold normal conversations! ... Read more

Product Description
Up-to-date in content, beautifully illustrated with color photos, packed with bilingual lists of vital words and phrases, and overflowing with helpful travel advice, this book is a perfect take-alongfor both business and vacation travelers to Russia. Page edges are color-tipped—a different color for each section—so that on-the-go travelers can refer to any one of 17 separate general topics and find the information they're looking for in a hurry. Color-coded topics include:

Product Description
This is a Russian folk tale "The Frog Tsarevna " (Tsarevna-Lyagushka) in its abridged edition, as being retold by A. Tolstoi. The book is in Russian language, with color illustrations. The tale is also known as "The Frog Princess". ... Read more

Product Description
The poetry of Aleksandre Blok (1880-1921) marks the highest achievement of that fertile period in Russian literary history chiefly identified with the Symbolist movement. The air of this book is to convey some idea of Blok's scope and development as a poet in a selection of fifty poems and it provides an editorial apparatus to facilitate understanding and appreciation. ... Read more

Product Description
Comprehensive Russian III includes 30 additional lessons (16 hrs.), plus Readings, which build upon the language skills acquired in Levels I and II. Increased spoken and reading language ability.

Level III will increase your vocabulary and grammatical structures and triple your spoken proficiency. Upon completion of a level III, you will be able to:

* participate in most informal and some formal discussions on practical, social, and some semi-professional topics,

* form longer sentences while maintaining the target language syntax,

* be understood even by native speakers unused to dealing with foreigners,

* handle increasingly difficult grammatical structures,

* enjoy fluent conversations with a variety of strangers,

* have a near-native accent, and the subtleties of the language will be apparent in your speech,

* read at the same level at which you speak.

Note: In order for the Pimsleur Method to work correctly, you must first complete the Level I + II language programs before proceeding to the Level III language program. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

I've done all 90 lessons
Pimsleur Russian is the best place to start.Ive done all 90 lessons.It took me over a year, but it was worth it.I have the correct accent for life.This is the very strongest point of Pimsleur.The correct pronounciation and accent.After 90 lessons,I wished I could have gone on and done another 90. The voice actors were top notch.Thanks Pimsleur.I look forward to Russian Plus, if they ever make one.Great job.

Order the set and order a new cd case to put the cds in to protect them.
This is my third Pimisleur language. Great program. But cd case now has
a problem. The cd case for the 30 lesson editions were designed for the
user guide booklet and reading booklet to hold the cds in place. (My
earlier purchased language sets with this arrangement work great and do
not have a problem.) The publisher has changed the guide booklet to a
fold out. With this simple change they created a major problem for
protecting the cds. Now the first half of the cds will not stay in place. The
second half of the cds was designed to use clear plastic stays. They
work great. The first half of the cds will NOT stay in place and do fall
out. The act of carrying the case across the room will have the cds
sliding inside the case. Great care must be used opening the case or the
cds roll across the floor. Pimsleur will replace a damaged cd. The
plastic stay will not work on the front half of the set, only the back half.
They have no solution for the disks falling out. They suggested I buy a
cd case and move my cds into that case. My suggestion to them is they
fix the problem. I paidfor a set that now has improper working storing
case.

5 star spoken language program. 1 star for case problem.

Any suggestion on how to hold the cds in the publisher's case is
welcome.

Pimsleur YES; Study hard in school ALSO
It's important to be as precise as possible in determing first off what level of speaking ability you aim to achieve. If you have studied Russian sufficiently well before you start the course (at least a year at university getting A's), Pimsleur will have you speaking at the level at which you write in no time. The problem with most people is that they haven't studied enough Russian to benefit from the program. You need to be able to know how to spell the words you learn (in cyrillic of course), not just pronounce them. Let's say you've studied Russian really really hard for a year in a top university program. You probably know about 800 words at least (and many points of grammar) but you haven't had much opportunity to speak them. The words are in your head but the speech connections haven't yet been set up. Speaking a language is a separate form of training entirely. But having a strong enough background in grammar and being able to write the language will allow you to blaze through Pimsleur I in no time while perfecting your pronunciation and getting a "feel" for stringing sounds together. You may likely learn a few new subtleties even in Level I as your ear gets better at recognizing the nuances of native speech. By the end of Level II, you've caught up with one year of grammar points which are EMBEDDED within the sentences and structures, all of which you should be able to pronounce very well. By the end of the first semester of your second year at univeristy, you should be finishing Pimsleur III, know about 1500 words and be speaking Intermediate Mid, quickly on your way to Int-High. Now is definately the time to find some real live Russian immigrants to converse with. You'll be amazed at what you can say; they will, too. Other programs to get you to the advanced speaking level require lots of commitment to the language and at least 2-3 years of intensive university study. If you want to be fluent, you'll have to go to Russia to study the language and live there for at least a year after a minimum of 2-3 (3 is better) years of consistent high level effort stateside. True fluency will take at least 5 years' dedication, first stateside then in Russia. But Pimsleur gets you to a point where you have a good feel for getting the sounds from your brain and then out your mouth correctly. With solid university training to add to it and some time overseas you'll speak very well. Pimsleur on it's own is NOT enough unless you're just looking to get by on Red Square or something basic like buying a souvenir or holding a conversation on a routine topic like the weather or what you like to do in your free time, etc. What Pimsleur will do is get you confident enough in your pronunciation to start speaking more and more. It will get you over the initial phase of perfecting prononciation and get you speaking the language at a solid intermediate level (if you study at university simultaneously as previously mentioned - I can't mention this fact enough). BUT, only Pimsleur + University + Dedication + Time + 1-2 years in Russian = Fluency. Even then, you still have to practice to maintain your fluency. Sounds like quite a commitment to become fluent, doesn't it? Fluency is really the result of many factors mostly driven by consistent high levels of motivation and desire. That is why very few achieve it. Learning a language thoroughly is similar to embarking on a long journey. As the Russians often say: Íå ñìîòðè âûñîêî: ãëàçà çàïîðîøèøü. It's important to be realistic. Ñ÷àñòëèâî!

The pimsleur experience
This is more my experience than a review and applies to Russian I, II and III.

If you intend to use an audio method, I found Pimsleur to be the most effective way to learn a new language from scratch. For me, it's about the only way that works short of taking a class.

As for how long it takes, 2 days per lesson was my typical rate.Most lessons needed 3 or 4 total repetitions before I felt I reached the 80% level that pimsleur suggests.I also confirmed that there is little advantage in repeating a lesson more than twice a day. For comparison, German and Greek were easier for me to absorb, typically 2 repeats per lesson.

I believe that Pimsleur claims you will reach the ACTFL Intermediate-High level after the 3rd course.Unless you can practice with Russian speaking persons, I feel it will be hard to advance beyond Intermediate Low at best.

Not as complete as they claim
I've been through all 3 levels of Pimsleur Russian and at the end of it all I still can't say "egg", "hand", "eye", "fish" or "tree", among many other simple, everyday words.Pretty basic stuff but that's the problem: Pimsleur obviously focuses on business travel conversation and omits basics. The vocabulary is somewhat limited and usage is rarely explained. Russian word structure changes based on how the word is used so one sentence says "car" one way, the next sentence says it differently and Pimsleur doesn't explain why or when or what about it. So although the technique for teaching is effective, with lots of repetition and some concentration on pronunciation of new words, the amount you learn after 90 lessons will barely bring you to a beginner level, certainly not internediate as they claim.

And on the topic of pronunciation, Russian words have very specific rules of pronunciation and in level I of these courses, the main native male speaker's diction was abhorrent. I nearly gave up after lesson 6 because he was so bad. I even let a native Russian hear this guy's voice and she said his pronunciation sounded as though he was drunk. For the price, Pimsleur should have flawless, sober, perfect speakers.

I can't say I wouldn't recommend Pimsleur because they are helpful, but they're certainly not all you need to speak the language. Go through it, sell it and move on to the next course. ... Read more

Product Description
This brand-new guide to Russian grammar and verbs provides clear and simple explanations of today's written and spoken Russian. Comprehensive and easy to use, with coverage of all the key points of Russian grammar, it is the ideal support book for any Russian language course and is ideal for use with Oxford's Take off in Russian and other audio language learning packs. Thousands of examples in an instantly accessible layout show how the language works. Detailed tables of regular and irregular Russian verbs feature ultra-clear explanations and an easy-access design. Finally, all grammatical terms are explained in a glossary. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

perfect for beginners
This book is perfect for beginners; it's my first book that I'm using to learn Russian. It has 232 pages of condensed information, that is straight to the point complete with multiple examples for each piece of information. I would recommend this book to anyone trying to read russian

Excellent big book-Hardcover(Russ-Eng)(Eng-Russ)
I purchased this book for my Russian Wife. It came in handy, to help her speak English. After 5 years, she doesn't need much help.But, the book is humongous in size. Has probably all English words. Except slangs

great compact grammar guide
THis is a great compact Russian grammar book. It is very well organized and once you get used to the organization you can answer many common questions. It's great to have by the TV when watching a movie.

The main advantage is it's compact size, organization, accuracy and cost (you can afford to even have more than one copy so it's always handy).

Like all Russian grammar books, it's very weak on coloquial Russian, especially on particles, elliptical sentences, sentence structure and many aspects of how grammar interacts in Russian across sentences and between parties of a conversation. It's my opinion that none of the non native speaking authors understand how this part of Russian works. The explanations never hold water and I've figured out a lot of it myself and the things I've figured out are not in any grammar book, including the ones from Russia.
In general, native speakers understand it all from being exposed to it from childhood and they don't conceptualize it well to non native speakers either. The non native speakers are generally clueless as to how it works.

Coloquial russian though is not street slang but how people talk in real life, at the office, at the market.

It's not a deep Russian grammar book but the bigger ones rarely answer the tougher questions either.

EVERY point of basic Russian grammar contained in this book.
Despite its size, Oxford Russian Grammar and Verbs can be VERY daunting, as it contains EVERY aspect of Russian grammar in its 250 pages.This book is probably best suited for intermediate/advanced learners, but it can also be VERY beneficial for beginners as well if they take it slow.Russian grammar is very complicated with a number of cases, and having it all laid out in one book has been more than just helpful to me.I have been doing the Pimsleur audio Russian courses, which offer little to no grammatical explanation.Upon completion of these kinds of audio courses, you will be able to speak within the confines of what you have learned, but you would not be able to predict which forms to use at what time.The audio courses explain what words mean, but not the underlying grammatical concepts.

Take, for example, the word 'DOKTOR' (doctor)...the audio tapes have told me that when I say 'I'm looking for a doctor', I have to use 'DOKTOR-A'.What they DIDN'T tell me, however, is that 'DOKTOKR-A' is the GENETIVE form of the noun, and that the genetive must always be used with verbs expressing 'seeking'.This book has been the key to unlocking the mysteries that the audio tapes wouldn't fill me in on.In it, they explained about this use of the genetive, as well as other uses, and all the other cases as well.Detailed sections on each part of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, particles, etc.) clearly explain the different cases and genders, and how they are used with and affect the meaning of each part of speech in question.Some linguistic foreknowledge is probably necessary to get the full benefit of this book, but fortunately a linguistic glossary in the back can allow learners to 'catch up as they go'.Believe me, I would be VERY frustrated with the audio series by now if not for this book.

'Grammar' is a catchphrase that usually makes people recoil, but trust me, the ONLY way to be able to proficiently use ANY language is to have a CLEAR understanding of the underlying concepts of its grammar, and be able to call upon them at any time.Don't expect this book to hand-hold you through its explanations (there's WAY too much information for that) - you can easily spend 30 minutes flipping back and forth just trying to figure out one page.But this isn't any fault of the book...this kind of difficulty is inherent in any language that has - at times - grammar that is VERY unfamiliar to us.Once the concpets are learned, though, the knowledge can be called forth, and that is when REAL leaps in language ability begin to be seen.For serious learners of Russian (and I suspect many other languages too), the Oxford grammar books are worth their weight in gold. ... Read more

Product Description

More than 1 million Michel Thomas programs sold worldwide!
Learn Russian--no passport required!

No books. No writing. No drills. And nothing to memorize--ever! You will go from the basics to proficiency in no time with this complete course. Includes eight 60-minute audio CDs.

Customer Reviews (7)

Russian Made Easy (Well Easier)
Natasha Bershadski makes learning Russian a delight. I have previously used Michel Thomas' method to learn Spanish. I was impressed with the ease of the lessons. While learning Russian is a little more difficult, being more unlike English, the methodology is unparalleled. She is a very clearly spoken, and even if I were not learning Russian, listening to her is relaxing. No, you do not learn the written language, but honestly that is not as difficult as I first thought it might be. I was more daunted by that initially. Perfect course to learn everything you are likely to ever need in conversational Russian.

mt russian
i like her approach to teaching someone russian and i like her accent. with russian you want to try and hear as many different accents as you can because of alll the different people that speak russian. i enjoyed this and i would recommend giving it a shot.

Michel Thomas Russian Method
This is a truly excellent program for language learning.I speak from experience, having taught German at university level for 35 years and having learned Spanish with the Thomas method.I recommend it highly.

Get Up and Running
The Michel Thomas Speak Russian guide presents a different approach to learning Russian than most other language guides present. First, it does not get bogged down into the minutiae detailed nuances of grammar, which (frankly) with Russian can drown you if you are a novice. Instead, it approaches the learning or Russian based on what you already know about your native language. In this way, Russian becomes an extension of your native language. So already, you're set off on firm footing to learning how the language actually works. It is this knowledge that ultimately will get you to really learn a foreign langauge. You can't ignore the details, of course. And the truth is, do we really need to know what, for example, dative or accusative means before we can speak a language? No we do not. To focus exclusively on them, as many other guides do, only tends to overwhelm and discourage you. Not this guide. While the concepts presented are true to the details, they never get mired in them. Instead, you get a wealth of useful terms and expressions and approaches that can be adeptly applied to a variety of situations beyond those presented. The positive results are immediate and long-lasting.

Up until this guide, I had been attempting to abandon my native tongue and to learn a new language as if it were mathematics and as if I knew no other language. But one of the approaches that is powerfully effective with this guide is building off the language we already know. This has actually enabled me to think in terms of the Russian language through what I already know of English, rather than abandoning that. While challenging, it builds a remarkable level of comfort to learning a new language. The complexities of Russian are much less intimidating and have become easier and more natural to figure out, learn, and use.

This is an outstanding guide and it works!

You will remember what you learned
Good points:
1. The pronunciation is slow and clear.
2. Lots of varied reinforcement is given to help you remember.It's hard to forget what you learned!
3. It's fun!
4. Doesn't contain repetitive drills.The material progresses at a nice rate.
5. Some basic grammar is covered.You will get a good feel for guessing whether a noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter.
6. Some longer sentences are taught e.g. "I wonder if it's possible to buy tickets here?"

Bad points:
1. The vocabulary is very small.You won't learn how to say "hello" or "goodbye", nor will you learn numbers (so you can't tell the time).You won't learn adjectives, although some adverbs are taught.
2. The vocabulary is spotty.I think the vocab which is relatively easy to remember (based on English words) has been chosen rather than systematically learning normal basic vocab.For example, you'll learn I/me/my, you, we/us, but you won't learn his or her.
3. The accusative case isn't explained (it's explained in the Advanced course).Instead the nouns used as direct objects (apart from "me", "us", "you") are either inanimate masculine, neuter, or plural, so no noun ending changes are required.This isn't pointed out to the listener.
4. Indeclinable nouns aren't pointed out and the gender of nouns ending in the soft sign are not treated.The listener is likely to think that all nouns can easily be classified as either masculine, feminine, or neuter.
5. The teacher points out pronunciation mistakes but just listening to the CDs won't explain how to form the sounds correctly.You might therefore learn an incorrect way to pronounce the sounds.The teacher seems to have difficulty getting the students to pronounce soft sounds (if you have this difficulty try smiling when you pronounce them to force your tongue higher in your mouth).
6. No transcripts are included so you can't become good at reading Russian easily.An English-Russian/Russian-English dictionary would be a good idea to see how the words are spelled and to check your pronunciation.

Overall, it's quite a remarkable product, enabling you to rapidly learn some very basic Russian (thanks to the Thomas Michel method).There's no way you'd be able to travel to Russia and get along okay after completing this course so you'll definitely need to continue to the Advanced course after this.
Finishing this course can make it easier to start the Pimsleur Russian course.
... Read more

Product Description
A Unique Home-Study Method Developed by the Famous Berlitz Schools of Language ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Awesome!
This book is great!! Although it's not necessarily for the beginner (only because of the lack of audio). They do spell out how to say everything phonetically. Without ever hearing the language previously, I feel it would be very difficult, though not impossible. That being said, it goes step-by-step, starting out very simple and utilizing a lot of repetition. This really helps you get a feel for the language, memorize it and start constructing your own thoughts. I studied Russian for 2 years in college and I'm trying to refresh my skills to travel to Russia - this book is by far the best I've seen. There are also little blurbs throughout that explain the grammar (esp. the Russian cases) in sizable chunks, and short quizzes with answers at the end of each section which really helps out. I would definitely recommend this book to those looking to improve their Russian.

Surprisingly easy to use
You know those horror stories folks learning Russian tell?
forget 'em,
This book made pronouncing a leaf-shake on a windy day; I really liked the translations of English and Russian above one another as it made word association a little easier too-
Even if you don't come out understanding Russian so well-you'll definitely be able to read write and say anything placed before you

Great, but no audio
The Berlitz Self-Teacher series was one of the great language learning concepts.The lessons are interesting and relevant and have a different feel than the usual language books.While the imitated pronunciation is a great idea, with Russian I would suggest that you must get a book with an accompanying cassette or cd.The language is too different from English to rely on the book alone.Since no audio is offered for this book, I would think using it as the basis for lessons with a Russian speaking friend or tutor would be ideal.

Best Book I've ever seen on foreign language
I used this book about 7 years ago, and I must say it makes it very easy to learn not only how to tranlate russian, but how to actually speak it, write it, read it, understand it.I definitely recommend this book to everybody who wants to speak russian.There is NO better book out there. ... Read more

Product Description
Learn to speak, read, and write Russian quickly and easily with Living Language®. Developed by U.S. government experts, this book introduces readers step-by-step to all the basics of Russian: pronunciation, vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, and grammar.

IN THIS BOOK, READERS WILL FIND:
•All the words and phrases from the 40 lessons on the Living Language® Russian Complete Course recordings, plus additional vocabulary
•A guide to pronunciation
•Useful topics including directions, introductions, shopping, faxes, and e-mail
•Explanations of grammar and usage
•Short quizzes to help you check your progress
•A comprehensive summary of Russian grammar
•Verb charts including all tenses
•A special section on writing letters

While this book stands on its own as an instructional program and an invaluable reference, readers will find that using it with the recorded lessons is even more effective. Living Language® Russian Complete Course cassette and compact disc packages include this book as well as a dictionary. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent book
This book is an excellent way to learn Russian, combined with Pimsleur, for a beginning or intermediate student.This book provides the additional vocabulary and structure (including grammar, etc.) you miss in Pimsleur.Pimsleur is excellent to learn to speak.I know that there has been a lot of criticism of Pimsleur for its weaknesses, but in my opinion they are not valid.Pimsleur does an excellent job in doing what it is designed to do: get you to start speaking a foreign language, exposing you to only the most basic vocabulary. After you finish a few units of Pimsleur, then add an excellent book like this one.At first use it more as a reference, then as you progress with Pimsleur, this book will gradually replace it.I would get these two first, before you get any other materials to learn Russian.Then, you can explore other materials on Amazon.

russian language
this book is very good for begginers who want to learn russian on their own, without a teacher or instructor, the price is reasonable, i would suggest it for any one who is interested in the russian language ... Read more

Product Description
Pocket Russian-English, English-Russian Dictionary is a convenient reference for writers, students, and business people--anyone who needs the right word at the right time. Poetry, prose, and a nine-letter pizza toping . . . When you're looking for a word, pull it out of one of our Pockets. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Great Dictionary!
For a pocket-sized dictionary this is exactly what you are looking for.I don't even use my full-size russian-english dictionary because this is so convenient and sufficient.Exceeded my expectations!

exellent
Exellent for russian speakers, easy to use, not so many different meaning for one word which sometimes confuse me even more. English speakers have to know kirilic to use this book.

Portable Tool
We find this dictionary to be helpful and convenient. The small size and durable plastic binding make it the perfect dictionary to carry around for a quick reference. Yet it is large enough to contain most of the Russian words that we run into in everyday life in Kiev. The entries have a lot of helpful grammatical information as well. However, the serious student will also want the not-very-portable Russian-English Dictionary by Kenneth Katzner.

A good useful dictionary
I have been using Langenscheidt dictionaries in a variety of languages for the past half century. This new Russian Pocket Dictionary, as expected, comes up to scratch and is a definite improvement on the dictionary I have been using since 1970 (name withheld!). The only minor quibble I have is with the NEW Blue Headwords. Personally I find black headwords much less tiring to handle. Maybe that's just me.

Great condition for used book
Bought this used for my granddaughter, who's traveling to Russia this summer. Very impressed with the condition, price and quick delivery in time to mail it to her for Christmas. Excellent service. ... Read more

Product Description
In the new world economy, the ability to speak Russian is increasingly valuable. Whether youÕre a beginner or an intermediate speaker, The Everything Russian Practice Book with CD has all you need to take the next step in mastering Russian. Providing the opportunity to practice Russian grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and comprehension in an easy-to-follow format, this engaging guide covers the following:

• Parts of speech
• Identifying gender
• Finding the appropriate words and phrases
• Transliteration of the Cyrillic alphabet

Customer Reviews (6)

Everything But the Alphabet
I hate to hammer the same nail as everybody else but you gotta learn the Cyrillic alphabet if you want to learn Russian. I thought it would be a good way to brush up on my college Russian. I can say, "I'm going to town" when I see it in Cyrillic but if a beginner tried to read it in the English alphabet as it's written in this book he or she would have difficulty. If that person ever did venture to Russia he or she would be unable to read the restroom or metro signs. I can't imagine how someone with no knowledge of Russian could even begin to utilize this book. It's hard to use even if you know some Russian. I guess publishers hope to profit by selling a copy to most libraries in America. Without the Cyrillic alphabet there's nothing to build on.

How to be illiterate in Russian
I have NO idea what would possess a publisher to put out a Russian text without anything in Cyrillic!It's a mind-boggling error that would leave one totally unable to read anything in Russian, and what's the point of learning to be illiterate in a foreign language?Luckily for me, I found this book in a store and had a chance to look at it before buying...as soon as I realized the transliterations weren't simply aids to pronunciation, I put it back on the shelf.It's such a great idea, to have a book of practice exercises, but if all your other materials are in Cyrillic, you need to practice writing it.I hope the publisher re-thinks this, and does it correctly next time--it would be so useful to have.

Tragic Mistake to buy this book
This practice book has a similar title to the excellent: Everything Learning Russian.

I bought it as a companion to the excellent title, but this book apparently takes a different philosophy.Unfortunatley one of pandering.

There are two philosophies to book selling in the Russian language learning sphere, one is to write an excellent quality learning material, and to sell, sometimes slowly, but to steadily sell over many years through reputation.

Then there is the 'pandering' philosophy.Make the book appear easier to the uniniated by dropping Cyrillic and other methods, so someone browsing the book in the store will buy it, calculating that the book looks easier than those with Cyrillic.

You will not learn Russian without Cyrillic.It takes two weeks to get good at Cyrillic, just do it.After you do that, you will have a world of tools available (the entire Russian language interent, not to be ignored) to you, the russian language makes far more sense, and pronunciation of new words becomes easier.

Don't save yourself two weeks of time by not learning Cyrillic, then waste literally YEARS of time, because you are trying to learn in such an awkward unnatural way to learn Russian as to use only transliteration.

I assumed this book was OK, because of the other title with the similar being rather fun and good. I got suckered, I hope you don't.

Get the similar edition: Everything Learning Russian
Agreeing with previous reviews of this book-CD, I found the transliteration of Russian very awkward.I happened to look at a similar edition of this series in a bookstore, and noticed that it was not only in Cyrillic, but the Cyrillic uses bold type to indicate stress.The Everything Learning Russian: Speak, Write, and Understand Russian in No Time (Everything: Language and Literature).This is the text to buy if you really want to learn some Russian.

Why the transliteration?
There are so many different systems of transliteration in use in Russian, that unless the reader is familiar with and comfortable with the system used by the author, this book is going to be awkward to use.And besides, anyone who's going to learn Russian should begin with the Cyrillic alphabet anyway.I don't get the purpose of writing the book in transliterated Russian.I found it annoying, because it adds an extra layer of thought to the study process.You have to sound out the transliterated word, visualize it in Cyrillic, and then remember what it means, and then work out the grammar issues.This book is not for students of Russian. I'd suggest that the publisher go back, put the Cyrillic back in and then republish.You can even leave the transliteration in place, it does have some usefulness, after all.But stay away from this if you are accustomed to working in Cyrillic. ... Read more

Product Description
Designed to be a child's very first foreign language dictionary (5-10 years). 500 entries, each accompanied by a large illustration. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

confusing
It is hard to navigate the book if you do not speak Russian. Russian is my first language. I bought Hippocrene Dictionary to teach Russian to my 7 year old daughter who's first language is English. We are getting ahead in our lessons but only because I am a native speaker.

Great way to practice language
this book is great for learning a lot of usefull nouns in a quick way.Even though it is designed for children anyone can use it much like one would use flashcards.Not only a wide variety of basic nouns are introduced, but also a few necessary verbs and one or two phrases.It cannot stand alone as language instruction, but it is indeed a good way to train and remember vocabulary. ... Read more

Product Description
Written for intermediate Russian students

Russian: Face to Face (Dabars, Morris, Smirnova, Vyatyutnev) applies the latest in communicative methodology and is illustrated with up-to-date photographs, drawing, realia, and maps. Twenty chapters at each level help teach a wealth of language functions that develop and expand your students’ ability to communicate in a range of situations.

The fully integrated components—including textbooks workbooks, audiocassettes, and videos—forms a proven program that develops communicative skills. It is 528 pages in length. ... Read more

Product Description
This concise handbook covers parts of speech, including verbs, as well as numbers and the case system. Also included are the basics of the Russian alphabet, spelling rules, and pronunciation. Special topics include word formation, telling time, days, dates, months, and seasons. Vinyl jacket. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Good Russian Grammar Book for beginners
This Russian grammar book is not the most comprehensive grammar, but it's very good for beginners or anyone who needs a quick reference guide.

The book's explanation on aspect in Russian verbs is very clear as well. It explains that the imperfective past is used for processes, whereas the perfective past is used for results. After closer inspection, I realized that these two past tenses are identical to the imperfect and preterit tenses in Spanish. So if you're studying Russian past tenses, you may be able to use the acronyms that I explain in my book on Spanish grammar.

Imperfective Past HIDE

Habitual Actions (used to + VERB)
Incoplete Actions (was/were + ING form)
Descriptions in the past
Emotions/Feelings (most of the time)

Perfectice Past STARS

Sudden Ocurrence
Time Limit/Complete Actions
Action Disrupts action of Imperfective Verb
Result/Reaction
Series of Distinct Events or Instances

Brandon Simpson

A great grammatical overview
One shouldn't mistake this book for what it's not.This is a compact-sized reference guide to all of the basics of Russian grammar (plus some other subjects such as pronunciation, idioms, the use of ty vs. vy when addressing someone, and numbers).It's not meant to be the be-all and end-all guide of Russian language instruction; unless you're supplementing this with lessons or with another more thorough book on the language, you're not going to become fluent in Russian by a long shot.It plays the type of role a foreign language dictionary does; sure it contains a lot of information and basics, but you can't do anything with it if it's your only instructional volume.

Grammatical topics covered include when to use which case (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional), the declensions themselves (which really aren't that hard to master once you've learnt the basic forms), word order, the different types of adjectives (e.g., superlative, interrogative, demonstrative, descriptive), the different types of pronouns (e.g., intensive, negative, indefinite, reflexive), forming imperative and conditional verbs, adverbs, basic verb conjugation, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, telling time, and talking about the weather.Overall, it's a great compact resource, and in addition to being used in conjunction with a Russian class, can also be used in preparation for starting a Russian class or to brush up on one's Russian after not having used it for awhile.

best small grammar reference
I bought this book back in 1992, literally the day it came out, based on my experience with Barron's similar guide for the French language.Concise, well organized, and very comprehensive for it's size, this inexpensive book is a perfect companion to a lesson book or textbook.

An ok pocket guide
I bought this book several years back.The grammar that was in it was very basic and was not always helpful in understanding how to use Russian grammar properly.But if you are just starting out and you only have roomto fit it in your pocket, then I'd say go ahead.But I would recommend amore comprehensive grammar book for those who want to speak a little moreclearly.

A Superb Reference
This book is an excellent quick reference on Russian grammar.The information is very well organized and concise (including very useful tables of all the case endings in the back), so it's easy to find what youneed very quickly.In conjunction with an English-Russian, Russian-Englishdictionary I can have conversations over ICQ in Russian for practice.Iwish Barron's would publish these books for more languages.They areexcellent for learning the language or if you're just curious about how thegrammar works. ... Read more

Product Description
This proficiency-based reader introduces beginning- and intermediate-levelreaders to a strategy-based approach for dealing with a wide selection of authentic Russian texts through a variety of activities based on top-down and bottom-up processing strategies.Groups readings into 12 thematic units spanning a broad range of topics and interests.Covers several thematic categories, including — work and business; housing and real estate; shopping and economy; food and nutrition; computers and communication; and young people and society. Accompanies each passage with a variety of reading activities designed to help readers develop their text-processing skills. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

comprehension of Russian Language
This book give a pure help on how really a reader can manage the ssystem of reading this difficult language for all anglophones. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume by C. S. Lewis presents all seven fantasy novels from his Narnia series in a chronological order in Russian translation, starting with "The Magician's Nephew". The following novels are: "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", "The Horse and His Boy", "Prince Caspian", "The Voyage of the Dawn Threader", "The Silver Chair" and "The Last Battle". With original illustrations by Pauline Baynes. ... Read more

Product Description
Includes:
-Guide to pronunciation: simple phonetics based on English spelling
-20 conversational lessons: useful vocabularies; interesting conversations with pronunciation and helpful footnotes
-Cultural information: panorama of Russian life and literature
-Complete reference grammar: clear explanations of rules of grammar and structure of the language
-Bilingual dictionary: all useful words you need to know

Special offer:
-High quality sound
-Compact and portable
-Useful conversations
-Easy to use
-At home, in your car, or wherever you go
... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Practice, practice, practice
If you are serious about learning a language, and not just phrases, you must practice.More comprehensive than a typical audio course, and much cheaper & more convenient than a software package, this book serves as a handy study aid.

Yes the material is dated (pretty much unchanged from the 50's), and the typography is a mess.You would be nuts if you tried to learn Russian from this book alone.But for $10 you get a cornucopia of study material.Repetition, variation, and drills. And repetition.

The approach to grammar is unique: when a new grammatical form is encountered, it is cross-referenced to one of the thousand or so endnotes that expound (in great detail) on the principle at issue.These endnotes comprise about a third of the book.Nice idea, but it makes the book much harder to use as a reference.(For reference purposes, get Kemple's Russian grammatica.)

The book would be infinitely more useful if Cortina Languages made the audio available as downloadable MP3's.There is a card to mail in & order phonograph records, but I didn't actually try it.They don't have it on the website so I doubt it is available.

As it is though, $10 is worth it just as a study aid.

Boring, But Useful
The content of this book is a useful supplement to other methods of study. No one method is going to make you fluent, so I am using Pimsleur Method and a few books. The Cortina Method is based on grammatical rules and repetition. If this were the only method available to me, I would have quit on page 3. As a supplement, I am using it to develop my cyrillic reading skills and vocabulary. The print is horrible, but the organization is great. If you have the drive and determination, the Cortina method can be useful. However, I would look at other books and methods first.

Dr Tom
Definitely a vintage book,Stalingrad is mentioned in one of the dialogues but valuable none the less.It starts off with simple conversations with english side by side with the Russian for ease of use.Each chapter concentrates on a grammar point which is illustated with many example sentences incorporating the relevant structures.I find this method superior for language learning as it enables you to assimilate by example rather than intellectual analysis which I believe is a barrier to fluency in any language.If you are studying Russian then audio from another course is essential, this book would be an useful to addition that.

Great examples, good grammar appendix, nice line drawings
Perhaps the print seems spartan, but the examples in this book are great and so numerous.

I especially like the grammar section in the back. Youcan find numerous stock phrases that can be memorized for variousconversations you may anticipate:

e.g the section on prepositions"po" and "v" alone has instantly useable examples(pp 302-303)

'po ponedelnikam''on Mondays' 'v vremya voini''during the war' 'vo vremya''on time' 'po moemy mneniyu''in my opinion' 'v ety noch' 'on that night' 'v etom sluchae''in this case'

These are just a few of them I thought off the top of myhead.

The line drawings seem dull but on closer observation they areauthentic if minimalist views of Soviet/Russian life which test yourknowledge of the culture.

Check out the equestrian statue of Peter theGreat (p. 31) Can you recognize the line to Lenin's Tomb? (p. 192) Thespire of one of the Stalin-era skyscrapers of Moscow State University? (p.135) The mezzanine of the Gosudarstvennii Universalnii Magazin (p.140)

Before I go to a party with Russian friends I memorize variousphrases. My knowledge of the language has noticeably improved.

For around$10 this volume is a bargain!

Not pretty, but great for teaching
I probably would have given this book four stars, but I felt the need to make up for the previous reviewer's one star. This really IS a good book - The type is a little bit hard to read but if one is familiar with theCyrillic letters it will not be hard. I'm sure with reading glasses you'dhave no trouble. This book basically teaches in several ways. It has adialog or conversation at the beginning of each lesson, and gives theEnglish translation. Then, it has "Exercises," where an exampleis given of a type of sentence and then more sentences are given in justRussian. These are done at an easy pace, so it not hard to understand them.Finally, for the last third of the book there is a grammar reference, whichis VERY helpful - The lessons have footnotes pointing to these grammarnotes. All in all, this book is fairly, well, textual (not many pictures!),but if you're commited to learning more than just "traveler's"Russian, definitely check out this book! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

One of the Best Language Courses I've ever seen
This BBC course (which comes with cassettes) is extremely well thought out and supports you the whole way through. For example, instead of trying to teach you the whole cyrillic alphabet at one gulp, it spreads the unfamiliar squiggles over 4 lessons all the while moving you directly into the heart of Russian language and culture with each lesson. The exercises are imaginative and very useful; using lots ofactual realia (train tickets, shop signs, play bills, menus, etc) that are fascinating on their own. You're even doing Russian Crossword puzzles by lesson 5!! The structure allows you to continually reuse the things you've learned in the previous lessons and concentrates on practical language necessities and situations while you're in Russia. I am a foreign language teacher myself, and needed to learn some Russian quickly. I found that this series gave me exactly the 'building blocks" with which to make myself understood and really enjoy my trip!

You're on your own
I found this course to be quite helpful in attempting to learn Russian with minimal assistance from a Russian tutor.

The lessons are real world oriented and of a length that allows the student to consume the language in reasonably sized bites.

I was able to get by in Russia and the Ukraine after studying for less than six months.

The best of the low priced language courses. ... Read more

Product Description
"Annotated Teacher Edition" contains the student edition, along with answers and teaching strategies. ... Read more