5 comments about Russian For Dummies (For Dummies (Language & Literature)).

1. This book is quite handy...that is if you don't ever plan on reading anything in Russia. I don't understand why there isn't any cyrillic, except for the alphebet (big help!) at the beginning, you would think the being able to read Russian would help. Besides this slight error the book is quite good. A recomendation though would be to buy a cheap russian-english dictionary with this book.



2. If you have never studied Russian, and expect to be in country for only a short period as a tourist and want to learn a couple of phrases to get around, this book will do the job admirably. For anyone who wants to really learn the language to become reasonably fluent and conversant in the language, this is not the book for you.
   
   The most obvious problem involves the decision of the authors not to use the Cyrillic alphabet at all, but rather to transliterate everything into the Roman alphabet. This will obviously pose a tremendous problem should the student then actually travel to a Russian speaking country and find everything written in Cyrillic; and worse, the pronunciation guides become pretty confusing and hard to use. The conversations on the CD are vital to gaining real understanding of the pronunciation of the language.
   
   The book is broken down into chapters based on general areas of interest to the tourist, i.e. introductions, food in restaurants, directions, getting around, and so on. These chapters then give you useful phrases, and reasonably short vocabulary to master, all again in Roman alphabet. The categories are well thought out, presented in a format very easy to assimilate, and with a certain amount of humor which makes the medicine go down a little easier.
   
   The authors make clear that the aim of the book is to give you access to some words, phrases, and sentence building tools which will make it possible to communicate the basics in Russian, and not to achieve fluency. That's fine so long as the student knows that going in, although if that is all you want you might be better off with the Pimsleur CD sets (though these are expensive). If you want to achieve greater control over the language, skip this book entirely, and work with a program that immerses you in the Cyrillic alphabet from the start. Using this book in conjunction with a course that works in Cyrillic will only confuse the student.



3. I like to content and would have used this book but...
   
   When I visited Russia, I had two maps of Moscow one in Cyrillic and one in Latin letters. Which do you think I used? I used the Cyrillic. Not because I could read it, but I could look at the street sign and find out where i was standing. I could not say it but the letters matched and i knew where I was. The latin letter map was impossible for reading the street sign.
   
   You can learn to speak Russian and not read the Cyrillic letters using audio lessons. You can not learn correctly speaking Russian using latin letters. The sounds do not always match the same letter. Until the book uses Cyrillic letters for Russian words, I can not recommend this work.
   
   The author did much hard work of very good quality. Without the Cyrillic it is poor quality book to use for learning Russian.



4. I have been learning/speaking Russian for 10 years now and I saw the book at the bookstore to see if I could use it to improve things that I missed out from classes I took with Serafima Gettys (one of the co-authors) while she was at Stanford. (I took first year Russian from her).
   
   The book seems to be targeting tourists rather than people who are into learning Russian for good. Does not teach any grammar, no cyrillic and not enough vocabulary. I think the book is mistargeted. For tourists, you need a book that is easy to carry around that have the key sentences or images to point to. Berlitz makes them, and a few other companies. Normally, the dummies series is supposed to help you learn the basics of the language, and here it's teaching no Cyrillic, so the reader will not have the opportunity to learn the language easily, and misses out there, then the lessons are not useful either. They're way too limited and confusing after they get a bit complex in the later chapters. It definitely needs a chapter in cyrillic, and needs some grammar.
   
   I must say that I am not fond of the teaching style in the book. It's hard to read also. It could be fun reading in the toilet if you want though... Russian is the most difficult language among 7 languages I speak, so I highly recommend getting a serious book to teach you.



5. This book teaches you the basics of Russian in a useful way. You don't have to read straight through either. You can skip to the part you want, like writing letters. I don't think it will teach you Russian on it's own. I suggest investing in the Rosetta Stone Rosetta Stone V3: Russian, Level 1 program and use this book to complement it. The problem is that this book does not use the Cyrillic alphabet. It gives you the basics of the Cyrillic alphabet, but won't teach you to use it. So, you need to learn to read Russian in another book.
   
   Overall: The book is fun and easy to read, it is chock full of great information, and the language CD is useful. However, you will need other assistance in learning Russian, especially for pronunciation.

5 comments about Langenscheidt's Pocket Russian Dictionary: Russian - English / English - Russian.

1. I'm entering my third year of Russian study, and I am becoming frustrated with this dictionary. It is the only one I used the first two years, and it served me well during that time. The small size is convenient, and the grammar tables in the back have been invaluable. However, I have found (especially in the English to Russian section) many inaccuracies, and the Russian to English section lacks many words that are necessary--even fairly basic ones. If you want a good jumping-off point, this will suffice, but pretty soon you would be better off buying a reference grammar and a more complete dictionary.



2. I bought this dictionary right before my first Russian course, and I was impressed by it's cool/durable cover, small size, etc. but not impressed with its content. Although the interface and layout make words very easy to find, my problem is that it's not easy to find out if something is an adjective, pronoun, noun, etc. So, it gets a "D" in the grammar department, but I would suggest it as a quick reference for going on a trip or something of that nature. Other than that, I would go with the Oxford version if you really want to learn the language and have the words "defined."



3. While my Russian grammar is relatively solid, I have been noticing a lack of vocabulary knowledge. In an effort to remedy the problem, I purchased this dictionary. Needless to say, it has done wonders for my Russian vocabulary.
   
   I work in a restaurant as a server, and I carry this dictionary around (usually in my pocket, it fits nicely) and basically just look up any word, item, phrase, etc. that pops into my head. For example, tonight I saw someone wearing a yellow shirt, so I looked up the words "yellow" and "shirt".
   
   In addition to vocabulary help, it has some VERY useful and very comprehensive grammar tables in the back, listing all of the major case endings and verb conjugations. These tables go a long way in helping you form phrases and complete sentences with the words you look up.
   
   Physically the dictionary seems very sturdy. I've been using it for several weeks now and the binding is holding firm. The cover is also made of a nice plastic material. This has obviously come in handy since I work in a restaurant. I've spilled sauce on it, dropped it on a wet, dirty kitchen floor, and abused it in many other ways, and it always comes out clean-as-a-whistle.
   
   The dictionary doesn't have every word, and in some cases it lists two words without adequate explanation about which to use in which instance. But this has to be expected in a pocket dictionary. My recommendation is to use this on the go, and keep a heavy-duty, full dictionary at home so you can clarify any questions regarding word usage.
   
   For anyone trying to master Russian I highly recommend this dictionary. Use it well and often and you will quickly multiply your vocabulary and even increase your grammar knowledge.



4. I like it very much. It's got the most important Russian words, so I can use it to learn vocabulary. Great !



5. I had to return this because it did me no good without having knowledge of the Russian alphabet. Maybe when I'm more advanced I would find it helpful. Langenscheidt's language books are normally very good and I'm sure this is too, but I was just not ready for it.

5 comments about Teach Yourself Beginner's Russian Script.

1. I am taking a beginning Russian class and have found this book to be very helpful in preparing me for the initial classes. I would have been lost without it.
   
   The Russian alphabet can be offputting however, after only a couple of days with this text, I was able to read in Russian and often even understood what I was reading. Of course, this book is only helpful if you spend time with it but that's not hard because it's well written and well organized. I highly recommend it.



2. Excellent starter book to learn from.. Have used more than anything else to learn to speak short conversations with older russian patients. Able to communicate much more than I thought. The only thing that I can sayy negative about book is that I wish the print was a little bigger, as, I have poor sight and the print is kind of small. Great content!!!!!



3. This might be fine for someone who wanted practice in reading the Russian alphabet. However, I made the mistake of taking the title literally. I can read (or at least sound out) Russian books, but I have trouble reading or writing cursive Russian, which often looks quite different from the printed font. There is hardly any material on handwriting the language.



4. I found this book just right for learning the Russian script. It is taken in gradual steps with lots of cognates so you don't get bogged down with vocabulary learning. The book keeps your interest using many tips on Russian life and introducing pertinent (practical) words which will be useful on any visit to the country. Also examples of ads, tickets, announcements, etc. to give you a real life idea of how the script is used. I didn"t give it five stars because it does not tell you how to form the letters of the handwriting and you will have to look closely at the examples to find out which letters are higher than the others and which go below the line. Would recommend this along with a basic Pimsleur audio course before tackling a grammar.



5. Okay, I had no knowledge of Russian script when I started this book. In four days, I was reading PRINTED Cyrillic 100%. Only four days and I could read Russian print. I spent four more days on only the practice of Russian hand-written script. Then I worked through the rest of the book in a little over a week. At that point I could read written Russian pretty well. Maybe 80%. There are some letters that are very close in appearance and a bit of variation in how some are written/connected -- you'll see what I mean. So it will be a while before I'm acing it. But after spending about 30 minutes a day for about two weeks, I'm reading all kinds of Russian. It's like a big door has been opened.

5 comments about Russian: Lonely Planet Phrasebook.

1. As the founder of Discovering Russia, a company devoted to enriching cultural and business travel to Russia, we are always looking for good travel books to recommend for our clients. "Lonely Planet Russian Phrasebook" is such a volume for those who are trying to learn more than the barest of phrases.
   
   Many guidebooks include a few pages in the back with a Russian alphabet and brief phrase guide (including Lonely Planet's various guides to Russia). This is a good book for those looking to learn a few phrases as well as basic grammar. The size is perfect for a traveler to supplement their basic guidebook when touring.
   
   As most with most other dictionaries, "Lonely Planet Russian Phrasebook" does NOT have clear syllable stress marks, which are very important in Russian. Also, many of the phrase choices are almost archaic in contemporary Russia (and the inclusion of vulgarity is a complete waste of space).
   
   The "Lonely Planet Russian Phrasebook" is useful bridge between the brief phrase lists in guidebooks and a minicourse in Russia. It is useful for travelers to carry around during their journey of Discovering Russia.
   
   Marc David Miller, Discovering Russia, New York



2. Lonely Planet Russian is basically two helpings of basic grammar followed by many sections of phases you won't likely ever use. For instance, the guide provides several pages each of lists of occupations, nationalities, college majors, items of stationary, jewellery, colors, insects, flowers, aquatic sports(!), electrical appliances, camping terms,and so on. Also provided are pat phrases to employ at a hotel's front desk, at a doctor's, at the optometrist, and eating out, among other mini-sections. The book, in effect, is set up to be taken out to be used once a day, if that. It's an improvement on Berlitz phrase books, but not by much. (Berlitz simply divides their books into 10 or so color coded sections such as: "sightseeing," "relaxing," "shopping," travelling around," "money," "eating out," etc.)
   
   Rough Guide Russian, in comparison, is structured completely differently. The first 50 pages gives you numbers, days of the week, time, etc., and a 20 minute course in Russian grammar. Oh no, you might be saying, but it is presented very simply. For instance it presents a handful of common verbs and their conjugations. So on one page you can see how to say "I have," "he has, " etc. and "I like," "he/ she likes," etc.
   
   The rest of the book is split between an English-Russian dictionary (130 pages approx), a Russian-English dictionary (70 pages, approx.), and a 20 page menu reader. What makes the English-Russian dictionary pages unique, though, is that most every other page (at least) has dialogue boxes relating to the most useful word(s) on that particular page. For instance, when you thumb through the book for the word "live," you get the word itself, but also the phrases "I live in..." and "Where do you live?" It'll take you 10 minutes to find such a phrase in Berlitz or Lonely Planet in their "getting to know others' section. But because Rough Guide is structured as a dictionary, with hundreds of really useful phrases highlighted in boxes within, you can access something you want to say rather swiftly...and actually deliver it just a minute or so after looking for it. Add the grammar section, where you learn useful verbs and how to conjugate their past tenses, and the number section, and you can learn easily to chat with someone about where you are from, where you are going, where you have traveled thus far, what you like/liked, and so on. Likewise, knowing have to say "have" make sit easily to ask whether a hotel has rooms, whether the room has a shower (after thumbing through the book for the word for shower), etc. And when the answer comes back that the hotel doesn't have one, or they say "we have...," you can actually catch what they are saying.
   
   If still not persuaded, next time you're in a bookstore compare a Berlitz, a Lonely Planet, and a Rough Guide language phrase book side by side. If you just want a book for emergencies (say, breaking a leg, etc.) then Berlitz and/or Lonely Planet phrase books will serve you well...in your pocket until you are faced with such a situation, since they do have many more specific terms (like 50 different parts of the the body), but if you really want to be able to say some things in Russian on a daily basis during your trip you'll be much better served by The Rough Guide to Russian Dictionary Phrasebook 3 (Rough Guide Phrasebooks). Cheers



3. This little book helped me immensely on my trip to Russia... basic survival skills were laid out up at the front and the pronounciation was dead on. The social section produced some smiles with the friends that I met.



4. If you just want to learn basic Russian, enough to get you through without looking like a total ignoramous, then this is for you. It has useful phrases along with sounding the words out for you. It is categorized nicely into situations with colored binding. A very helpful little (pocket sized) book.



5. I personally love the lonely planet translation series of books. This one is fantastic in how it breaks the subjects down into easy categories. I also love that certain adult conversations one might have are not left out.

5 comments about Roots of the Russian Language: An Elementary Guide to Wordbuilding (NTC Russian Series).

1. This book of 450 different roots of the Russian language is the ultimate tool and guide to learning not only how to build your own words in conversation and in writing, but also (and I feel most importantly) in determining how to deconstruct words you pick up in reading and listening to better grasp their meaning.

   Patrick could easily have stopped at simply providing the roots, as well as words built from those roots, but he also gives you sentences with the words in them as examples. Last but not least, he provides a handful of exercises for practice at the end of the book.

   This book should be on the top shelf of every translator and/or student of the Russian language.




2. I first heard about this book from my college Russian teacher, who gave it a strong endorsement as a must-have for all serious students of Russian. I couldn't agree more. This book provides Russian language roots alphabetically and lists around 3-10, sometimes even more words that are derived from that particular root. Memorization of the root leads to a rapid expansion of vocabulary derived from that root, cutting the amount of time spent memorizing vocabulary down significantly. It also allows you to figure out words with great accuracy if you're reading a text and stumble across an unfamiliar word. I strongly reccomend this book for all those who seek to learn to speak Russian fluently for any reason, as well as linguists who will be studying Russian and other Slavic languages.



3. Many Russian textbooks are heavy-handed with grammar, and far too light on vocabulary. This is an excellent suppliment to any Russian course, or better yet, a way to improve your own wordpower in the Russian language. By building on common roots, wordpower is expanded rapidly, and the ability to understand words by identifying roots, just like is done in whatever your native language is, dramatically helps the learner to go from simple sentences to actual discourse.
   
   I highly recommend this book to any student of Russian, from novice to master. You can never speak a language too well!



4. I know the title of this book alone sounds so boring it could put a tweaker to sleep, like a homework assignment in some graduate course at an Ivy League Russian grammar symposium, but it's really interesting for those of us trying to learn Russian. This is the only book I have ever seen that finally organizes groups of words by their roots, enabling a student to see the connections between words and concepts and even a fascinating glimpse into Russian etymology, or the history of words and their development. I think this book is absolutely essential for anyone trying to study Russian.
   
   If you use it, it really will enable you to memorize whole goups of words much faster and help you guess at the meaning of words you don't know if you can pick out the roots of the unknown words. Since these are two of the biggest obstacles to learning Russian, you can see what a valuable book this is.



5. Russian student? Reading Russian? And you keep running into words with component parts in them that you've already seen somewhere else, and think there's something you need to know?
   Well, you're right. There is! There are a large number of Russian word-components that are recycled through all the vocabulary. This book gives the main prefixes, and then has a little chapter for each of the units of meaning, with each variant illustrated in a sample sentence, and the sentence is translated.
   I find this book a great way to multiply my Russian vocabulary and increase my Russian reading speed.

5 comments about Schaum's Outline of Russian Grammar.

1. This book covers a lot of grammar, but it isn't organized progressively. Each lesson has topics from other lessons, so you'll often have to skip around. Regardless, pretty much anything you'd need to know is included in this book. If you don't know how to express dates for instance, you can skip to that section and there are detailed explanations and examples. I wish there were more exercises, but this is really more of a reference book than a drill book. There's no glossary, but you'll find a lot of Russian vocabulary here, so it's also good to have a dictionary when you use this book. Overall, this is an extensive, thorough grammar book, but it's really not a great introduction to Russian. Buy this after you've learned the basics.



2. One of the best deals for intensive Russian self teaching. Still need a native speaker to listen to you, but this is the only exercise book you'll need to achieve fluency.



3. A good book, but...why does the author use italics to highlight the words he is trying to make some grammatical point about? I know I need to eventually learn italics (5 small Russian letters don't look anything like the standard letters) but not now.



4. I had purchased this gramma book for myself over a year ago. Found explanations and exercises strengthened by Russian skills. Only let down being there was not a dictionary in the back of the text for the words used throughout. Nevertheless this is a very useful text to have and therefore purchased an identical copy for a very dear friend who is doing Russian.



5. It is a very well written and well explained rules of this difficult language. It is staight foreward to the point explantion of all the grammatical rules that are needed to learn or even master the Russian Language. It makes a perfect complementary book for a textbook of learning the language. The only thing that I wish it had was if it had come with an audio cd as an outline of all the rules to hear how words especially at the end,change pronounciation under different cases. The price was right given how good the book was.

5 comments about Russian Stories: A Dual-Language Book.

1. I bought this book as part of my ongoing acquisition of the Russian language. The layout is excellent and typical of these types of book; the stories are well selected and entertaining, with a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical usage.
   
   But...
   
   Anyone wanting to use this book as a booster to their contemporary Russian language skills should bear in mind that a Russian person learning English would not be best served by heading for the library and taking down Dickens, Tennyson, and Gaskill. Languages shift, change, and evolve and today's spoken Russian is as different from that of Gogol as English in San Francisco is different from that of Thackerey. Arguably the English spoken in San Francisco is fairly nasty ("He was like, that was so totally awsome, and I was like, cool...") because it is imprecise and unfocused and in fact fails to convey much meaning; nevertheless a solid grounding in Henry James wouldn't prepare someone for a close encounter with the local natives of the Sunset District. Likewise, the stories here won't really help you much with contemporary Russian as spoken by a teenage girl in Peter or a xenophobic hoodie near Red Square.
   
   But as a pleasure in itself, this book is a gem and a worthwhile addition to the library of anyone who is just establishing a beach-head in the language.



2. A book of short stories from famous Russian Authors, Half in Russian and Half in english. The book loks intimidating, but the stories are selected to appeal.
   The stories were capitvating and all were easy to follow except the cave. I did attempt to read the russian and the layout makes this easy.
   I have now been introduced to different Russian authors that I will follow up.



3. Got this book a while ago, its way too hard for me for my level but the good thing is you can work through at a slow pace and still get a lot out of it. Stress marks are very helpful, would have been useless to me without them basically, and the glossary is also helpful although it doesn't include everything (good to have a dictionary nearby). Layout is good, that is, having the english on the adjacent page, makes for very easy reference to the english. Archaic language is usually noted and explained as such, which is useful. Great for reading practice, highly recommendable book for all skill levels (i have only been learning for around 6 months but have still got a lot out of it so far). Good selection of stories and enough to keep an beginner reader going for a long time!



4. This book works on two levels: One, these short stories are by the Russian masters of the genre. In English translation, they are powerful, evocative, and moving, on their own. There is a reason why Pushkin, Chekhov, and Dostoevsky are still popular: Those guys didn't write any garbage. They set the bar for all writers as high as it could go. I would especially recommend "Sleepy" by Anton Chekhov. Read it on Halloween night, as I did, for a good old fashioned fright.
   
   Secondarily, for those of us learning Russian, these short stories provide fascinating and very challenging works to translate. Be advised, this is a high level of Russian literature, written for educated and literate native speakers, so it's a big challenge. Pack a lunch.
   
   The short story format is especially beneficial. If you can get through one story, believe me, you are ready for the psychological reward of starting a new story.



5. you can make this as easy or as challenging as you like. You learn words when they keep popping up in the stories

5 comments about Teach Yourself Russian Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself . . . Complete Courses).

1. This book is accompanied by a CD with a voice recording of an Englishman speaking Russian rather than of an American speaking Russian. The speaker's vowel pronunciation is based on the English way of pronouncing vowels and can be clearly distinguished on the CD. For instance, when the speaker says a certain Russian sound is the same as the "a" sound in "father" that is not helpful to Americans who pronounce the "a" in "father" quite differently! Many other such examples are found in this CD. A recording made by an American would be more helpful to Americans.



2. This book is a great purchase and you should consider buying Beginner's Russian Script to go along with it. I've purchased Russian for Dummies but it doesn't have Russian written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Therefore I think that the Dummies book was a waste. Russian is a difficult language to learn but if you are considering learning it, you should definitely buy this book.



3. I bought this book in preparation for a trip to Russia. Years ago I studied Russian in high school and college. As a result, I was able to get into this program fairly easily. However, I would not recommend it to someone with no Russian experience -- it requires that you immediately start reading Russian sentences, and given that the language uses a totally different alphabet, that to me is an unreasonable jump.
   My other comment is that the type is quite small and so those unfamiliar Russian letters are a bit more difficult to decipher than they could be.



4. I have used other language books from the Teach Yourself lable and found them to be excelent value. But the Russian book had several flaws that I found really annoying.
   
   Firstly the word lists are often incomplete, both after the dialogues and in the mini dictionary at the end of the book. Secondly the excercises are fairly light which doesn't help with practicing the language. I often need to use a seperate dictionary to find the meanings of words.
   
   Russian grammar is fairly complex with six cases for which all verbs and adjectives need to be inflected. I don't think this book did a very good job of drilling those rules.
   
   The book does have many good points. It is thorough and will reap rewards with hard work. It would make a very good compliment to several other books, especially a grammar book such as Schaum's Russian Grammar.



5. This course is a little too time-consuming for the casual traveler who wants to just learn some easy basics. I think it's a very good course for someone who has a few months to go through it and is going to spend some time in Russia. It shows the Russian spelling of the words and that is helpful. The course requires a bit of writing in the language and while it's good to learn to write it, it's probably not necessary for the short-time tourist. If you have the time, and enjoy digging into a new language, this is a good course to use. Otherwise, I'd go for "Teach Yourself Instant Russian".

5 comments about English-Russian, Russian-English Dictionary.

1. Great dictionary a lot of words and descriptions.
   Weak side - an absence of transcriptions for English words.
   Good choice to learn Russian for English speaking people but not vice versa.



2. This dictionary is the best for American students because it's based on American English. Other dictionaries are based on British English (which means that they include some words American students don't use, and leave out some idiomatic expressions that American students do use). What I really like about this dictionary is as follows:
   1) It gives lots of good examples
   2) It includes a number of phrases along with the entry word
   3) All the words in the English-Russian section can be found in the Russian-English section, and vice versa
   4) It has every word you'll need to learn in your first 5 or 6 years of Russian (it even has English words I didn't know).
   Although it's paperbound, by the time the book wears out, the student of Russian is advanced enough for a good Russian-Russian dictionary.



3. This Russian language dictionary by Kenneth Katzner is the best and most comprehensive one I have been able to find.I have purchased several others only to be dissapointed but not with this one.



4. Ideal for translating everything from "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" to contemporary colloquial Russian.
   
   Unlike other dictionaries, Katzner's identifies literary obsolete, colloquial, and even vulgar words thus sparing the student of potentially embarrassing moments. Knowing the difference between "kushats" and "zhrats" might make for a more pleasant dining experience or the Russian equivalent of "breast" and "bosom" a more accurate reading of Lermontov.
   
   Katzner also lists separately the perfective verb in the Russian to English half, meaning if while reading a Russian text you stumble across an unfamiliar perfective verb you don't have to guess it's imperfective form to locate its meaning. Other dictionaries fail miserably on this point. He also identifies the required case of certain verbs.
   
   As for binding issues, yes, your dictionary will eventually fall apart because you'll use it so much and in so many different places (classroom, cafe, office, home, etc..). I have plenty of other dictionaries all inferior and seldom used which remain in perfectly wonderful shape. :-)



5. This is by far the best dictionary we have ever found. We have used at least a dozen different dictionaries. My wife teaches Russian langauage to American born children and a good dictionary is very important.

5 comments about The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks).

1. This is just a really fantastic resource for a beginning student. Other Russian-learning products I've tried mostly attempt to have you memorize a series of useful phrases and words. That's fine if all you are going to do is spend a short amount of time traveling and only need to ask where the bathroom is. However, if you're wanting to truly learn the language, it's important to get started with the grammar. This book does that. Right away it provides grammar tables and exercises to help you learn the structure of the language. The only downside I've found that it appears to be focused toward British students because it refers to a lot of locations in the UK. Not a big deal, though. You still are able to learn the grammar.



2. I have studied on my own at various levels of seriousness 6 languages in my life, (some to the extent of becoming fully fluent, some becoming basically conversational, and some starting and giving up out of disinterest or dislike for the language in general) and amid the many books I've used for all the languages, I found this book to be the best book for any independent foreign language learner (i.e. not in a university or other language class). Not just for Russian - which this book happens to cover - but any book. The reasons, below:
   
   - reasonbly compact chapters with specific points to be learned in a logical order
   - starts with basic grammar, and expands very methodically upon the fundamentals, gradually progressing to A-level Russian
   - no "travel talk" - all texts and exercises are normal, everyday (and progressively harder and "bookish") rather than "hotel/airport/taxi" topics
   - very clear explanations of all grammar, at basic as well as obscure levels (and the author tells which points are not so crucial and may be skipped if one wishes to do so - he even does this for an entire chapter on the vagaries of Russian numbers, counting and mathematics)
   - compact in size - can be taken anywhere, and densely packed with vocabulary and grammar - this is no amateur book
   - grammar terms are explained very well, and examples given very clearly
   - good texture of pages and very readable print; no clutter; fonts used are very soft on the eyes and bold (mainly Russian words) are well-highlighted against the slightly tan-tinged, off-white pages - not overly-contrasty as with pure-white linen-colored pages
   - texts vary from being short and to the point, to longer and more literary, providing variety and a chance to move at a good pace
   - again, a very logical progression from basic nouns, verbs, then cases, endings, etc. through tenses, "bookish" style, etc. to cover nearly all the points one might encounter in Russian grammar
   - an unbelievable price for all this - $20 retail, $12 or so on Amazon - worth many times that in terms of content
   
   The downsides?
   
   - no audio tapes - as others have noted, there is no way to know the correct pronunciation unless you supplement it with another series (Teach Yourself, Routledge, etc.) which have dialogues recorded and transcribed
   - there are plenty of exercises for each grammar point but most are pretty brief; need to supplement with Teach Yourself's "Russian Grammar" or Terence Wade's grammar workbook
   - later chapters have rather long vocabulary lists - probably difficult to master all of the vocabulary at once for one chapter, unless one works on a chapter a week or so; takes time to master this moreso than the grammar itself
   - not much use of the often difficult-to-read italic Russian font (found in some other college-related texts) or handwriting (again, not much to say on this but one or two examples would be a nice addition, perhaps the text of a handwritten letter as one chapter addition)
   - I always think the cover photo is so odd - hardly a good shot of St. Basil's on Red Square, taken wide-angle and appearing far off, with the inexplicable marching soldiers and an old Coke billboard (long gone now, I hear) in the forefront - the attempt to juxtapose the various elements of modern and old Russia are negated by the poor photo angle and distracting elements (lamppost, old-ish cars, large boring sidewalk dominating the foreground, etc.) - I know this is hardly a reason to complain about the book, but this mundane shot doesn't get one excited about a Russia visit each time one picks up the book to study; perhaps a snow-covered Orthodox church in the countryside or a nightscape of St. Petersburg, as cliched as those scenes are, would be more attractive and sell the book (also - can't translate what's on that billboard, even after studying the book! Something about "Coca Cola - always better with... [something]..." - can anyone help??)
   
   Otherwise, the best language textbook that I have ever used. Highly recommended above all others.



3. This book is EXCELLENT in my opinion. When I don't fully grasp grammar points from my russian textbook, I refer to this. It would be nice if it came as a cd course though.



4. This is a great book to learn russian from the ground up. Every lesson is comprehensive in its theme and there are exercises at the end of each chapter and solutions in the back. There are also consolidated grammar tables in the appendix for quick lookup and a 1500 word vocabulary. I bought 6 russian language course books on Amazon and this one is by far the best.



5. I chose to use this book as the textbook for my Russian class because it was cheaper than Golosa or Nachalo. That was a mistake. The book includes all the grammatical information that you need to speak Russian, but a beginning Russian student needs more than just grammar. I don't know the author of this book, but I'm guessing that he doesn't place much importance on teaching. It seems he still adheres to the grammar-translation approach to teaching Russian. The organization of the book is confusing, neither thematic nor grammatical. The exercises are brief, and could have easily been lifted from a Russian textbook that was printed in the 50's or 60's. Frankly, I don't know why this book has gotten such rave reviews, unless it's being compared to not having any book at all. It's a lot cheaper than a real textbook, but there's a reason why it's cheaper. If you want a cheap way to learn Russian, check out the Berlitz Self-Teacher from the library.