Russian: A Complete Course for Beginners

by Daphne M. West

Book Overview

Learning Russian is made even easier. This package is perfect for the beginner or those who want to build on existing skills. Features a phonetic pronunciation guide, a practical Russian vocabulary,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0844238236
• ISBN13: 9780844238234
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company
• Length: 334 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Russian Language Course Package

Very good book and CD's. Makes taking a class in Russian language a lot easier.

A Good Introduction

I am using this text and its CDs to follow Pimsleur Conversational Russian. I used the 8 CD Pimsleur to jumpstart my vocabulary and pronunciation. Now I am working on my understanding of grammar and expanding my vocabulary using this Teach Yourself Russian. This is a good introductory text that fits a slower effort than you would make at university. Those of us who have a life --as opposed to those busy defining one-- have to fit language into the interstices. Teach Yourself is good for that. Here is my weekly schedule: Mon - Read the whole lesson, working out the basic pronunciation of the dialog and conversation bits. I don't even look at the exercises for this. Tue, Wed, Thu - 1/3 of the exercises each day and listen to the lesson on CD. I listen at least three times and speak along with a lot of it. Fri - Review two previous lessons. I listen to the two lessons' audio three times and then relax and read through the lessons in the text. Sat, Sun - I don't make myself do anything but I often read the next week's dialogs or even the whole lesson because I can't wait for Monday. For those used to cramming languages into their heads at school, this may seem too laid back But you would be surprised how much you learn this way. One other thing I do is always listen to my curiosity. When I start wondering about some particular grammar point, I study it a bit more. The same goes for vocabulary and so forth. Making some progress everyday and feeding your instinctual hunger for detail will get you some fluency in the end. -----[later] I'm on Lesson 13 now and I thought I'd add something about the hard part. Once you get used to Russian, you discover that the only really hard thing is all the noun endings. Every one of the six cases has different ending for nouns according to gender, of which there are three, each of which has three to four subgroups. Do the math. Nightmare. Here's how I keep from letting it stop me. I make sure I learn everything else: the exercises, the dialogs, the reading. I understand those. Then -- when I feel like it -- I study an ending. I make up an exercise for it and practice using it with all those nouns. Then I go back to the lessons. This way, I will get there -- even if I get there slowly. Just a thought. -----[still later] I should add that you will need a Russian dictionary for this book. The little one at the end of the book isn't adequate. I recommend Romanov's Russian / English Dictionary -- it's cheap and handy. You can get a better one if you need to -- but that will be a while, right? -----[later again] I'm on Lesson 18 now. A few weeks ago, I had to make more time for other things which meant less time for these lessons. I cut them from five days to three in this way: Monday - translate dialog, read grammar notes, do 1/2 exercises, listen 3 times to dialog Tuesday - translate conversation, do 1/2 exercises, listen 3 times to dialog and conversation Wednesday - translate readi

Best book I've come across

Well organized, concise and well explained. Everything is taught in the context of conversational usage so it's easier to remember rather than just memorizing vocab and grammar by rote. Highly recommend. The CDs are useful for hearing pronunciation but that's it... They are pretty short.

A very good value

I've worked through nine of the twenty chapters of this book (and accompanying CDs), and I'm very pleased with it. The author takes a "spiraling" approach, repeating the material in different contexts as you progress through the chapters. Russian grammar is difficult, but the author manages to work it in without belaboring it. There is continuity from chapter to chapter, as you follow Anna as she makes friends with Ira, goes to museums and restaurants, and travels to St. Petersburg by train. I had one semester of Russian using an expensive and, in my opinion, poorly written textbook called Golosa. I also used Rosetta Stone a little, which a friend bought and installed on her computer. In my opinion, neither of these can match Daphne West's book, which costs a small fraction of the other two. No matter which book or computer program you choose, learning Russian requires a LOT of hard work, but I think this book provides a very comprehensive intro to the language, at a very reasonable price. I also recommend the author's companion book, Teach Yourself Russian Grammar.

A clear concise introduction to Russian.

I speak Bulgarian, which is somewhat similar to Russian and boughht this book in hopes that it would give me a concise version of the essential grammar as well as a few basic phrases. In this it delivered magnificently. If you just want to learn a little Russian for your trip then this is a great book to have. It is also an excellent source for basic grammer charts that can help you on a serious study. If you want to really learn Russian, this book will help but is by no means the only book you will need. Russian is a difficult language which will require a lot more serious and percise books than this. However, this is a good book to start with and really easy and clear to understand.