Customer Reviews

Basic Russian Complete Course: Cassette/Book Package (Living Language Complete Courses Cassette Edition)

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is based on the first eleven lessons or one side of one tape. The course book and tapes together give a good start in learning Russian. They provide a fairly thorough understanding of Russian pronunciation rules. It is not a very good way to learn while driving a car though. It is necessary to read the book at the same time you are listening to the tape. With the Russian only on the tape, all you can do is mimic the sounds and without the book even that is difficult.

After returning from a trip to St. Petersburg, where I had to rely on brief guidebooks, I decided to pick up this Living Language course to learn Russian. I bought this one because it was in my price range, but that turned out to be a great thing. The explanations of grammar are really clear, and there are plenty of charts inside. Being able to hear the words as you read them in Cyrillic is wonderful; if you get too used to reading them in regular letters you'll never know how to read the signs for the bathroom! I recently called some Russian friends in St. Petersburg, and they told me my Russian is great! I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn Russian correctly, without spending way too much money.

During my struggle to learn Russian, I've had this course for a few years. It has served a good purpose, but not the purpose advertised.

The tapes have proven extreemly helpful in learning pronunciation. Only Russian is spoken, so there's no distraction from the sounds of the language that you're trying to imitate. The dictionary is also somewhat helpful. Though compact, it contains many useful words with simple definitions.

Here's the catch: Though the coursebook contains a lot of useful information, it is not arranged for progessive learning. Some lessons focus on reading, others on pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary. So in stead of learning to communicate in sentences (which don't even occur in the first few chapters) you learn a lot of disconnected facts and rules.

Here's my take: If you need help with pronunciation, or a source for vocabulary, this is a good buy. But if you need a complete course for self-learning, your money may be better spent on a different course.

There are three things that I find valuable about this product. First, the tapes give you an opportunity to hear real Russian spoken by four different narrators. This is a great way to get used to the native accent and to try to mimic it yourself.

Second, the dictionary is pretty weak, but it highlights the one thousand most common words in the Russian language. Working through the dictionary and memorizing these words is a great way to build a useful, working vocabulary in the language.

Third, the coursebook and its accompanying tapes give the learner a basic taste of the Russian language in a variety of settings. Even if you're clueless about how the grammar works, memorizing the phrases that are used on the tapes can give you some useful vocabulary.

There are a couple of drawbacks, though. First, I didn't like the approach to grammar which the coursebook took. If you really want to learn the language, there is no better book than Nicholas J. Brown's "New Penguin Russian Course." And second, the tapes are all in Russian, so they are only useful in the car if you've already memorized the words that are used. But other than than, this is a good product for beginners getting familiar with the Russian language.

I agree with reviewer from Michigan. My objective was to learn a little Russian in three weeks to speak with some visitors from Russia. It is not much help. The tapes have no English speaking translation, so are useless for in the car. The book has no equivalent phonetic English spelling, which would have been a big help for the beginner. I should have checked other products.