Beginner's Russian: A Basic Russian Course (Russian Edition) [Paperback]

Anna S. Kudyma (Author), Frank J. Miller (Author), Olga E. Kagan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2010

This is the most accessible and carefully paced Russian course on the market. It is aimed at beginners with little or no previous knowledge of the language who want to understand, speak, and read Russian confidently. Along with the book, readers have access to an interactive website full of videos, audio, and self-correcting exercises. The wealth of material on the website provides an invaluable, enriching experience for learners. It features useful and relevant lessons cover everyday situations related to family, jobs, introductions, eating and drinking, the internet, and much more. It offers a gradual introduction to the language, cyrillic alphabet, and grammar with thorough explanations and instructions. The interactive website features correct pronunciation by native speakers and helps learners start speaking Russian right away. It is written by the authors of the highly regarded intermediate text, "V Puti".

Product Details

• Paperback: 383 pages
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books; Pap/Dol Bl edition (July 2010)
• Language: Russian
• ISBN-10: 0781812518
• ISBN-13: 978-0781812511
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Russian
  • #64 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Russian
  • #66 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Russian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best (if not the best) Russian language book out there, August 15, 2010

By 

mohammad "azzuri" (Mclean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginner's Russian: A Basic Russian Course (Russian Edition) (Paperback)

What can I say!! this is one of the best books about learning the Russian language. It scores maximum points on many things including the following:

1- It is as complete as any academic textbook.
2- It is a 2 in 1 book. Textbook and workbook.
3- The books website has all the audio/video and answers which makes it ideal for self learners who don't have to rely on an instructor to correct them. Also the audio and video files can be downloaded to be played on a computer or mp3 player and the answers are in PDF which can be printed or downloaded.
4- The price of the book is under $30 which makes it affordable to everyone (note: Golosa, the only book that comes close to this one costs more than $70 with no answers to exercises and the workbook is sold separately).
5- I like the pace at which the book moves forward. The chapters are bite size and the vocabulary and grammar can be absorbed and understood by everyone including absolute beginners.

Bottom line, I've purchased many Russian language books, dictionaries, and software including Rosetta Stone; This is the first book that I will be recommending from now on to anyone interested in learning Russian. So buy it with confidence because it is worth 10 times it's value.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I highly advise against this book, January 25, 2012

By 

Sam - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginner's Russian: A Basic Russian Course (Russian Edition) (Paperback)

There is very little positives I can say about this book (and the online website). The table of contents is nice and organized, the back dictionaries are...okay and the appendix is good. But that's about it. Everything in between (including the website) was done very poorly. I'd say it'd be near to impossible to use this book to teach yourself Russian. In fact, I would suggest you only buy this book if it is required for a class.

The grammar and overall lessons themselves are in small print in the margins of the pages, and there is very few of them compared to what takes up the rest of the book - exercises. This book is just a workbook in itself. There are plenty of exercises (with no places to look for the answers, so there goes another reason why not to use this by yourself). Many of the students in my class agree in that they don't find the book helpful at all, not to mention confusing.

As for the website, at least it's organized by chapter then exercise. It's coded in Javascript (and not so great at that) which makes cheating very easy (as you just view the source and bam, enocded UTF8 answers that anyone with access to Google can look up; bad decision on their part). I do like that they offer audio and visual tools to help you, but it's very very hard for beginners as the audio quality is so poor and they speak so fast that it's almost impossible to follow.

Overall, I do not like this book. I do not suggest this book. In fact, I'm going to buy another (hopefully better) Russian learning book and only use this one for class. Hopefully the authors will see this and make improvements on any later additions they might do as well as their website.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only buy if required for a class, October 13, 2011

By 

Russiannoob - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginner's Russian: A Basic Russian Course (Russian Edition) (Paperback)

I am a new Russian Major at Arizona State, and my school just starting using this book this year. Overall, it is not a bad text, and as one of the other reviewers said, a great price. That being said, it is completely useless without an instructor (one that has access to the instructors online portion of the book). It is very hard to study for an exam on say, translation, when you have nowhere to check to make sure that the translation in that you did from the book is correct.
After bringing these issues up with my professors, they said that the layout is kind of confusing for them at times as well, but is still better than some other texts that are out there.
So, as I said before, DO NOT BUY THIS unless you are taking a class and it is a required text, otherwise it will be completely useless to you.