Master the Basics Russian [Paperback]

Natalia Lusin Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0812091647 | ISBN-13: 978-0812091649

This volume uses both Roman and Cyrillic alphabets. It opens with a diagnostic self-test to help students determine what they already know of Russian and how to get best use from the book. Following chapters include a grammar brush-up covering all parts of speech, and special topics including Russian word formation, idioms, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Russian

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812091647
• ISBN-13: 978-0812091649
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #592,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Russian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Reference for Use with Other Learning Tools, September 29, 2002

By 

Laura Lee (Rochester, MI USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Master the Basics Russian (Paperback)

If you're looking for an introduction to Russian, with dialogues and lessons, this book is not for you. It is, however, the clearest book I've found to explain the grammatical concepts. If you're self-teaching with tapes or software programs, you will most likey come to a point where you've learned an expression or a change in word endings without fully understanding the grammar behind it, this is where to look to quickly get the explanation. It does not contain much vocabulary, or full sentences, it is made up of chapters explaining particular grammatical structures and rules, so you're not going to learn to speak using this book alone.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent backup reference, January 21, 2000

By 

"casimirob" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Master the Basics Russian (Paperback)

I bought this book as an additional reference to my class textbook. I use it constantly to review key concepts. Most language textbooks are not organized to make good reference material, but this one (inexpensive) book makes up for such a shortcoming completely.

You can use Master the Basics to quickly zero in on a particular concept whether it be the parts of speech, pronouns, verbs, case declension and the concepts are presented in a very concise and straightforward manner. I especially like the well-organized charts scattered throughout as they make a clear summary with graphical-style impact that makes things easier to remember.

If you intend to pursue Russian seriously at any level, then this is a must-have book, handy and gets right to the point. Do svidannya!

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference, June 23, 2001

By 

Byfield Ted (Byfield, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Master the Basics Russian (Paperback)

I agree completely with the reviewer from Oregon. I am starting to learn Russian from a cassette series (Learn in Your Car, which I also highly recommend) and this book is a very well-organized, valuable reference. In fact, it is one of the best organized special-purpose reference books I have seen anywhere. It has plenty of tables, and very clear descriptions of things like 'Why do Russian nouns have so many cases?' After teaching myself Spanish, Russian is my next goal, and it is quite a challenge. I think I would have given up by now without this book.