Customer Reviews

Nachalo Book 2 (Student Edition) + Listening Comprehension Audio CD

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Nachalo Book 2 is a superb textbook for learning Russian. The grammar is clearly explained, there are easy-to-follow exercises for each new topic, the readings are interesting and cover a wide array of themes, and there is even cultural information - about life in Russia - included in English. I'm taking an intermediate Russian course at the local university, and this book is a great guide.

I used both Nachalo books in my university's Russian Language courses and definitely learned a lot. The course, while sometimes sporadic and a little funny, is well put together and introduces topics in a manner which promotes solid learning. The speaking examples for the most part are good, but sometimes led to confusion between me and my partners in Russian, being easily completed or, conversely, difficult. The workbook is a must to get the most out of the book, as is a good Russian dictionary and verb book, which the book lacks in completeness. I am definitely keeping both of my books as I complete my Russian minor. They are invaluable aids on my way to mastering Russian.

I have used both Troika and Nachalo, and I must say that Troika is a much better book.

The biggest flaw in Nachalo is the lack of vocabulary lists. Sure, there are lists at the end of each chapter, but rather than supplying specific lists, e.g. colors, food, jobs, etc. the book has a list of largely unrelated words, many of which are completely useless. In chapter 3 you learn the word for STOCK EXCHANGE, this is before you have even covered colors (which does not happen until book 2)! The second flaw is that each case is broken up. So when you learn the prepositional case, for example, you only learn the noun form, not the adjectival endings or plural endings. This may seem nice at first, but it is so much more confusing than just taking each case in its entirety. A similar approach is used in teaching the verbs of motion, which does make it easier to understand in the beginning, but in the long run it ends up taking more time. Another frustrating aspect of this book is that the glossary does not seem to correspond with the correct chapter. I cannot count the number of times I have looked up a word in the glossary, seen that the word should be addressed in 6(2), gone to chapter 6 section 2 and found nothing about the word which I just looked up. Am I missing something, does this happen to anyone else? It happens to me all the time! There are yet even more frustrating things with this book, but I will end there. So again, Troika is a much, much better book.

The Nachalo Book 2 arrived quickly and in good condition. However, I am disappointed because the two Listening Comprehension CDs that come with the textbook were both put inside the pages of the book uncovered. I'm not sure yet whether the CDs are damaged, but I will be disappointed if scratches resulting from this careless packaging ruin the CDs. A soft slipcover for the CDs would have been sufficient.