Customer Reviews

Russian, Basic: Learn to Speak and Understand Russian with Pimsleur Language Programs

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is the single worst language product I have ever purchased. Other Pimsleur products (such as their intro to Albanian) are quite useful. But this product: (1) includes no written material whatsoever -- not even an introduction to the alphabet; and (2) repeats the same phrases endlessly ("Do you speak Russian?" "No, I don't speak Russian.") This results in the CDs covering very little material.
Much better are the "Learn Russian in Your Car" series, or best of all, if you actually want to study basic grammar -- "Teach Yourself Russian." The latter has kept me busy through 6 months of Russian classes. It comes with a very useful book showing full transcripts of all conversations, along with grammar lessons and practice.

This language program, in ten parts, gradually and effectively introduces the Russian language. Each part introduces new words and phrases and re-emphasizes those learned in the previous section. Very, very effective.

I have found this to be absolutely the best and easiest way to learn how to speak a new language! I can't believe how fast I've picked this language up! I highly recommend this tool to anyone interested in learning a new language.

This is an excellent product. The lessons are short, focused and well executed. I work with a number of russians and they were very impressed with my quick progress and excellent pronounciation, thanks to Pimsleur.
Definitly Recommended!

I purchased this a good while ago (granted, it was from a local bookstore chain, but it was the same product) and got well through the first three or four lessons, and thought I was doing quite well. Then, by chance, I began dating a native Russian speaker, who often laughed at my botched attempts to speak Russian. She listened to the lessons I had been going over, and the next couple lessons after, and suggested I find a different method. She said most of what the "native" speakers were saying were things they don't even say in Russia anymore. Follow my (and her) advice, and go elsewhere. I personally suggest the Teach Yourself Russian book series - light years better in quality and closer to how Russians speak now, rather than 50 years ago.

I'm a 14 year old who's learning Russian by myself, and up until now I've been doing it off the internet. I got this CD's and my pronunciation has improved radically. I still use my online sight to learn how to spell and read Russian, but there is no better way to learn to speak and get the pronunciation right than this!

This is a very good program to start out for the basics. Learning any language takes a while to really "get the hang of it" until you feel comfortable with it, but Russian is a very complex language and you cannot use just one book it takes a compilation of many books to get to the point where you are comfortable with this language. As for this product-it is a great first step, I have used this as well as 3 other books and such to get me where I am today with Russian. I definitely recommend this if you want to learn Russian but do not know where to begin or what first step you should take to kickstart your learning and this is definitely the right first step to take! Others have commented on the writing component well I just want to say that what were they expecting? Does it not say Audiobook? I believe it does. To lead you in the right direction for the beginning writing component I personally recommend Daphne West's Teach Yourself Beginnner's Russian Script and then move onto Teach Yourself Russian Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) by Daphne West. These are some very good other tools to have for learning Russian =)

This product is okay, if you want to know how to say "I don't understand Russian" or a few numbers (they don't even give you 1-10 - they skip 1, 6,7, and 10! To learn more, you would need to buy the comprehensive version which is 30 lessons - and the first 10 are the ones you went through in this, basic version. AND, that version costs $300! I wrote to Simon and Schuster asking what we would cover in the $300 version and never heard back.

If you want to know a few sentences in Russian, this program is great. For anything more, I would recommend going elsewhere.

This is an excellent product, well worth the small price, if you buy it for exactly what it is. It is not a grammar course (It's simply a set of audio CDs) but if, like me, you have no Russian friends or colleagues to practice with, it gives you the opportunity to hear what the language sounds like when spoken by real Russians, and in the process you can learn 15-20 useful phrases, such as "Do you speak English," "Where is Red Square," "I speak Russian, but poorly," "Wouldn't you like something to eat," (if you get past this one without choking half to death, you are well on your way! Many Russian sounds have no equivalent in English) and so forth. I strongly recommend it as a companion piece to an intensive grammar study (no way to avoid it, folks, this is Russian we're talking about!), such as Nicholas J. Brown's "Russian Course for Beginners," published by Penguin. Absolutely essential to know what the language sounds like, because like English, the sounds of the words sometimes bear almost no relationship to their printed form.

This is a great introduction to the Russian language. You won't be able to speak Russian when you're finished, but you'll have a few "catch phrases" to use and a fantastic accent. The repetition is excellent in committing the phrases to memory; very quickly, you find yourself being able to "answer" the prompt, instead of just repeating.

It is by no means sufficient if you are interested in having anything more than an EXTREMELY basic knowledge of the language. But the pronunciation you'll learn, as well as the taste of Russian you get, is insurpassable.