Russian, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Russian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Pimsleur (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0743550501 | ISBN-13: 978-0743550505 | Publication Date: December 26, 2005 | Edition: 16 Lessons

Russian is the official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Krygystan. Pimsleur's Russian uses speakers from Moscow and St. Petersburg, which accounts for slight pronunciation differences between speakers, but accurately depicts contemporary spoken Russian.

Russian, Conversational

• Sixteen 30-minute lessons of spoken Russian language instruction. These sixteen lessons are the same as the first sixteen lesson of Pimsleur's 30-Unit Comprehensive Program.
• Each lesson includes an introductory conversation, and new vocabulary and structures and includes practice for vocabulary introduced in previous lessons.
• Essential grammar and vocabulary. Topics include: greetings, numbers, meals, shopping, telling time, scheduling activities, and asking and giving directions.
• No mindless repetition! Converse with native speakers in natural (and useful!) conversations.
• Easy, fast, fun and effective language acquisition.
• Completely Audio - anytime, anywhere. No computer necessary! Unlike expensive software programs which tie learners to a computer, Pimsleur courses are available in CD or mp3 format to meet your needs.
• Receive an instant credit of $150 to trade up from the Conversational  to the full Level 1 Comprehensive CD course.

Pimsleur® equals success. Just one 30-minute lesson a day gets you speaking and understanding like no other program.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Pimsleur programs provide plenty of positive reinforcement that will keep learners on track, and we found that Pimsleur gave us more proficiency and confidence in speaking the new language than any of the other language programs we reviewed." -- AudioFile Magazine

"EXTREMELY ACCESSIBLE...each section within the lessons is short enough to hold our attention, and there is enough repetition to teach even those who consider themselves slow learners...Pimsleur [programs] are extremely thorough and easy to use -- quite lively!" -- Boston Herald

"Learn French while commuting, German while jogging, Spanish (or Russian, Italian, and Japanese) while cooking all with NO WRITTEN MATERIALS!" -- New York Daily News

"Designed for the ear and not the eye...the lessons provide PERFECT 30-minute bites of work." -- St Louis Post-Dispatch

"Learn to habla español or parlez français before your next trip aboard. The interactive LESSONS CHALLENGE STUDENTS to use new words in conversation instead of memorize them." -- American Way (American Airlines inflight magazine)

"I tried other language programs with little success...This is the best by far!" -- Pamela A. Mitchell, Pilot, International Society of Women Airline Pilots

About the Author

Dr. Paul Pimsleur devoted his life to language teaching and testing and was one of the world’s leading experts in applied linguistics. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed The Pimsleur Method based on two key principles:  the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory training that he called “Graduated Interval Recall.”  This Method has been applied to the many levels and languages of the Pimsleur Programs.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Pimsleur; 16 Lessons edition (December 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743550501
• ISBN-13: 978-0743550505
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.9 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Books on CD > Languages > Language Instruction > Russian
  • #46 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Russian
  • #48 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Russian

More About the Author

Dr. Paul Pimsleur (b. 1926, d. 1976) devoted his life to language teaching and testing and was one of the world's leading experts in applied linguistics. He was fluent in French, good in German, and had a working knowledge of Italian, Russian, Modern Greek, and Mandarin Chinese. After obtaining his Ph.D. in French and a Masters in Psychology from Columbia University, he taught French Phonetics and Linguistics at UCLA. He later became Professor of Romance Languages and Language Education, and Director of The Listening Center (a state-wide language lab) at Ohio State University; Professor of Education and Romance Languages at the State University of New York at Albany; and a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Heidelberg. He did research on the psychology of language learning and in 1969 was Section Head of Psychology of Second Language Learning at the International Congress of Applied Linguistics.

Dr. Pimsleur was a member of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), American Educational Research Association (AERA), Modern Language Association (MLA), and a founding member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

His many books and articles revolutionized theories of language learning and teaching. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed a new method (The Pimsleur Method) that is based on two key principles: the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory training that he called "Graduated Interval Recall." This Method has been applied to the many levels and languages of the "Pimsleur Programs."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Self-Learner, August 4, 2006

By 

Malia "Self-Learner" (Boston, Ma USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Russian, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Russian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) (Audio CD)

I disagree with the previous negative reviews. Pimsleur's audiotapes are for those people whose preferred cognitive style is auditory. This is how we learn language as a child--by listening and speaking. I have learned other languages in school--French, Spanish, Hebrew--and the teachers bog the students down with the "rules" of the language. Instead, in these audiotapes, the rules emerge naturally through the repetition of different phrases with shared grammatical patterns. I have learned so much so quickly. Now, if I want to learn more grammar or the alphabet, I already have a basic grasp of the spoken language to refer rather than learning about the rules abstractly. So, if you want to learn how to speak conversational Russian quickly, these tapes are a great place to start!!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good place to start., December 25, 2006

By 

NY Hobbit (OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Russian, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Russian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) (Audio CD)

I have to say my weakest area in school was learning other languages. I was always the poorest student in class. At age 47, I found myself needing to learn Russian. I looked at my options. I tried two other programs and they did not work for me.

Now I am learning Russian using Pimsleur. I am not fast at learning it, but I am learning Russian! This course is more an introduction to the full Pimsleur courses. It is a good place to start.

If Pimsleur is teaching me Russian, I assume it will work for most people.

It takes effort, but it is working.

I recommend the full Pimsleur program.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly designed all-audio course (introductory), April 27, 2009

By 

Ronald van Vollenhoven (Sweden) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Russian, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Russian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) (Audio CD)

If you want to start learning Russian while driving your car this is probably the best system available. It is completely audio and gives you 6 hours of very well-designed tutorial. You hear the English first, then the Russian, two or three times times, then you repeat it. Another sentence. Then the first one again. Amazing how quickly you forgot. But by the mix of new things and repeating, it starts to stick. The lessons are very well paced - at least they were for me - so that you only rarely have to stop the CD to go back, while it is also rare for it to feel slow or boring. The Russian is spoken by two native speakers giving you a good idea of correct pronunciation (intriguing how sometimes they pronounce the same word differently!). By the end of the course you have learned about 150 words and can speak and understand several dozen everyday sentences. There is even a little bit of grammar here and there. What you don't get: anything about the alphabet or the written language. Please do realize that the strength of this program is also its weakness: The 8 hours of teaching can very easily be accomodated, one 30-minute lesson at a time, on a daily commute. But doing that means you will be done in 3 weeks (they don't recommend more than one lesson a day). And then what? The program is so good that you have, in fact, learned all there is on these CDs and so repeating them is pretty useless. I guess you'd have to buy the next course...
But all in all, this was the perfect introductory course for me wanting to learn while driving to work. Hope it works for you, too!

PS I read some negative reviews here that say you only learn to say one or two things over and over again. That's hogwash. I suspect they only listened to the first lesson.