Customer Reviews

Russian For Dummies

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Briefly, I find this book's CD very helpful. The conversations and corresponding scripts in the book assist well in pronunciation. As far as grammar and spelling....I don't want to learn how to spell Russian in transliteration, I want to learn how to spell it in Russian. The authors of this book made a decision to teach nothing in the Cyrillic alphabet, and this makes it confusing those who have already begun to study the language.

For beginners, who may feel they have already learned a lot at the end of this book, I can only imagine it would end up as a disappointment when they come across signs, menus, news articles, etc. in Cyrillic which they are unable to read.

My wife and I bought the book for a trip we're taking to Europe this summer. We finished about half the book and like it. We tried some of the greetings and phrases on our Russian friends and they understood us, which is a good sign. Some of the grammar explanations are confusing in chapter 2, but the cultural tips and sayings throughout the book are really useful and the CD's great. Maybe the book could benefit from showing how words are spelled with actual Russian letters, which are shown in Chapter 1. Otherwise, we're enjoying it.

This is the first Dummies I've bought, and I thought it was really good. The author's kept it funny and light, but remained true to their purpose...to put together an easy to use guide to Russian language. Between the table of contents and the index, I could always quickly find the phrase or vocabulary list I was looking for. And, between the transliterations and audio CD, I know what I'm learning is authentic.

We got this book to supplement some language tapes that we are using to learn conversational Russian. This book is great, because it helps explain rules of the language in very down to earth terms. It gives a lot of helpful tips in speaking and understanding Russian. A great resource.

As an expat banker living in Moscow, Russia, I picked up a copy of Russian for Dummies when I was in NYC just for kicks. The book is even better than some of the Russian language books I used in college for one simple reason: It's real, spoken Russian in a variety of actual everyday contexts, which I didn't have a clue about when I first came to Russia. If you're planning on living in Russia for extended periods of time, you'll want to learn the Cyrillic alphabet (which is a breeze, contrary to popular myth), but if you're just making a short trip or just want to get a thorough overview of the language the book is perfect.

Russian for Dummies breaks all the stereotypes I've had about Russia--a gloomy, strange country with a language next to impossible to learn. The Russian langauge and culture really come alive in this extremely easy to use introductory book. And there are so many intriguing cultural references in this book that you could actually use it as a travel guide as much as a language guide. I didn't realize Russia could be such a fun (and funny) place! C

I should've read more about this before purchase. Fortunately, it was well discounted, because the authors only give you a brief passing introduction to the Cyrillic alphabet (without even naming the letters).

If you went to Russia and got off the plane (or even look at a Russian website) with this as your introduction to the language, you'll be totally unprepared, as something as basic as "Information" will look utterly, well, Russian.

I do see some value in the cultural tips they give, but trying to deal with Russian using a latin alphabet is foolish in my opinion. The alphabet isn't hard to learn (as the authors acknowledge), so why skip out on that? It doesn't make sense.

This is a very solid, useful first book for learning Russian. Not only is it full of practical and INTERESTING information about Russian language and culture, it actually helps you function quickly in the language.

I don't get all these criticisms of the the transliteration issue. I'm not trying to read War and Peace in Russian. For what I needed this book for (to understand what my Russian friends are gossipping about), it's perfect.

I had my Russian friend Lena listen to the CD, and she
said the phrases throughout the book are completely real, the kind of Russian you actually hear on the streets of Moscow.

Reading the book left me excited for my trip to Russia this summer. If you want a USEFUL, VERY READABLE INTRO TO the Russian language and culture, then I recommend Russian for Dummies.

I know and work with Dr. Gettys and I sat in on several of her Russian classes at Lewis University. I can assure anyone who might be wondering why there is no Cyrillic alphabet in the book (except for the brief introduction at the beginning) that the decision to take the Cyrillic alphabet out of the book was made by the publisher, NOT by the authors! Dr. Gettys wasn't happy about the publisher's decision (nor should she have been), but I think that you can still get a very good feel for conversational Russian (from a Russian-born/raised linguistics expert) from this book.

I book uses no Cyrillic. For some this would seem to make the book easier, however if you are learning in order to travel you won't be able to read a menu or anything else. In order to learn a language you need the alphabet of that language. Using the latin letters makes things more difficult.

The CD is also not useful because the conversations are not in the book so the reader can't follow along with the words on paper.