Russian III, Comprehensive: Learn to Speak and Understand Russian with Pimsleur Language Programs [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Pimsleur (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0743528913 | ISBN-13: 978-0743528917 | Publication Date: June 26, 2004 | Edition: Unabridged

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.

Comprehensive Russian III includes 30 additional lessons (16 hrs.), plus Readings, which build upon the language skills acquired in Levels I and II. Increased spoken and reading language ability. Level III will increase your vocabulary and grammatical structures and triple your spoken proficiency. Upon completion of a level III, you will be able to:

• participate in most informal and some formal discussions on practical, social, and some semi-professional topics,
• form longer sentences while maintaining the target language syntax,
• be understood even by native speakers unused to dealing with foreigners,
• handle increasingly difficult grammatical structures,
• enjoy fluent conversations with a variety of strangers,
• have a near-native accent, and the subtleties of the language will be apparent in your speech,
• read at the same level at which you speak.

Note: In order for the Pimsleur Method to work correctly, you must first complete the Level I + II language programs before proceeding to the Level III language program.

Editorial Reviews

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; Unabridged edition (June 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743528913
• ISBN-13: 978-0743528917
• Product Dimensions: 13 x 11.7 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #645,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Books on CD > Languages > Language Instruction > 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

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for an advanced student., April 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Russian III - 1st Ed. (Pimsleur Language Program) (Audio Cassette)

I have studied Russian for three years, but unfortunately, because I am graduating, I will be unable to take the advanced course that my college offers. For the past couple of months, I've been trying to find a good package so that I can learn Russian on my own. Out of all the ones I have explored, Pimsleur looked to be the most promising. While it did help me in that I am able to speak more clearly, I don't see it as being a replacement for an advanced Russian course. For one thing, the vocabulary is extremely limited. It will help you have casual conversations, but don't expect to be having any deep discussions about complex subjects. Two, because the reading supplement is so limited, many problems will arise when you have to write. Three, and most importantly, I feel that the speakers speak too slowly, at least compared to the people in the listening supplement of my textbook.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pimsleur YES; Study hard in school ALSO, June 18, 2006

By 

Nicholas Figone "Nick F." (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

It's important to be as precise as possible in determing first off what level of speaking ability you aim to achieve. If you have studied Russian sufficiently well before you start the course (at least a year at university getting A's), Pimsleur will have you speaking at the level at which you write in no time. The problem with most people is that they haven't studied enough Russian to benefit from the program. You need to be able to know how to spell the words you learn (in cyrillic of course), not just pronounce them. Let's say you've studied Russian really really hard for a year in a top university program. You probably know about 800 words at least (and many points of grammar) but you haven't had much opportunity to speak them. The words are in your head but the speech connections haven't yet been set up. Speaking a language is a separate form of training entirely. But having a strong enough background in grammar and being able to write the language will allow you to blaze through Pimsleur I in no time while perfecting your pronunciation and getting a "feel" for stringing sounds together. You may likely learn a few new subtleties even in Level I as your ear gets better at recognizing the nuances of native speech. By the end of Level II, you've caught up with one year of grammar points which are EMBEDDED within the sentences and structures, all of which you should be able to pronounce very well. By the end of the first semester of your second year at univeristy, you should be finishing Pimsleur III, know about 1500 words and be speaking Intermediate Mid, quickly on your way to Int-High. Now is definately the time to find some real live Russian immigrants to converse with. You'll be amazed at what you can say; they will, too. Other programs to get you to the advanced speaking level require lots of commitment to the language and at least 2-3 years of intensive university study. If you want to be fluent, you'll have to go to Russia to study the language and live there for at least a year after a minimum of 2-3 (3 is better) years of consistent high level effort stateside. True fluency will take at least 5 years' dedication, first stateside then in Russia. But Pimsleur gets you to a point where you have a good feel for getting the sounds from your brain and then out your mouth correctly. With solid university training to add to it and some time overseas you'll speak very well. Pimsleur on it's own is NOT enough unless you're just looking to get by on Red Square or something basic like buying a souvenir or holding a conversation on a routine topic like the weather or what you like to do in your free time, etc. What Pimsleur will do is get you confident enough in your pronunciation to start speaking more and more. It will get you over the initial phase of perfecting prononciation and get you speaking the language at a solid intermediate level (if you study at university simultaneously as previously mentioned - I can't mention this fact enough). BUT, only Pimsleur + University + Dedication + Time + 1-2 years in Russian = Fluency. Even then, you still have to practice to maintain your fluency. Sounds like quite a commitment to become fluent, doesn't it? Fluency is really the result of many factors mostly driven by consistent high levels of motivation and desire. That is why very few achieve it. Learning a language thoroughly is similar to embarking on a long journey. As the Russians often say: Íå ñìîòðè âûñîêî: ãëàçà çàïîðîøèøü. It's important to be realistic. Ñ÷àñòëèâî!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pimsleur is the best, bar none, September 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Russian III (Audio CD)

I've gone through French and Italian and am working on Russian. These are just simply the best way to get yourself quickly to a point where you can say things in an another language, accurately, quickly and easily. Unlike some other courses, it's not just rote learning of phrases, it actually teaches you grammar and sentence structure. Nothing else even comes close. It's worth every penny. I would give it ten stars if I could. These really work. Yes, to be really fluent you will need to study more, read more, get more books and dictionaries and learn more words, but this will give you a firm foundation in whatever language you are trying to learn, and enable you to travel to a country where they speak that language and communicate successfully and accurately. In response to another reviewer, I wouldn't recommend lugging the whole program in its box around with you. Just do like the teenagers do with their CDs, get a small portable CD carrier and decant Pimsleur CDs into the carrier. They are all numbered and it's easy enough to keep track of them.