I was using a different book to learn Russian when someone gave me a copy of this book. I liked it so much I recommended it to my fellow students (we study Russian informally with a private tutor). I ended up buying this copy for my daughter, who is a part of our class. I have found this book to be so much easier than the other book we were using and even easier than other books I have looked at. She has found the same to be true for her. The book's best feature is the fact that oral lessons are available free online. Here is one such link. http://www.gwu.edu/~slavic/golosa/audio/audio1-4e.htm. By using the oral lessons, you get a much better idea of how to pronounce Russian words and it helps you to understand them. Dialogues and conversations are a part of each lesson and the text is marked with an icon of headphones so you know when to listen. The new words at the end of each chapter are also on the web, so you can read along and listen to the words, getting a sense of proper pronunciation. The dialogues and questions about their content are included in the book to help the student process the oral information. My teacher commented my pronunciation has improved dramatically since I started using this book. The web site is also easy to navigate. This book has a lot of different exercises so that you develop a comfort with the material covered by the end of the lesson. (I also recommend the workbook for additional exercises, both written and oral). I also find that this book explains the grammar much more clearly than other books I have used. Although language study is always easier with a teacher and a class, I have done an awful lot of idependent study using this book and I feel like I have really moved forward in terms of my skills. This did not happen when using other books, even if I went back over the material repeatedly. My teacher, who also teaches at the university level, has said the author and publisher of this book are very receptive to feedback and willing to make changes to make subsequent editions even better. This was not the case with the author and publisher of the text we had been using (the whole class is going to switch to this book now!). I also enjoy the cultural tidbits included in this book. They are meaningful to the lessons and help to give the student a sense of what it is like to be Russian and live in Russia.Read full review
Great book
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I purchased this book for an introductory/elementary class in Russian. At first glance, this book seems very intimidating. After attending my class for the first few sessions, I am starting to understand it. I would advise getting the supplemental cd's and workbook as well if you are to get a true understanding of the language.
This book was recommended by my daughter's teacher to use for an Independent Study course. I don't know Russian but my daughter (who is just starting to learn Russian) tells me that it's a very good textbook.
this book is the required textbook at my college. So far it has been thorough and easy to understand.
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