How to Pronounce Russian Correctly

I bought the audio CD version of this several years ago but only recently have I started studying Russian with serious intent. Since the hardest part of learning Russian is adjusting to the Cyrillic alphabet, this is a great introduction to not only the alphabet, but the sounds of the letters.The first half of the book and CD/tape covers the letters. It does it not in alphabetical order, but rather with the letters that most closely mirror the letters in English in both apperance and sound. New letters are added until the entire alphabet is covered.The second half of the book covers the sound variations, such as the use of the soft and hard signs, and voiced and voiceless consonants. The second half really is where the meat of the pronouciation of the Russian language is covered. Byt the time you finish the book and CD/tapes, you will be able to sight read any Russian word like a native.Also, if you have the chance to buy the CD version, do so. If you also have a computer with a CD-ROM drive, copy the CD as MP3 files and buy a set of headphones with a boom mic so that you can hear yourself say the words after the speaker. Then it's like you're in a language learning lab in school.

NTC Publishing Group produced this self-study course in such disarmingly simple fashion. All you have to do is follow along in the book as a woman provides the instructions in English and demonstrations in Russian. It's the old familiar genre of such courses, but it still works: Just listen and repeat, rewinding and replaying as many times as necessary until you feel that you've mastered it. In this instance, the cassette player becomes your "tireless teacher." It sounds corny, but it's true.You do have to pay close attention as you follow along because the book contains added text to further assist in obtaining a spot-on Russian accent. Fortunately, such text is isolated through reduced margins or smaller print, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.The woman speaker goes over each letter and sound thoroughly enough to not give extra attention to any "problem letters," and I feel that she presents it in very good fashion. If I have a complaint, it's that the synopsis claims that the course features native Russian speakers. After listening to this woman the entire book almost word for word, I don't believe it. Still, her Russian is almost native-like in nature to keep the instruction fresh and the impact strong.Overall a well-structured and presented course and a good value for the money. I recommend it.