Ultimate Russian Beginner-Intermediate (Book) [Large Print]

This is a superb language text. As a hobby, I've read the Spanish, French, and German texts in the same series. Learning was fun, and easy. I highly recommend these Ultimate Language texts.

I have several different formats of materials which I have learned russian language. I have noticed that within learning, everything requires time spent pronouncing the words or writing the words out. This course gives the user the advantage of having a written format and a glossary and AUDIO CD's of how the words are pronounced. If you are looking for a low cost way to learn Russian language, in my opinion, this is the best way I could advise anyone to attempt learning... it has the book and the glossary and it explains in step by step detail how to learn the language. I like the compact disk audio format as I use it in the car when I am commuting. I have found this course invaluable to me and well worth the money spent. It takes time to learn language and it is something that cannot be accomplished within a short time. In following the steps described in the manual I believe that one can learn the basic words quite easily. I recommend this course as a must have, low cost way to communicate in Russian.

My background is - I spoke very basic Russian having spent a year in the CIS 12 years ago. Then recently I got a job working in Russia so I decided I needed a course to get me up to the level where I could survive without an interpreter. I would recommend this course for the following reasons: 1) It is broken up into bite-sized chunks (40 lessons) so you can reasonable aim to complete a lesson in a day or so, and get a feeling of having accomplished something without getting too worn out 2) The conversations and CDs are great for learning how Russians speak at normal speed, their intonation etc. I don't see how you could use this book without them 3) The grammar is well explained and clear - you don't have to spend an hour studying their explaination of how a case is used before the light clicks on. 4) There is a follow-on course (the advanced course) which is structured in the same format with CDs, so there is something to aim for after this, and once you have got into the rhythm of this one, you don't have to switch to an unfamiliar format. 5) The second review set of CDs, which explain everything verbally are great ... it helps hammer home some of the more complicated concepts. Now the downsides: 1) The course does tend to skimp on some critical pieces of the Russian languge. Verbs like vzyat' and berat' (to take) are critical but skipped over lightly. 2) The exercises are too short and too hard. Too Hard?!?!?! Yes, they give a simple example in the grammar then expect you to be able to translate the most complicated phrases instantly. More progressively difficuly examples may be the answer, or more explanation of the complexities prior to the exercises, perhaps. 3) The translations are often innaccurate. A good way I found of testing my ability for each section was to read the English translation then put it back into Russian and see how close I was. But the English translation attempts to be too vernacular, so your translation is radically different from the Russian version. But its a great course. If you are learning Russian, you will need more than this course. I bought a dictionary that contains 5000 Russian words, all inflections, a regular dictionary and Schaum's Russian Grammar outlines. I completed this course and definitely recommend it.

This is an excellent tool. It is resonably priced. This has been the best language tool that I've used for learning Russian. The only drawback is that it does not provide sounding out the alphabet. It focuses on vocabulary and has grammar exercises. It really is the best tool out there for its price.