The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I've been learning Russian independently for about a year now, and I bought this book along with a college textbook being used at a local university. Amazingly, even though this book is far less expensive, I consider it superior to that textbook as well as other Russian textbooks I've seen. This book is great for the self-learner because it has many exercises and examples throughout, and everything is explained in a logical manner. Also, unlike most college textbooks, all of the solutions are in the back, so you can check and correct your answers (presumably you are buying this book to learn Russian and not to pass the class, so I'm sure there's little motivation to simply copy the answers to complete an assignment). The exercises directly relate to the associated lesson, and you'll be amazed at how much you'll learn after completing a lesson, as you'll be able to understand passages that were once unreadable to you. Be warned that the book is deceptively thin. You might look at the book, which is smaller than most textbooks, and figure that it's light on information. Trust me, it's not. Although on the outside it looks like a beach-read paperback novel that you'll be able to get through in a day or even a week, each page is packed with information, and you'll have to spend a lot of time on many lessons before these concepts sink in. Russian of course is a difficult language for a native English speaker, so don't expect to fly through this book. You shouldn't use this as your only resource if you are learning Russian. The biggest downside to this book is that it won't help your listening or your speaking (understandably, since it has no audio). You'll need to find another resource to work on these areas. Do not neglect this! I made the mistake of ignoring listening and speaking for the first few months, and I ran into an odd situation with a native speaker where I was able to read and write a few simply things in Russian but found it almost impossible to understand a single word or pronounce anything correctly (very embarrassing). In addition, you'll need to do a fair amount of studying and memorizing outside of the lessons. I found that I would learn words and grammar rules but then "forget" them after a few days or a few weeks. A lot of the grammar and declensions simply have to be drilled and memorized by brute force. Hey, nobody said Russian was easy. In short, this is an absolutely fantastic resource for a beginner who wants to learn to read and write in Russian. It is well worth the price. Get it, and you will not be disappointed. Udachi Vam!

I started Russian study from scratch at my local community college. Russian is tough, period. Our teacher (a Russian) wanted us to use this book. I found the progressive instruction well laid out and at several points you were allowed to "catch your breath." No, the book does NOT give complete detailed instruction of each case system with all the inflections, just the basics, and yes, complex case levels are somewhat split up , more complicated material later in the book. Russian has strict "comma rules" and of all of my five texts, this is the ONLY one that carefully describes these important rules, in ch. 26. Not even the Schaum grammar, which is massive, addresses comma rules. But here is a goody that is surprisingly overlooked: The Table of Contents and Index are the most thorough I have seen in this type of text, and the reader is referred to specific pages and/ or section of chapter, not just to some vague reference that leaves you thrashing through dozens of pages. There is an excellent Eng/RU dictionary, enough text and conversation material to be helpful, and nice grammatical tables although there are never enough of these. Changes since Russian political restructure can make bits of dialogue out of date but this is not an issue with me. I also use PIMSLEUR'S excellent CD system , and have used Complete Russian by West, and Colloquial Russian I and II, by Le Fleming and Kay; each has merits, but I keep using this Penguin book by Brown for reference and help - it is physically falling apart now! Finally, Excellent practical, friendly supplementary books are 501 VERBS, 5000 RUSSIAN WORDS, and Schaum's RUSSIAN GRAMMAR ( The latter book is scary but good reference, loaded with exercises) Finally, the RUSSIAN 750 VERBS by Zauber is superb, sort of a written Pimsleur, with about 3,000 sentences, easy to use, in English alpha. order, and with wonderful tables of prefixes and other goodies. All these books cheap.

If one is going to learn Russian--by which I mean learn it well enough to actually carry on an intelligent conversation--one must start with the grammar. Current products that promise easy, quick, learning of a language as difficult as Russian are simply marketing (expensive!)fantasy through huge advertising campaigns. I set about to learn Russian seriously, and this book was a good first step. I also got Kenneth Katzner's Dictionary, which is the absolute best in the world, and something I use daily. After a year's work, I bought an inexpensive Pimsleur audio disk, so I could hear what these words actually sounded like, and this package is doing the job for me. This book intelligently starts at the beginning, with the alphabet. It shows how letters are both printed and written in cursive, and then, from the 1st lesson, it begins to introduce the important grammatical principles underlying this extraordinarily difficult language. One quickly comes to appreciate how useless the exhorbitantly priced "interactive" programs are, which rely on the learning of many phrases. All they are is an electronic version of a phrase book. The person who has invested their hard earned money in such courses will realize, the first time they try to talk to a Russian, that they have squandered their money. In the first place, the words they have so carefully learned are virtually guaranteed to come back at them in a declined form, which, if they cannot recognize it, will sound like another word. How could they possibly commincate without knowing the accusative, genitive, dative, nominative, prepositional or instrumental case endings? A language like this is a serious undertaking (similar to classical Latin) and has to be approached with respect. Brown's "Russian Course" is a sensible, down-to-earth, traditional grammar, with exercises, readings, self-tests, vocabularies, and a really concise declension chart at the end which is ABSOLUTELY useful and necessary! Well worth the modest cost. Five star. No way to go wrong if you have a serious desire to learn this language.

I bought this book because I thought it would be a great book to have to help me while I learn via Duolingo as well. I have never tried Rosetta Stone or what not. This book has a great section for learning the alphabet and reading cursive, which as I've realized is confusing especially on packaging of Candies and other products. I fully expect it will help me, as long as I am diligent and use it steadily, especially with something like Duolingo which offers the audio supplement as well. I also bought a Russian story book to help me. If this book doesn't quite live up to expectations past alphabet, meaning in teaching grammar, I may come back and change my review, because that would be very important to me. As it stands right now, I would highly recommend this book for its content __________________ Now. If you are trying to buy the book new from Amazon, in my experience, I have received two books with rather large creases in them and some scuffs. If the condition of the book matters to you, I'd say its worth to get a replacement and see if you get one in better condition, but not out weigh the condition over the actual content in the book especially for $12 or $16 (which I bought it for) but not for the full price of $21. The first book was shoved into a sleeve that barely fit with mechanical pencils and lead. So I thought: It's because they packaged it wrong and inconsiderably. I am leaving a review to discuss this because the second book I received did have a decent size (but smaller than the first) crease on the front of the book which makes me think: This is not packaging. This is what the product they have in their warehouse looks like before it is even shipped. The second book I received was definitely better than the first as far as damage, and as I have gotten to read it while I got a replacement, I will keep it because I can see how well it works and will work for me. :) I'd still say to definitely buy it but also realize there is a considerable chance you will buy new and get something in what I would consider used condition.

This is a very very good book to begin learning Russian grammar and basics. I always thought learning a language from a book would be incredibly difficult. So, when I decided to buy this book I was not expecting to get much use out of it. Boy was I wrong. This is actually a very great book to learn from! Though it may be a bit outdated in some of the cultural aspects, it teaches very well. I go through about a chapter a day and this has worked for me. It's great for being able to read, but to be able to actually pronounce I would suggest using some other method with audio. The grammar is explained in the simplest way possible. This book has helped me when other programs have not been able to. In every chapter there is new vocabulary, sample sentences, dialog or stories to read from, and a grammar lesson. There are also helpful hints on how to use certain phrases, or info on the culture. Also helpful is the use of accents on some letters, which will aide in pronunciation. I am really learning a lot from this book so far. I love it! This book is fantastic for those just starting out. As well as though needing a grammar refresher. I would, however, use this book in combination with something that will teach pronunciation, such as a CD, or a language learning program with audio. As a Russian beginner, I can say that this book is definitely okay to start from. Who cares if it doesn't include audio? There are plenty of resources out there that you can use to hear pronunciation of the words. This book is not dry. It is engaging, easy, and fun to read. I would recommend it.

I have made many half hearted attempts over the years to learn Russian using several cassette and workbook type courses, but I lost interest in them quickly. After taking a brief two month intensive classroom course, I found this book and decided to give it a try based on other good reviews. I am very glad I did. Perhaps because the chapters are organized in a manner similar to the language textbooks I remember from school, I found this book easy to follow and very suited to my own personal learning style. The sections in each chapter are short, and I have found that I can do one or two sections each night without being overwhelmed. Vocabulary lists at the beginning of each chapter are useful for vocabulary building. Noun declension and inflected endings were the most difficult concepts for me to grasp in the classroom, but thanks to the straightforward manner in which they are presented in this book, I am quickly coming to terms with not only how they work but also when and how to use them properly. That being said, I agree with other reviewers who mention the need to hear the spoken language in order to acquire proper pronunciation, but there are resources out there online that can be downloaded, not to mention Russian language movies available even on Netflix! For me, the key to learning is to stay interested enough to be able to continue practicing regularly. Each chapter here builds on the previous one just enough to make me feel like I am learning and making progress with each lesson. I also enjoy how the dialogues show easy to use and understand examples of the points introduced in each chapter. It is also nice to see how exceptions to the rules are introduced and demonstrated in a relatively painless fashion. If you are looking for serious grammar and vocabulary help in a fairly straightforward format, by all means give this course a try.

The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners by Nicholas J. Brown is right in line with previous language texts in that once material is introduced, the author can then move on. This assumes, of course, that you totally assimilated every bit of what has so far been introduced. Or should I use the dreaded "M" word? ( Memorized ) For example, all past language books I have encountered had the alphabet on one of the first pages. Once introduced, it then employed the alphabet AS IF you already knew it without any teaching/learning activities. The assumption is, don't go to page 2 until this alphabet is ingrained like your mother's telephone number. For those with Memorize-itis, this would just about be as far as you would get in learning this new language unless you had been imprisoned by the KGB and this was the only book you had access to. The language I am learning is Russian. I have been working on it during spare moments for about 1.5 years and have even taken the first class at a local Community College. With that background, I am much more appreciative of this book than perhaps I would be if this were my first introduction and I was truly a beginner. What are the advantages of this text? First, I got the paperback, so it is much lighter. Next, Mr. Brown does not start with a listing of the alphabet, but rather immediately breaks it down into sections and creates a "teachable moment" by giving you starter vocabulary WHILE you are learning how to pronounce the letters. He gets points for this. He also explains some oddities about the alphabet like, "The soft sign" and "The Hard sign" in a way that I could understand better than my teacher and the text we were using and guidebooks that I had been using previously. More points. After he has explained all of the letters with the starter vocabulary, he then lists the whole alphabet, with pronunciation guides in dictionary order. And more points. Next there are practice exercises! Next there are some emergency "signs" like toilet, post office, pull....things that are very necessary to know and pictures of some of them. More points. Next he introduces a short list of words that have the same sound in English as in Russian. Once you employ the sounds of the Russian letters, what comes out of your mouth is the same name as you would use in English. It is just spelled differently. I have not gone through the book to evaluate the next important feature of any teaching text: concomitant learning. That is, once I have mastered the things in chapter one, does the structure and speed of chapter two and succeeding chapters move me along because it builds on my previous learning? Or is it completely new stuff which puts me back on page one and back into memorizing mode? I leave that for another reviewer. So, with a little experience, this book makes excellent sense as a supplement. For the memorizers of the world, I should think it would make acquiring Russian easier than with previous texts. But for the beginner without assistance and without a terrific memory it still may not be their cup of chai.

I purchased this book after purchasing and regretting the Blackwell Russian Grammar. I studied four years of Russian in high school, but had forgotten most of it by now. I think it is helpful to compare briefly the Blackwell Russian Grammar and this book. The Blackwell Russian Grammar is not for someone who is trying to learn Russian. It is for someone who is trying to perfect their Russian and learn subtle differences of usage and some exceptions to rules. It is for persons who are reviewing what they have already learned and consolidating their Russian language ability. The Penguin Russian course is a complete course that starts with the letters and covers all major components of Russian to include the formation of conditions, participles, gerunds. Each chapter covers the construction of the particular grammar structure and its appropriate use. Each chapter contains multiple separate sets of exercises to practice the grammar in a progressive fashion. The exercises include translation from English to Russian and Russian to English. Chapters ends with two separate paragraph or page length translations( but the pages are not large). Solutions to exercises are in the back of the book, which is necessary in a book for self learning. Obviously, a serious component of learning a language is the ability to speak the language. Unfortunately, I doubt that this book will help you speak the language, or even be able to pronounce the words on the page well. That is not a fault of the book, it is just the multidimensional aspect of learning a language. Overall, I would say that this is a very good book if you are looking to learn to read Russian . If you are looking for an advanced Russian grammar book, this is not it. If you are trying to get good at speaking Russian, you would definitely need a language partner.