Customer Reviews
Hard work but worth it - By: Caroline M. Turnbull, 04 Nov 2008 
This is the text book which is used on the Russian evening class I am attending. I would agree with other reviewers that it is not suitable for total beginners & not ideal for self-study, but I am definitely learning more from it than from other "teach yourself" style books which I have tried. One of its strongest points is the large number of exercisesin each chapter, which reinforce the grammar & vocabulary covered.
The grammar summary at the back is well laid out, though for in-depth study a dedicated grammar book is useful. The CDs are worth having if you don't have a native speaker to check your pronunciation.
Yes, there are a few niggles, but on balance this is a well-structured book & excellent value for money.
Truly appalling - By: JR Anderson, 27 Oct 2007 
I hate this book with a vengeance & have very few nice things to say about it. However, let's see what measly positive points it does have:
1) it is crammed with information- not always correct & clear information, you see, but still there's a lot.
2)in some areas it provides clear explanations & examples
3) there are numerous exercises with answers included if you want to check your progress.
Everything else about this publication is simply horrendous!
* The presentation & order of grammar points is completely illogical & leaves the reader more confused than anything. For example, the author thought it made more sense to cover all the other cases before mentioning how to form the nominative plural; ridiculous!
* The vocabulary covered is on the whole highly irrelevant to real life situations, especially all the cr*p about "wanting to become a sportsman" & "Russian education system". Come on, who is this book written for!?
* There are spelling mistakes littered throughout the book & also several errors regarding usage of words (I've been told).
* The dictionary at the back of the book mysteriously does not contain certain words that appearin the dialogues & exercises.
* I would say the writers of Colloquial Russian have very high expectations of the general reader: the progress you're supposed to makein order to follow each chapter is ludicrous. Furthermore, the exercises which are apparently meant to follow on from the dialogues & texts are very difficult & repetitive.
Soin summary, unless you have a native speaker by your side explaining every single thing, this book is full of pitfalls & will likely fail to assist youin your Russian studies. At worst you may even be put off learning Russian or perhaps tempted to throw the book (and hopefully not yourself!) into a fire or bottomless pit. In other words AVOID!!!
A tough but rewarding introduction to studying Russian - By: skyblueteapot, 06 Jul 2006 Before I bought this book I looked at several other introductory books on Russian. I chose this one because it is clear & concise, & packs a great deal of learning into each chapter. If you are sufficiently determined,in an astonishingly short time you should have a groundingin grammar & a vocabulary of about 1500 of the most commonly used words, & be able to read & write confidentlyin Russian about everyday subjects. It takes you up to intermediate level, which I think means to about GCSE level. The last few topics introduce current affairs vocabulary, & have an A-level feel to them.
I understand this is the book that Cambridge University recommend to complete beginnersin Russian studies. Be warned then: you will need either a Russian tutor or the kind of motivation & self-discipline that you would expect from a Cambridge student. There is little space devoted to teaching you either pronunciation or Cyrillic writing. It is simply assumed that you have other ways to learn these (e.g. the optional extra CDs or cassettes). There are few opportunities to consolidate your understanding (e.g. revision exercises): you are expected to grasp every grammar point & learn every word the first time you encounter it. There is a good English-Russian, Russian-English vocabulary section at the back, but the grammar topics are poorly indexed. Expect this book to become dog-eared as you thumb through it searching for the page where the grammar point that you need but can't quite remember is explained.
If you want to learn simply a little conversational or tourist Russian then this book is not for you. Buy this book if you want to learn written Russian to intermediate level, & have access to a tutor or previous experience of learning a language on your own. Buy the accompanying CDs or cassettes if you feel rich, otherwise look for other sources of spoken Russian to help you learn pronunciation. You will probably need to buy a grammar reference book laterin your studies which covers this material.
this is not for beginners - By: Mr. H. D. Phillips, 03 Jul 2005 
This book is not for beginners; you are thrownin the deep end by learning difficult phrases early on. Another problem was trying to match up the audio exercises with the exercisesin the book. I think they have made the audio execises different from the book so you have no way of checking the spoken word against the written word.
There is no build up with learning russian, ie. getting to grips with the alphabet, learning very small sentences & simple tenses, etc. Please do not buy this book if you want to learn russian from scratch.
A decent russian book - By: TeddyN "GenBanks", 23 Sep 2004 I take private Russian lessons, & this is the book I use. It is ambitious & highly useful, as you are likely to find anything you, as a beginner, will need to look up. The only thing is that it is not designed to be used alone, & you could find youself struggling if you don't have a teacher to guide you, or a basic book which spoonfeeds you everything.
Overall, however, it is a very handy book for the student of the Russian language.
