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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Cristianoo Triglot Senior Member Brazil https://projetopoligRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4123 days ago 175 posts - 289 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, FrenchB2, English Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 23 28 December 2013 at 7:17pm | IP Logged |
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Hello! this question is for those who are learning or already have learned russian.
Which books did you use in your first steps? I started with Penguim. I found it to be a good book, but it's very bad in pronunciation. Then I tried a little bit of Assimil and Pimsleur. But what I really need to know is which stuff did you use to learn sucessfuly this great language. Sorry if i am bothering. It's just.... well... new year, new perspectives :) I have no shame to say that I kinda failed in my first russian attempt. I think maybe its because I was too overwhelmed by my french studies. For the next year, I am planning something more consistent (not just random studies), so I would like to hear from you. I've searched the log section, but it's very confusing. Thanks in advance Edited by Cristianoo on 28 December 2013 at 9:17pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| fireballtrouble Triglot Senior Member Turkey Joined 4526 days ago 129 posts - 203 votes Speaks: Turkish*, French, English Studies: German | Message 2 of 23 28 December 2013 at 8:30pm | IP Logged |
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It seems like we studied same courses.
I did Pimsleur I, Assimil Le Russe Sans Peine (1973) + Assimil Russian (2011), and Penguin. Pimsleur I introduced me Russian sounds and I didn't learn a lot. Maybe because of the fact that I'm not an audio-only learner. I just couldn't find enough interest in continuing for Pimsleur II and III. Then I did Russian with Ease (2011). I think it's a great book especially for the clarity of pronunciation of its speakers. Dialogues were fun and 2 lessons a day was a bearable speed. However I felt that I need much more grammar explanation in detail and I started Penguin. After Penguin I did Assimil Le Russe sans Peine (1973). It has much more content than 2011 version, in fact I can say that it would be better if I had found 1973 version earlier. On the contrary, 1973 version is more tense. Sometimes even 1-lesson-a-day tempo cannot be afforded. For audio, in 1973 version speakers pronounce very clearly but in a theatral way. Perfect pronunciation but that's not natural intonation. 2011 version sounds much more like my Russian friends. Penguin is a well constructed course. In Assimil I always had "ok then what's the conjugation of other subjects then?" but Penguin has a more systematic path. You learn in theme based parts, unlike Assimil's "little by little everyday" Having studied this trio, I was able to handle basic conversations (say B1?) with Russian people and was feeling that I had a solid base. But I still thought like you, I felt that I couldn't learn much from those books. All I can say that one must listen and listen again Assimil dialogues and read and read again Penguin's texts. With time things settle. These 3 courses makes a significant content in total for a Russian learner and I think that they are suffient and enough upto B1 level. With repetition one can "activate" his already learnt passive Russian. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| fabriciocarraro Hexaglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Brazil russoparabrasileirosRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4717 days ago 989 posts - 1454 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, EnglishB2, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French Studies: Dutch, German, Japanese | Message 3 of 23 28 December 2013 at 11:49pm | IP Logged |
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I found that Penguin for grammar + Assimil for listening and pronunciation is the best combination.
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| blauw Tetraglot Groupie Belgium Joined 5374 days ago 46 posts - 111 votes Speaks: English, Flemish*, French, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 4 of 23 29 December 2013 at 2:17am | IP Logged |
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At the same time, fabriciocarraro, or first one and then the other?
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| Cristianoo Triglot Senior Member Brazil https://projetopoligRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4123 days ago 175 posts - 289 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, FrenchB2, English Studies: Russian | Message 5 of 23 29 December 2013 at 2:26pm | IP Logged |
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fireball, thank you for your advices. If I get to a A2 level, I could get from there
to fluency, i guess, by other resources, such as news reading, movies and chat. So the problem, I believe, is to take off from zero ground. Fabricio did you use Pimsleur? Have you finished the entire book in Assimil? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Henkkles Triglot Senior Member Finland Joined 4255 days ago 544 posts - 1141 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish Studies: Russian | Message 6 of 23 29 December 2013 at 2:46pm | IP Logged |
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As I mentioned in one of my threads, I've heard good things about "Reading Real Russian" for developing reading comprehension but I have yet to land a copy of it myself. Still, I reckon it's worth mentioning and looking into.
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| fabriciocarraro Hexaglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Brazil russoparabrasileirosRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4717 days ago 989 posts - 1454 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, EnglishB2, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French Studies: Dutch, German, Japanese | Message 7 of 23 29 December 2013 at 4:04pm | IP Logged |
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@blauw Yes, at the same time. I would start off with Assimil, to get a taste of the language, and then by lesson 4 or 5 begin already with Penguin. As for me, I only started with Assimil when I had almost finished the Penguin book, but I think it would have been better if I'd done like I told you to.
@Cristianoo No, not at all. I used Michel Thomas, and I think it's an awesome course to get the gist of the language, but it won't take you far. If any of you is able to, doing some Michel Thomas at the beginning is also a great option! At least the Foundation course. Edited by fabriciocarraro on 29 December 2013 at 4:07pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Bobb328 Groupie Canada Joined 4587 days ago 52 posts - 78 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian | Message 8 of 23 29 December 2013 at 7:22pm | IP Logged |
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As someone who recently started Russian, it is difficult to find a course and stick with it and I've tried a lot. So far
I've done a little of: -Penguin -Modern Russian 1 -Golosa (for school) -Russian W/O Toil -Russian with Ease (2011) -Berlitz Russian Self Teacher -Beginning Russian by Robert Leed 1st Edition (2nd Edition is completely different) At this point I'm sticking to Russian with Ease, Beginning Russian, and the Penguin course whenever something isn't explained very well in the other courses. I wouldn't recommend using it as a primary source because it has no audio. That being said, I found w/o Toil to be great except the audio is incomprehensible as some points and it's a very difficult course. So I switched the the newer Assimil which is much easier yet still contains enough vocab for a beginner's course. Also, someone put all of the vocab on Memrise so remembering the vocab is very easy. Beginning Russian, however, is probably the best course I've ever seen in any language. No one really mentions it because it's rare and out of print. I only found it because the entire set was available in my library. There's an entire course available starting at Beginning Russian 1 & 2, Intermediate Russian: The Twelve Chairs (the course is an actual Russian novel!), and Advanced Russian. The courses are designed so that you follow and alien as she meets a Russian family and is taught the basics of the language as they guide her around Russia. All the complex aspects of the grammar are covered in a unique way so that reviewing the earlier chapters once you get further on is almost unnecessary. It's really an excellent book and if you can get your hands on the 1st edition I recommend you use this course along with Assimil. Edited by Bobb328 on 29 December 2013 at 7:23pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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