Russian Step by Step Beginner Level 1: with Audio Direct Download

I love this book! I am very new to learning Russian, I went in knowing nothing of the Cyrillic alphabet but this book makes it so easy!! (I know, easy and Russian don't usually end up in the same sentence). You do have to go to the website to download the audio, but that part was super easy and then once you have the audio you're all set. The audio gives you a male and female voice for the different exercises, which I find helpful because different people say things differently. There are very, very, slight noises on the audio (creaky chair kind of noise) every once in a while but it doesn't affect the quality of the speakers voice at all. It didn't bother me but some people can get annoyed with things like that so just a heads up if you need absolute silence when listening to someone speak a language. The book does throw you right into it but it's repetitive without being annoying about it, but it does give you a chance to get familiar and comfortable with the material, it's a very natural progression from one sentence to the next. It only gives you a few letters at a time, which is fantastic, and they start with the ones that are very similar to English and really ease you into reading the language. I haven't finished the book yet, it was only just delivered but after the first couple of lessons I definitely feel more confident in being able to "sound out" different words. It's a slow process so far but it's so exciting to be able to look at this new alphabet and be able to figure out what the word sounds like even if I don't yet know the meaning. I *highly* recommend to anyone who wants to learn how to read Russian.

Audio and book together advance your Russian tongue.

This is, in my opinion, the best method for learning Russian language from scratch for English speaking people. The books are very well organized, very clear, and up to date. The collection is well synchronized and the best of all are the many practical exercises in each chapter with plenty audio back up to develop the ear and pronunciation. Russian language is a difficult language to learn, specially for English speaking people, that's why is important to have a lot of sources to go to. Instead of looking all over to get enough and clear information, one can have it with the Russian Step by Step collection. They also have a very good web site with lots of free extra information, including videos. I, myself had no problems downloading the audio.You can tell that the authors are really passionate about their work and they have tested in real life the material. The illustrations and art work of the series is also very modern and nice to look. The important idea in these books and recordings is to go on your own pace, but learn it right from the basics.

First the (not) bad news: This book's methods and layout are practically the same as those of the old foreign language textbooks used all over the East Bloc at the time of the Soviet Union. It largely follows the grammar-translation method that dates all the way from ancient times. If you show it to an American-trained language teacher, she will probably have a heart attack or start preaching about "discredited" old educational methods.Now the great news: Books like this ACTUALLY WORK! If you go through this book and the rest of the series faithfully, and follow what it tells you to do, you should end up with a decent command of Russian. Don't moan about your personal pedagogical preferences. Just do it. The book won't fail you if you don't fail it.The only thing I would recommend would be that you supplement the book with a even more audio material, such as a Pimsleur course, to build more spoken fluency.

This book works best with a teacher. I’m lucky to have my girlfriend whose a native speaker.

I purchased this book with high hopes and I have several other Russian Language learning books as well. I was sorely disappointed. The book is next to useless without the audio and the process of getting the audio is extremely frustrating as one reviewer noted. In order to get the audio you have to visit the site, sign up for an account, and then send them an email with a code requesting access to the audio. You then have to wait for them to respond and give you access. The book and website notes that it can take up to 48 hours to receive authorization to download the audio. I first requested the audio 3 weeks ago and I still have not received an email response letting me know I can access the audio files. I have since requested the audio several other times as well as sending several customer service emails communicating my frustration. I have not received a single response. I have also checked the website daily to verify if I had been given access without an email and have not had that happen either. I am extremely disappointed with the amount of customer service I have received after spending over $40 on the book. I have since returned my book to Amazon for a refund. Amazon as always was great about shipping and returning this item.

I have just received my book, and it really is MORE than I expected it to be! I claimed the audio and they answered me in no-time, giving me the access they promised, so I can download it. Absolutely recommendable, Russian is not an easy language to learn, but with this kind of help, I'm sure I am on my way. As soon as I finish to fully understand this book, I am sure I will buy the Low Intermediate Level from Russian Step by Step!

I am Turkish but speak English as well. I have several Russian friends and we teach each other ( russian - turkish exchange). I started with Reading Russian and now am on lesson 5 (nationalities). I LOVE their audio – so natural, big help. Use the grammar and translation in the back. So far, all the explanations are straightforward and I do not need to read a lot. I progressed further in the book but every lesson takes longer to cover. My hope is to finish this book in a year.

I have now had the opportunity to use all three of the books in this series and I have started using the excellent 2 books dedicated to Verbs of Motion, which could be used on their own as a separate course as indeed these verbs of motion in Russian are quite complex. (The 2 separate books have a summary of the verbs of motion and uses and then a lot of exercises with answers in the back of the book, so would be suitable for intermediate and advanced students only).The Russian Step by Step books are quite a different format to most books on Russian language, and may be pitched more at the younger learner than the adult, but nevertheless, they were enjoyable to use even for an oldie! There are three sections, the first section '`Main Course' is entirely in Russian (some English explanations in the first book) with dialogue, grammar exercises and vocabulary in reasonable sized chapters to learn and answer. The middle (second) part of the book is titled "Grammar" and is the English key to the first part of the book. Here you will find the translations and explanations of the grammar in the first 'Main Course'. The last third of the book is a transcript of the Audio script which at first I had great trouble finding. The instructions for accessing the audio script are at the beginning of each book, but for some reason I was unable to make these available to me; I contacted the publisher who very quickly responded with apologies and instructions for access and further communication with them couldn't have been better. They went all out to help me, which impressed me greatly. The only other addition here is that the books have a condensed grammar section and dictionary/vocabulary also at the rear of the third section/end of the books, and that there is also a selection of books by the same publishers/authors for children and for writing the cursive Cyrillic script, which athough might be thought of as a cash cow, are really useful if you want to impress your Russian friends or take notes down in your notebook and refer back to them later without wondering if your small cursive 'ч ' was actually a 'г ' or ' ъ ' and was that an ' л ' or an ' и ' or indeed the start of an ' м '. Likewise, how does your tail grow on your small cursive ' ц' it should not resemble a ' у ' or run into ' щ' and where do you place your link for the ' о' and the ' а ' when they look so similar? Of course, you may know all of this already ! :)I would like to thank the author and publishers for their help and for my enjoyable journey along a long road of Russian language learning.

A complex language like Russian can overwhelm the learner, if the method isn't "step by step", like this one. It needs to approach the language in easily handled and easily understood pieces, which this book does very nicely.I always think that, considering very small children and very stupid people are able to learn any language easily, there's no reason anyone should need a Master's degree in linguistics to do it -- so when I look at a book that buries the learner in every arcane detail and exception that they may never need to know, I put it down and look for something else. Something more like THIS one.A bonus is that, even when I'm tired and/or busy, I can still pick it up and learn the next little bite-sized piece. That's much more encouraging that being immediately overwhelmed. And I like that there's a more advanced text to follow this one, when I'm ready for it.

I am a native English speaker and with a small grasp of Russian from trying to learn on my own for a few months using a number of free resources online. Since I already know the alphabet and can read basic words/phases, I decided to start with Beginner's Level 1, rather than the introductory book in the series (Reading Russian).I just started this book so I will update this review periodically. However, I decided to provide my first impressions.For each Lesson, the instructions are:1. Read the dialogue or text at he beginning of the lesson and try to understand the meaning2. Read the Grammar section, which explains the dialogue and the grammar rules3. Read the dialogue again. If you don't understand it, then you are supposed to consult the Grammar section once more.4. Do all the exercises in the Lesson5. Listen to the Audio6. Test yourself, using the test at the end of every three lessons.OverallPRO: The pre-course was great, and had a lot of helpful tips.PRO: I think the repetition in the Lessons helps you to remember the vocab.SLIGHT ANNOYANCE: You have to flip back and forth between the exercises, grammar section, and answer key. A human factors element is missing here. It would have been great if the book had indented tabs. However, this was easily rectified with stick notes, so that I'm not constantly searching for the pages in the grammar / answer key sections while doing the exercises.CON: The audio track numbers are not always printed next to the adjacent dialogue / text / exercise. Not sure how the editor missed this.LESSON-SPECIFIC COMMENTARYLESSON 1: No issues with content. Vocabulary is introduced at an appropriate rate.LESSON 2:According to the instructions, it says that you are to "Read the dialogue or text in the beginning of the lesson and try to understand the meaning". However, in Lesson 2, the dialogues/texts are dispersed throughout the lesson, in between various exercises. After reading the dialogue at the beginning of the Lesson, I went to the grammar section to read it over. I was very confused at first when the third sentence said где чай (Where is the tea?). I already knew what the Russian phrase meant, but I didn't understand why that phrase was in the Lesson 2 grammar section since the dialogue at the beginning of the Lesson 2 was about colours/adjectives (e.g., Какого цвета бумага? Он белый / What colour is the paper? It is white.) I went back to the lesson and flipped through the pages, and that's when I realize that other dialogues / texts exist half-way through Lesson 2. However, since you need to read most of the grammar section in order to complete the first exercise in Lesson 2 (about adjectives), once you reach the other dialogue / text later on in the lesson, you already know what it means because you've already (accidentally) read the translation. The author should have laid out the grammar section in the same order as they appear in the lessons.Secondly, the first exercise in Lesson 2, labeled exercise 8 (exercises continue their numbering across the lessons) you are required to make sentences using the adjective хороший. I already knew the endings for this adjective. However, I think exercise should have included a "tip" to tell the user to consult the "Hush" rule in the pre-course (which explains that after a ш, you do not write я). Otherwise the user may not remember why the feminine form of хороший is хорошая, rather than хорошяя, especially since the three examples in the grammar section areБелый / Белая (f) / Белое (n) / Белые (p)синий / синяя (f)/ синее (n) /синие (p)большой / большая (f)/ большое (n) / большие (p)So one may look at the table and think that that the feminine form of хороший is хорошяя rather than хорошая---------------------------- To Be Continued: Will continue to update this review as I work through the book ------------

Let's start with the positive side. It's very easy and quick to download the audio support. Otherwise, I would definitely strongly advise people to avoid this book. It is really badly structured and I don't understand how a true beginner could follow it. I got a Masters in Russian 25 years ago and so have some knowledge of the language. But, even I have problems. It jumps stages, lacks explanations and is very confusing.