Learn Russian Now! 8.0

I learned Russian a while ago, and have found that this, along with a couple of textbooks, is a good way to maintain my language skills. If you already have knowledge of the alphabet, I certainly think it is worth taking a look at, but I would not recommend it as a stand alone tool.

Crashes regularly on Windows 2000. Does not have a module with the sounds of the alphabet, which makes it hard to get started. Overall, just lacks organization.

It will probably turn out to be a good supplement to another program, but by itself, is not enough to get started learning Russian.

I bought this neat item after struggling with rewinding and fast forwarding Russian language tapes for the last couple years. Needless to say, I didn't get very much past the conversational ability of a Russian infant. Even though I haven't had this product very long, I can't say much yet about the speech recognition and whatnot but I'm already making larger strides than I ever did with those tapes, let me tell you! Repeating words and sentences is a snap, all you have to do is doubleclick. Want them to speak slower? No problemo, my friend! They have that function in there too. This thing will definately save you from the nightmare of tapes. Before you know it, you'll be shouting Russian and beating your shoe against a podium at the United Nations with the best of them.

I must say that I can't suggest this software if you are looking to supplement a regular Russian language course. I bought Learn Russian Now! thinking that its record/playback features would help me with my accent, and that the dictionary would help me translate readings for class. Unfortunately, it didn't have a dictionary that looked up Russian to English efficiently, so it was impossible to pick a word from a homework assignment and find its meaning/pronunciation--you can only look up/hear words in the programs dialogs. Also, the playback feature would say my accent was perfect at times that my (human) tutor would cringe. If you don't have access to a real life person, this may be the next best thing to teach you Russian. However, if you are trying to find something to help you out with a class, a regular old dictionary might be a better investment.

I got this for my 14th birthday, and for the first day, I was worried it waste of money, but I assure it's not. The best way to start (I think anyway) is to go to the fundamental, and go part one, part two, part three...It's long and slow, but if your as serious about learning Russian as I am, you'll get it. (Once the basics are learned, understanding it is a lot easier so later on when your trying to memorize things, it won't be so hard) But if your still not sure you want to learn Russian, don't bother buying it. Russian is hard! With a whole new alphabet. if you just want to learn a second language, go for Spanish or something.