Teach Yourself Beginner's Russian Script

I used this book to teach myself the Russian script and found it very helpful when I needed to decode Cyrillic in Russia. It took me through the content slowly and clearly enough, with enough examples and opportunities to practice, that I did not get confused or frustrated. However, the pronounciation guides for the letters rely on English equivalents, not exact matches. To go on to speak Russian, I strongly advise that you buy a tape rather than merely a phrasebook or book-based course because many of the sounds are so different to English.

I had a basic grasp of the Cyrillic alphabet already having used free online Russian language resources and thought that this book would clear up some of its peculiarities. It did not. The pronunciations of the Cyrillic x or that "shsh" character are not explained completely, and the alternative pronunciations of some characters are not mentioned at all. The basics of the Cyrillic alphabet are taught in excessive detail, while missing are some of the important inconsistencies common in Russian words.

"Teach Yourself Beginner's Russian" provides a much more concise and yet more detailed overview of the Cyrillic alphabet. Combined with sufficient Russian text which can be easily found online (I used the flight manual of a Russian MiG-29 "Fulcrum" fighter aircraft), the Cyrillic alphabet is not difficult to learn.

This is a good book, but it's likely that you'll find all the information you'll need on learning printed and handwritten cyrillic in any comprehensive text, like the New Penguin Russian Course.

I suppose since it does what it's supposed to do pretty well I should give it four stars, but the book is rather small, not all that cheap, and frankly I expected more. Maybe I expected more because the Teach Yourself series Russian Grammar book is so much better.

Before you start to learn Russian, I highly recommend that you get this book FIRST!!! I'm presently teaching myself Russian, and it is best to start by learning to decipher, first, the Cyrillic alphabet before learning Russian grammar.

And it's quite useful! Recently I was in the Russian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, waiting for the bus that would take me to Kingsborough Community College to attend my swim class. As that bus usually takes a while to come, I used that time to try to mentally translate the Russian names of the stores in the area! A bit challenging, yes. But I had fun doing it! Like most people, the Cyrillic alphabet always seemed to me so imposing and frightening. But it really isn't once you've learned it. Now, whenever I come across words in Cyrillic in my routine travels, the first thing I often do is try to mentally interpret it. My desire to learn Russian came after viewing and listening to the Russian-language version of "The Amphibian Man" (1961) on DVD. Which I proudly, and happily, own!

Chapters 6 and 7 of 'TY Beginner's Russian Script' teach you how to write in cursive Russian. I'm presently in Chapter 6. Writing in cursive Russian can be a little tricky at times . But I intend to keep right on practicing until I get the cursives down pat.

I also own 'Teach Yourself Beginner's Russian' and 'Living Language Russian', which I would later use to learn how to speak in Russian, and learn the pronunciation of Russian words.

But this is an excellent aid in learning the Russian alphabet. Out of all my 'Teach Yourself' texts in French, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese, 'Teach Yourself Beginner's Russian Script' is the smallest and most compact! I love this book!

Ok, so you want to learn Russian. Perhaps you're thinking of visiting the country, or maybe you just want to decipher that odd-looking Cyrillic alphabet. In either case, start with "Teach Yourself Beginner's Russian Script"! By spending a few hours with this book, you'll be MUCH better prepared to follow up with the many Russian phrasebooks for tourists. I've tried the reverse -- bought the phrasebooks and tried to memorize the sayings, but this way is much better. If you can learn to "decode" the Russian alphabet first, you'll find that you already know many, many Russian words, just by the way they sound. Dr. West combines a very logical approach to the Russian alphabet with fun exercises. You will find yourself reading Russian words by page 3. I was a professional linguist for many years and have studied Czech, French and German, so believe me when I say that this is really a nice little book for getting started in Russian. Will you be able to speak Russian when you finish this book? Of course not! But you'll have the right tools to decode that darn alphabet and for continuing on in learning Russian phrases. Do yourself a favor and don't skip this important first step.