Golosa: A Basic Course in Russian, Book 1 (4th Edition) (Bk. 1)

I have used this book in a two course sequence that was taught by a native Russian speaker who has graduate degrees in philology from prestigous universities in Moscow. I consider her considerably more knowlegeable about the Russian language and how to teach it to Americans than the know-it-all, KMM, who gives this book an unbelievable single star.

Our instructor, who actually knows something about Russia, having lived there for at least 45 years before coming to the US, repeatedly informed us that Golosa is the best text available and easily supersedes anything else that is available. It works for me.

My teacher warned us that a very limited number of phrases weren't culturally authentic and explained why. But, this book is more than adequate. Though some of the tapes don't conform exactly to the text, this engenders some level of sponteneity and helps develop listening skills.

Ignore KMM's diatribes against this book. Talk about a complete lack of crediblity! KMM rails against the American authors of the book, but apparently because KMM is French and knows a little English, too, KMM has expert status and superior knowlege about how native English speakers should learn Russian. Duh???

Wasn't KMM the person who essentially indicated that only a native Russian speaker can teach a Russian course? So, by KMM's own logic, ignore a native French speaker's comments on a Russian language text for Americans. KMM must agree that is it not possible for KMM to understand the needs of an English speaker in learning any language, except possibly French?

The specific criticisms KMM makes of this book-bad graphics and an incomplete "how to tell time" section-miss the mark, widely. Graphics: I've used the book and have two advanced degrees from nationally recognized institutions. I've seen a lot of textbooks. These graphics are adequate. Though some of the letters and notes reproduced in cursive script are a bit difficult to read, isn't the handwriting of many people difficult to read?

How to tell time: The time keeping information isn't introduced just to provide a complete discussion of how time is told in Russian. Rather, it is provided to acquint the beginner with one of the six complex "cases" that must be introduced to cover the basics. Hint to KMM: In Russian telling the time isn't as simple as "Six heures et demi", which is not different from English in structure.

Maybe KMM is only upset because Russian is so much more complex and difficult to learn than French. There are six "cases" and the nouns and adjectives must be "declined" to agree as to number, gender AND case. Even the "gender" is more complicated than French, because there is a neuter, not just a masculine and feminine. Then, almost none of the words are English cognates, though there are some French cognates. Anyone who suggests that Russian can be learned in a self-instruction program doesn't know enough about the subject to be taken seriously.

I am on the brink of completing an intensive Russian course (1 year of Russian compressed into one quarter) which has used this series. Over the course of 8 weeks with the two books and a PhD candidate as my guide I have found myself possessing enough proficiency to converse with a couple I met on a bus, to listen to the news in Russian, and assume I could keep my head above water were I to travel.

The authors' approach is vastly different from other texts I have encountered. A large number of listening and reading excercises accompany lessons on grammar and a wealth of vocabulary. Texts and dialogues, unlike other texts, are not overly glossed and seem to focus on adding unknown words and phrases, forcing the student to pick out what he or she understands to follow the action. Such an approach approximates what a student might experience in a real world situation.

For a student or teacher of early Russian classes I believe there to be few better books. I could not recommend the text and the authors' approach more. Although I would suggest awaiting the 3rd edition (the current edition is rife with confusing errors and typos as well as a cumbersome delivery system for the accompanying audio) the issues can be surmounted by a dedicated student and/or knowledgeable teacher. They do little, however, to detract from the overall quality inherent in the books' approach to learning.

Unfortunately this one of the better text books for the Russian language available. Before you buy this product look at the author's names. Neither is Russian. I am American High School French teacher and fluent in French having learned it by textbook and real world exposure. Before buying any language program make sure at least one author is a native speaker of the foreign language and the other is a native speaker of your own language. Although this book has extensive explanations of how the complicated noun declensions change, it does not provide a sufficient amount of real world examples as to when or how to use them. Although present tense verbs are clearly explained, the perfect and imperfect for past and future are not presented clearly. Many sections are poorly conceived. For example, one chapter section which explains time of day, only instructs you how to tell time on the hour but not how to say any minute, quarter or half hour interval. The book's illustrations are the worst I have seen in any modern foreign language textbook. Picture examples in the book, which are supposed to inspire you to think, only serve to confuse the reader. I completed this course solo along with the lab manual. It was not a pleasant learning experience. I would only suggest this book to someone who is taking a course in a university and that a native Russian who speaks PERFECT English is teaching the course. I would not suggest this book to any one trying to go it alone. Good Luck to you all.

After going through this book -- I'm well equipped to enter a russian department store and charge like crazy. In fact, I've even been asked to help other american tourists get around in a department store. What you learn is how to buy things, order things. Russian culture doesn't seem to be very important. Instead of learning words like "war" or "literature" you learn "hat department" and "credit card." Perhaps it's the lack of interest/demand for good russian textbooks in the States. The grammar explainations are fine. Quite good in fact. I'm just depressed at what these authors think is of interest to an american/english audience. I can't imagine anyone interested in such an extremely materialistic introduction to Russian. Sadly, I haven't found any alternatives. But if I had to start learning Russian again -- I really would not use this book. You may learn some grammar -- but you'll end up learning words like "credit card" before words that will really help you experience Russian culture.

This book series, in my experience, is the best way to start learning Russian. It is more helpful in conjunction with the workbook, and most helpful when combined with the written exercises in the workbook and oral exchange with other people (there's a tape series that goes with this, but if you have people who are learning with you to talk to, the tapes aren't really necessary). It covers all the basic conversational topics like greetings, weather, telling time, etc. And for the most part, the phrases in the book (even the colloquialisms) are still in use today. So if you want to start learning Russian, order this book and the workbook right away!