Russian Learner's Dictionary: 10,000 Russian Words in Order of Frequency

Having begun studying Russian earlier this year, I was very pleased to stumble upon this book. Many people study languages and in the process learn many words they may not actually need. This book literally lists the most frequently used words in order of occurance in normal conversation and writing. It is perhaps wise to note that language is a dynamic beastie and words may shuffle in frequency of use, even inviting new words into the process. But you have to start somewhere. As stated in the beginning section of this book, it is a work built upon past efforts to document usage patterns, expanded to include more than simply what you would need to pass a scholastic requirement. But remember, this is a list, not a text book. There are examples of usage offered (for the first 600 words) as well as tenses, but no detailed explanations of application. Any serious student of language will find such a reference most valuable.

This books strength is in its ability to assist in the consolidation of useful Russian words. Rather than learning words that are unlikely to arise in everyday conversation or literature this book definitely assists in strengthening your grasp of the most commonly used words. As the author quite rightly states, although "(do)sveedanya" (goodbye) may be one of the first words in the language you may learn - in usage terms it is the 1273th most common in usage (sveedanya). You'd be better in general terms to learn "ryeshat" "to decide, solve" being number 1272 in frequency, even though this may not even be mentioned in a conventional Russian course - indeed in the authors excellent new Penguin Russian Course this word is not mentioned until Chapter 13!

My personal usage of this book is to highlight with a bright marker words that I have learnt. A quick glance at the book then immediately gives me feedback on my progress in vocabulary terms.

This alone is an excellent tool and encourages you to an even greater vocabulary. Where else can you get such instant feedback?

Nicholas Brown brought use the excellent revised Penguin Russian course, and this offering is up to his usual high standards.

A self-explanatory title - allows you to gauge your current performance in written russian (I do this by simply highlighting with a marker pen the words I already know). And allowing you to fill in gaps in your knowledge.

I think this book is one of the best Vocabulary building tools on the market - this is of course the books intended purpose - and it serves it well.

Nicholas Brown at the University of London has given us a dictionary of the 10,000 words he believes are the most common in Russian. The interesting twist is that the first part of the dictionary is sorted, as the subtitle says, "in frequency order". From the most common word meaning, "and" to the 10,000th most common meaning, "furious,raging, fervent", he outlines a method for expanding your Russian vocabulary. This book could prove to be a useful tool in deciding to memorize particular words.

A helpful alphabetical listing follows the frequency list.

I think this volume is best used by a second or third year student of colege Russian.

This book is also available in paperback.

Whatever posessed Brown to embark on the mind-bending task of figuring out the 10,000 most frequently used Russian words is unclear, but I'm glad he did. This book is a great study aid, enabling one to prioritise word lists so that the most useful ones can be memorised first. Each entry comes with a small phrase to give the word context, and stress marks are given throughout.

The fun part is when you've absorbed, say, 10 words from the list and then listen to native Russian speakers. The new words pop up with surprising regularity and give a major boost to one's comprehension of what's being said.

It's an ideal accompaniment to any Russian course and could really help you pull ahead if you're studying in a classroom environment.