Russian For Dummies (For Dummies (Language & Literature))

I was very excited when i found out that the Dummies series was coming out with Russian for dummies. I pre-ordered it. (BIG MISTAKE) I=for the next several weeks i anticipated making greater progress in russian. When the book finally arrived. . .my excitement waned. There is one section in cyrillic. . . after that nothing. . just transliteration. A total waste of money for anyone who wants to actually understand what being written in russian.

I have been very happy with other Dummies books. But i cannot begin to enumerate my diappointment in the Russian for Dummies book.

My wife and I bought the book for a trip we're taking to Europe this summer. We finished about half the book and like it. We tried some of the greetings and phrases on our Russian friends and they understood us, which is a good sign. Some of the grammar explanations are confusing in chapter 2, but the cultural tips and sayings throughout the book are really useful and the CD's great. Maybe the book could benefit from showing how words are spelled with actual Russian letters, which are shown in Chapter 1. Otherwise, we're enjoying it.

I'm currently about a third of the way through this book, and have half a mind to stop there. It's really quite a good course, and the authors have made a conscientious effort to make the instruction lively and interesting. The CD, which contains the dialogs, helps immensely. If only all language-instruction books had some kind of audio accompaniment... .

However, I'm giving this book only a two-star rating for only one reason, and it's a serious one: THIS BOOK IS COMPLETELY TRANSLITERATED INTO ENGLISH! This book has just one chapter on the Cyrillic alphabet, and that's the last you'll see of it. To get the most from this course, you simply have to pay close attention to the section on transliteration of the alphabet sounds--if not constantly refer back to that section while studying.

I've heard the arguments that when you begin to study a language on your own, you should listen constantly (to recorded dialogs) at first to develop an ear for the sounds. Then, after the sounds become somewhat familiar, you can then begin to read the dialog transcripts to reinforce the material. I've practiced this theory many times, and it works well enough, especially for "difficult" languages like Russian. Alas, Russian uses a different alphabet, a different writing system. Exactly what DOESN'T appear in this book.

I wouldn't recommend "Russian for Dummies" to anybody interested in learning Russian, despite the provided audio CD. I only wish that "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Russian," and "Berlitz Essential Russian" contained a CD. I'd recommend them in a heartbeat.