Russian: Lonely Planet Phrasebook

My husband is Russian and I am trying to acquire at least a fundamental understanding of the language for when I visit his family this New Year. This book is invaluable, and my Russian husband has read it from cover to cover and has given it a big stamp of approval - in particular he feels that the transliterations are excellent in giving the student an accurate guide as to how the words should be pronounced. He also derives a lot of amusement from the various social descriptions in the book which he feels are spot-on.
I have to disagree VERY STRONGLY with the reviewer from Austria who said that the book is filled with typographical errors - I have not found this to be at all true! Is he confused by examples where the word is written in Russian as though it should be pronounced with an 'o' but the transliteration has it written with an 'a'? If this is his source of complaint then he ought to read the introductory chapters.

I have had, or read quite a few Russian Phrase books. This little jem beats most of them. My only desire is that it was a little larger in size. All in all, I say this one is " Ochen Horosho ! ".

Our little Lonely Planet Russian phrasebook is well worn from 6 of 7 trips to Russia or other Russian speaking countries in the past couple of years. As far as I'm concerned, the "Lonely Planet" series of phrasebooks (and travel guides) are about the best.

This small guide is packed with great stuff you can use starting with a simple pronunciation guide up front. It's sections on grammar are great, incorporating phrases most people would use in real life. The phonetic pronunciations for each phrase are easy to read, accurate and intuitive.

Maybe the best thing is it's perfect size, just a hair over 3.5 by 5 inches. It will fit in a shirt pocket or anywhere else for that matter. Anyone that travels a lot overseas will tell you that size, weight, and utility are the key issues when considering anything you purchase to pack on the road.

Generally we've found the Lonely Planet series to be the first we look for when heading off to a new destination. It will be a truly valuable asset to your travels.

This phrasebook is better than most for people who know no Russian (or very little) and who want to try to communicate with Russians. It is full of positive messages about trying, and it opens with a concise explanation of Russian grammar. Russian grammar is not something you can just master easily, but it helps to at least have an idea of how the language works - it makes more sense than just blindly memorizing phrases. The main advantage of this phrasebook it that it truly tells you the easiest way to get your point across. These are phrases that beginners actually can learn and use. Many phrasebooks are full of long sentences that are difficult to reproduce if you have little knowledge of the language, but Lonely Planet is not one of them. It also gives helpful information on how to make substitutions in the book's stock phrases, and it encourages you to put together your own word combinations. Two other good points: it's relatively low cost (a good price to value ratio) and it's pocket sized, so you can easily take it around with you on a trip. The topics covered are useful, everyday ones. In fact, there is more packed into this small book than most people will need. The dictionary is also pretty extensive. Two other things to take into consideration before purchasing this phrasebook: 1) the Lonely Planet series is geared up for young people - many of the expressions and words in the book are clearly targeted to college students and other young folks, which may be off-putting to older users, and 2) there are MANY typos and reversals in the phrasebook (did anyone actually proofread it? ). If you know absolutely no Russian, you will not recognize that these are typos and/or wrong words. This may leave you saying something other than what you think you are saying!