The best Russian textbook

_xiao_wenti_ · #1 10-23-2009, 08:00 PM

My current pipe-dream is to travel to Georgia or Khazakstan to learn Georgian or Khazak. As they are formerly part of the USSR, I would like to review my Russian to serve as a bridge language.

I took Russian nearly 30 years ago and have remembered a decent amount (considering the time that has passes). 12 semester hours.

Polycarp · #2 10-23-2009, 08:18 PM

My disntinct impression is that classroom Russian is not, in general, particularlyg good at giving you conversational colloquial Russian. (Thin, for a parallel, how studying Caesar and Cicero would not have prepared you for visits to the Fourth Century Roman Empire.) That;s intended as cautionary -- the best textbook may need to be supplemented by something that gives you familiarity with colloquial use.

_xiao_wenti_ · #3 10-23-2009, 11:12 PM

There are few classroom language experiences that can get you going. When I took Spanish, I learned enough to get me started then moved to SA. I got the classroom Chinese, but the wife was against moving to China. I understand the mechanics of really learning a language. There is ordering in a restaurant and then there is waking up in the middle of the night, negotiating a taxi ride, not getting taken to the cleaners and getting the directions right.

The issue with Russian, at least when I took it, was that it was during the EVIL EMPIRE period. Well, Carter was still the president,... The problem was that there was no one with whom I could talk. There really weren't Russians around me until the early 90's and they were all over the place as post-docs.

So what I want is a text to refresh my grammar and vocabulary. I might have to chat on-line with my colleagues, but I have people to talk with.

Olentzero · #4 10-24-2009, 02:38 AM

When I was teaching myself Russian back before I went to Georgetown, the one book I liked the most was the New Penguin Russian Course. It's as thorough as a college textbook but has a complete answer key in the back.

I used it back in the late '80s so there may have been some changes since I used it, but I would guess they're mostly cosmetic rather than structural.

ETA: Get the Katzner dictionary they recommend as well. Best US English<>Russian dictionary I've run across.

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