can anyone suggest a good Russian language textbook?

[Hen]

Probably a long shot, but I thought I'd ask- my dd15 wants to start Rosetta Stone Russian again, but we need a text book with it to satisfy her charter school. can anyone recommend one? This will be for 1st year Russian. She did a bit with Rosetta Stone a few years ago, but gave up when it became frustrating.

 

I'm looking at one a college in Vermont uses, but I'd thought I'd ask if there are any better out there.

 

thanks,

:lurk5:

[MagnaSky]

Beginning Russian http://www.slavica.com/textbooks/text_leed.html is considered good. But you can look around on the slavica website and see other options they have there.

[Teachaheart]

Probably a long shot, but I thought I'd ask- my dd15 wants to start Rosetta Stone Russian again, but we need a text book with it to satisfy her charter school. can anyone recommend one? This will be for 1st year Russian. She did a bit with Rosetta Stone a few years ago, but gave up when it became frustrating.

 

I'm looking at one a college in Vermont uses, but I'd thought I'd ask if there are any better out there.

 

thanks,

:lurk5:

 

The text I used as an undergrad was called "Russian for Everybody" published by Russky Yazak Publishers and adapted by Robert L. Baker of Middlebury College. The ISBN 13 is 9785200013975. There is also a workbook (5200003180) and a conversation and reading book (520012589), but I'm not sure you would be able to find either of those.

 

Unfortunately there are not many good Russian textbooks available. My college is now using a series called "Nachalo" that gets mostly negative reviews on Amazon from both students and teachers. Its one strength is its multimedia component.

 

Beloit College in Wisconsin is using "Russian Grammar in Context" (978-0130282804), but I know nothing about that one. It gets decent reviews on Amazon though.

Other than my two-volume Russian-English/English-Russian dictionary, the books most useful in my Russian studies were "501 Russian Verbs" and "Russian Root List: With a Sketch of Word Formation" by Charles E. Gribble (ISBN 0893570524).

[SnegurochkaL]

Twelve years ago my husband was learning Russian. He found a very good book "English Grammar for Students of Russian" by Edwina J. Cruise. Being a native Russian speaker I find this book being a very good introduction to Russian Grammar.

 

I am not familiar with Rosetta Stone Russian, but my husband found a Transparent Language series very useful for pronunciation practice.

 

Does your daughter read in Russia? If she does, you can just simply use a regular Russian textbook for public schools.

[lavender]

My dd also uses RS russian and I supplement with "Russian Step by Step" by Natasha Alexandrova. I found it online and I ordered it directly from their website. We have level 1 textbook, audio cds, and workbook. Dd really likes it, not too hard or too easy. She has learned the cyrillic alphabet, their letter names, and phonetic sounds. Now she can sound out the russian words and read them from her text, workbook, and the RS computer screen. Not bad for only 6 months worth of lessons done so far, twice a week, with virtually no help from me.

 

http://www.russianstepbystep.com/

 

Definately Recommended.

 

Lavender in Oklahoma

[Teachaheart]

My dd also uses RS russian and I supplement with "Russian Step by Step" by Natasha Alexandrova. I found it online and I ordered it directly from their website. We have level 1 textbook, audio cds, and workbook. Dd really likes it, not too hard or too easy. She has learned the cyrillic alphabet, their letter names, and phonetic sounds. Now she can sound out the russian words and read them from her text, workbook, and the RS computer screen. Not bad for only 6 months worth of lessons done so far, twice a week, with virtually no help from me.

 

http://www.russianstepbystep.com/

 

Definately Recommended.

 

Lavender in Oklahoma

 

This looks really good. I like the way the grammar paradigms are presented on the website, and it looks like the same kind of presentation is in the book. It appears that completion of the level 1 book and workbook with the audio tracks would give a solid introduction the Russian language.

[Teachaheart]

Twelve years ago my husband was learning Russian. He found a very good book "English Grammar for Students of Russian" by Edwina J. Cruise. Being a native Russian speaker I find this book being a very good introduction to Russian Grammar.

 

I am not familiar with Rosetta Stone Russian, but my husband found a Transparent Language series very useful for pronunciation practice.

 

Does your daughter read in Russia? If she does, you can just simply use a regular Russian textbook for public schools.

 

OP: I also found the Transparent Language series very helpful for pronunciation practice.

 

SneguochkaL: Please excuse my ignorance, but how does one go about procuring regular Russian textbooks? I have a couple children's history books I purchased in St. Petersburg but not any language textbooks. I'm interested in finding a source though. Thanks!

[bairnmama]

The text I used as an undergrad was called "Russian for Everybody" published by Russky Yazak Publishers and adapted by Robert L. Baker of Middlebury College. The ISBN 13 is 9785200013975. There is also a workbook (5200003180) and a conversation and reading book (520012589), but I'm not sure you would be able to find either of those.

 

 

 

:iagree: I used this one in my undergrad class as well. It is very thorough.

[OlgaLA]

SneguochkaL: Please excuse my ignorance, but how does one go about procuring regular Russian textbooks? I have a couple children's history books I purchased in St. Petersburg but not any language textbooks. I'm interested in finding a source though. Thanks!

 

There are a few internet stores that carry Russian textbooks. I used

www.kniga.com, www.RusKniga.com, www.vasha-kniga.com

 

They are all in the US. The last one canceled half of my order without telling me first, but other than that I had no problems. It can be hard to find what you are looking for though, unless you know exactly what you want.

 

However, I wouldn't use a textbook aimed at the native speakers until you know the language pretty well.

[scrappyhappymama]

My husband majored in Russian in college, and his first textbook was this one: http://www.amazon.com/Golosa-Basic-Course-Russian-Book/dp/0138950385/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285658379&sr=8-1

 

There is also a Part 2 of the same book. There are updated editions as well, but the current edition is over $100.

[Hen]

oh my! Thank you, everyone for your responses! I didn't dream so many here would know about Russian textbooks. I see several leads I will follow up on- the one textbook I was looking at- is being used at a college in Vermont, though I can't remember which college, but the book was over $100 on Amazon, I wanted to make sure I purchased something we would be happy with.

 

thank you so much everyone for your replies, links and ISBN numbers!

 

The Hive board always has what you need!:lol:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

:iagree: I used this one in my undergrad class as well. It is very thorough.

 

I didn't realize there were any other options for Russian. :tongue_smilie: It wasn't my favorite, but that was a factor of my first year instructor as much as the textbook. It is an ok textbook, but I thought it was not laid out as well as texts for my other languages.

 

I would suggest trying to locate the tapes/cds that go with the book. I think there was a workbook as well.

 

I used to get books at Viktor Kamkin, but it seems they closed a few years ago and the remaining hundreds of thousands of books were destroyed. Makes my stomache turn to think of destroying books like this.

[lisabelle]

I was a Russian Lit major in college and we used the older version of the Leed & Nakhimovsky text for first-year language. This one had the Zyuzya (alien) storyline. It was a deeply strange text--the 2nd and 3rd year texts continued Zyuzya's adventures. I can't say it was terribly-well organized, but it was unforgettable! I still remember my first memorized sentence:

 

Kokoga tsveta vasha planeta?

(What color is your planet?)

 

L

[bairnmama]

I didn't realize there were any other options for Russian. :tongue_smilie: It wasn't my favorite, but that was a factor of my first year instructor as much as the textbook. It is an ok textbook, but I thought it was not laid out as well as texts for my other languages.

 

I would suggest trying to locate the tapes/cds that go with the book. I think there was a workbook as well.

 

I used to get books at Viktor Kamkin, but it seems they closed a few years ago and the remaining hundreds of thousands of books were destroyed. Makes my stomache turn to think of destroying books like this.

 

Well, I don't know if it was the textbook or the instructor, but I retained so much more from my 1 semester of Russian than from 4 semesters of French. Sadly, Russian wasn't an approved language for an Art History minor. :glare: But I kept the textbook and all the tapes Irina Vladimirovna made for us.... wonder where those tapes are now....

[In The Great White North]

I used Russian for Everybody also. It claimed to have been translated but only the title page has any English on it!

 

I looked into dd taking Russian at Dartmouth. The schedule didn't work for us, but they use:

 

Live from Russia. Russian Stage One. Volume 1: Textbook and Volume 1: Workbook (second edition)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Russian-Stage-One-Russian-American-Collaborative/dp/0757557570

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Well, I don't know if it was the textbook or the instructor, but I retained so much more from my 1 semester of Russian than from 4 semesters of French. Sadly, Russian wasn't an approved language for an Art History minor. :glare: But I kept the textbook and all the tapes Irina Vladimirovna made for us.... wonder where those tapes are now....

 

I'm pretty sure in my case it was the instructor. And sadly, I never got past the poor foundation of that first year instructor. You should have seen the second year prof when she realized she had a whole classroom full of students who guessed at adjective endings because we didn't understand the rules for them. (And I'd taken years of German and French, so it wasn't that I was a language newbie.)

 

I do wish I could go back and have a do over.