Russian Level 1 Lessons 1-5

Effective

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Make it a bit less repetitive and give more time to answer back.

Would you be willing to try another book from Pimsleur? Why or why not?

Yes! I have tried other learning tools but only Pimsleur teaches me the language to a point where I can impress native speakers and have functional conversations. Russian is the 3rd language I'm learning using these audiobooks!

Have you listened to any of the narrator’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Consistent

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Not consistent

What aspect of Pimsleur’s performance would you have changed?

I find that the Russian speakers are not consistent in their pronunciations. A word will be broken down, the last syllable being a "oo" sound, and then when the word is put back together, the ending is "oh" or "ah". A question is intoned differently in Russian, but one example sounds much more like the way an English question would be pronounced than the previous examples had demonstrated. I like the way the course is structured, but the speakers just don't seem precise. If there is some reason the pronunciation changes, I'd like to know why. I'm not sure that I am going to buy the next set of lessons.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Great for learning to speak and listen!!

I've always enjoyed dabbling in foreign languages, and this series is simply fantastic! It's very repetitious and allows you to learn phrases in a way that becomes second nature to anyone who actively listens to these lessons, and that is something that is rather difficult when studying languages on your own without the guidance of a fluent speaker.
Though, I will say that in Russian the spelling of a lot of words isn't very intuitive, and this series doesn't really help with that on its own since it's strictly audio, so I use Google Translate a lot to help out with that (which I highly recommend since sometimes it's difficult to hear the sounds they're making. Sometimes "n" sounds like "m," or "guh" sounds like "duh").
My own method (which may or may not work for you) is to listen to each lesson twice (once one day, then again the next day), take plenty of notes the first time through, and then let the info really sink in during the second play-through. And I've made it a part of my daily routine.
I've learned so much more with this series in a few months than I had with years of studying any other language!

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

the woman speaks cleat

the guy mumbles at times. this could be better. the pace was slow on chapter 1-4. too fat on chapter 5.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good technique

Would you listen to Russian Phase 1, Unit 01-05 again? Why?

I have purchased several Russian language programs including the R* S*, I found the approached use in this audio book most beneficial for "listening" I am also using a CBT based language program by Mango. As a solo learner the varied repetition and revisiting of phrases helps with the memorization. I plan on sticking with this program and using others to supplement.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A but I will say the Russian ladies voice is very pleasant to hear.

Which character – as performed by the narrator – was your favorite?

N/A

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Only when I tried some pronunciations... :)

Any additional comments?

A bit pricy but you get what you pay for.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Wow, I really picked up Russian quickly!

What made the experience of listening to Russian Phase 1, Unit 01-05 the most enjoyable?

I do not consider myself good at language acquisition but Pimsleur changed my mind. I was able to learn the most important words and phrases quickly and retain them during a 3 month stay in Moscow for work. I plan to re-learn Spanish with Pimsleur and I think it will be fun and easy.

Has Russian Phase 1, Unit 01-05 turned you off from other books in this genre?

Rosetta Stone was not helpful for learning Russian and was a total waste of money.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Challenging and Comprehensive

I've started these lessons during my commute and have found myself learning new phrases quickly. The time they take with pronunciation is just right. Occasionally I feel a little overwhelmed, but I think this is done intentionally to expand your comfort zone.
Challenging, straight to the point, and without a wasted minute. I will be following these lessons all the way through and repeating them as necessary!

Way better than YouTube

I can’t imagine how anyone who speaks Russian for their first language would be able to tell if this is a good way to learn (previous rating from someone). I took a chance and after three days I’m nailing it. Very excellent procedure. Was discouraging on day one and then all of a sudden it starts sticking. Ya nymnoga penimya parooske! It’s very excellent to focus on nothing outside the instructors pronunciation and the meaning of the words. YouTube writes each word as they say it (in their best way possible) but this is a distraction in my opinion. Something gets lost in translation when a fluent Russian spells the words with the ISO basic Latin alphabet. Don’t get me wrong, this is still hard and I’m replaying part 1 even after three days. After repetition I feel the quality of my pronunciation and overall comprehension has grown significantly. This should have more 5 star reviews. Way worth it! 👍🧐

Best way to learn a new language

Of all the language learning lessons I have tried throughout the past, this is by far the easiest and strongest way to learn a new language fast. Pimsleur immediately has you learning useful phrases you will most likely use. From the useful phrases the learning lessons smartly branch out into more in depth vocabulary. You will not be disappointed at all!

Good start to Russian

Not a lot of vocab learned in this lesson, but the repetition makes it easy to remember. Nice that they revisit words learned earlier in the lesson to help with recall.