Prime Ways - Russian

Language Reviews

Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of three living members of the East Slavic languages, the others being Belarusian and Ukrainian (and possibly Rusyn, normally considered a dialect of Ukrainian).

Written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century onwards. Today Russian is widely used outside Russia. Over a quarter of the world's scientific literature is published in Russian. Russian is also a necessary accessory of world communications systems (broadcasts, air- and space communication, etc). Because of the status of the Soviet Union as a superpower, Russian had great political importance in the 20th century. Hence, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

Michel Thomas ( by Michel Thomas)  No memorizing, no text books, no drills, no homework!

Russian from the Michel Thomas range is another language recorded after his passing. The post Michel Thomas courses are very good and while they don't have the wit and humour of the original MT European courses (French, Italian, German & Italian) they are none the less extremely effective for beginners to grasp the language and more importantly construct the sentences YOU want to say. For Russian there is the Introductory (first 2 hours of the Foundation course), Foundation and Advanced. Due to the popularity of this course there is now a newly released Vocabulary course for those that have completed the Advanced course. Michel Thomas should be your first stop to learn Russian.

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone do a very good package for learning the Russian language. As said before the environment asks that you match up words or phrases to the relevant pictures. It is an effective learning method and you will achieve a strong level of fluency with it. If you want a good start in Russian and can afford it then Rosetta Stone is a good move. Our reviewers found that the course presents Russian in a friendly easy going manner and doesn't crowd you mind with too much to start with.

Complete Russian (Learn on the move) ( by Henry N Raymond)

Complete Russian by Henry N Raymond is a exceptional value learning package for Russian. You get 9 CD's (60 mins each) as well as a DVD for explaining the culture of Russia and their customs. New material in this second edition includes a variety of internet and digital media/technology terms. It includes: Level 1 - introduction to key words, numbers, phrases, sentence structure, and basic grammar; Level 2 - more challenging vocabulary, more grammar, more complex sentences generate confidence in your ability to comprehend and converse; and Level 3 - expanded vocabulary, advanced grammar and complex sentences to expand your conversational skills. This course was very well received by our reviewer and follows on nicely from either the Michel Thomas or Rosetta Stone course.

	Earworms ( by Marlon Lodge)
	The Russian version of the Earworms range seemed to have been produced rather poorly since the Russian comes before the English translation!. You have an English man speaking to a Russian woman. The translations of the questions are set to the backdrop of rhythmic beats, designed to stay in your mind like a catchy song. This would have been better if they got the speaking the right way round.