Viewing topic: Russian Language book

Any idea on a good Russian language/grammar book that breaks you in gently to that wild Russian case system??

Has anyone tried Rosetta Stone for Russian, or know if it works? It's wildly expensive, but apparently NASA and the U.S. State Department uses it, so it must be good

I haven't tried Rosetta stone precisely because of that extortionate price.

I did downloaded a lot of Pimsleur russian which is an expensive course too, I found it for free though on a torrent site. It covered quite a chunk of basic language but I wouldn't rate it highly.

I can't say enough good things about "The Complete Idiot's guide to Learning Russian" by Christopher Froehlich. Somehow he not only managed to to make the convoluted Russian grammar understandable, he made it fun.

The book should be in it's second or third printing now.. I think they may come with a CD-ROM too.

Good Luck!

I also have been frustrated by normal bookstores.

I have been up to Moscow and found a few sources.
First, is the Puschkin Institute for Russian Language. They have a room on teh 4th floor open during the week full of good russian materials.

I like Russky Yazek dla Nachnaiochih, Russian Language for beginners, by Ovsienko for under 300 rubles, as a complete sensible text.

also, stangely, I found the Mayakovskaya Musuem a good place for language books. It is by Metro Lubyanka and the entrance is through a bookstore and the through the yard, into the museum, which is another bookstore...
by the way, it is the wildest futurist-soviet art museum I have ever seen

Get a copy of New Penguin Russian Course by Nicholas Brown. You can get it on the Internet but I recently saw copies in a St Petersburg English book store. It is arguably the best self study book complete with the answers to exercises in the back.....and it is cheap!