Audialearn Russian Audio Course: Level 1: For Advanced Beginners and Lower Intermediate Learners [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

 

 

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Being a novice/intermediate level Russian speaker I've enjoyed this course and feel that it has given me an edge in my studies of the Russian language.

Listening skills are very important and most audio lessons don't focus on them. They are a major element in these lessons and with a native speaker they're a big plus. Playing the dialogue at normal speed then slower speeds is an excellent way of developing listening skills that I don't see in other products. It offers a great reality check and continued motivation. The native speed helps the ear adjust and prevents a false sense of comprehension.

I like the way the whole dialogue is broken up into sentences and the sentences further into words and expressions, and I can test my knowledge - if I remember a word correctly or if I can recognize the verb tense of a sentence.

The explanations are clear and very helpful, some of them explaining points of confusion I have had for a long time such as perfective/imperfective verbs, others making it easier to recall things such as, for example, the three ways to modify question words to generate a large number of new words. It's nice how the narrator points out the patterns and similarities of seemingly unrelated things. For example, the similarities in the construction of words for parents and the word for shoppers helps point out the pattern, as well as making it easier to remember two unrelated vocabulary words. A further example is in the discussion of pronouns and question words where specific examples as well as the general principles are discussed. It's also great the way the Russian lady speaks slowly and clearly with fantastically clear explanations.

I love how the course ties the vocabulary back into the dialogue by relating the words to one another via the dialogue; it makes them stick better in the brain. It's also good how difficult words are broken into syllables making it easier to follow their pronunciation. The way the lady breaks up the word: this is how they should be split up in writing and is absolutely awesome!

In the structure of the lessons I love the way I'm always given choices on how to continue as it eliminates that "I'm so lost" or "this is way over my head" kind of feeling! It's encouraging and that makes me keep going so I put more time into studying.

I like the continuous reminders to use specific cases with Russian verbs that differ from English (such as using the dative with "to call"). It's also really great that when a long sentence is coming up ("Phone me, I need to tell you something important!"), it's broken down into words. In this example I couldn't remember the word "important", and the long sentence was intimidating for a second. As soon as the English narrator goes over each word and identifies them in Russian, it becomes easy to put the sentence together. Again, this is really good for students, like me, who don't have a good memory for remembering less common words.

Another good feature is how the narrator prompts you to recall words that have been buried deep within your memory and are difficult to recall. For example, in the sentence "the concert is starting soon" I forgot the word "soon". This is the best part; it's a real mental exercise to be forced to recall those words that I should know.

I can see that this course would be great for on the go, review in the car, etc. learning. I love the fact that it focuses on vocabulary more and less on grammar as it's usually been the opposite whenever I've studied a language in class. I find it much easier to learn when my grammar based classes are supported by this type of vocabulary based recorded material and its associated handbook.

I can tell there has been A LOT OF WORK AND EFFORT put into creating this course! Great job, really!

This course fills a real gap in the self-taught audio Russian language courses available. Firstly it assumes a basic level - most other courses take you from the very 'ground' every time - frustrating if you are already confident at those levels. Also already having a secure beginners knowledge, it is an effective method to develop those spoken and listening skills in which it is so difficult to get practise. The course assumes a basic vocabulary (500 or so) of common words, this allows some really useful contextual material to be incorporated from the very beginning of the course.
It is very well produced, great to keep on a MP3 player and listen to at any convenient moment. The accompanying handbook is so small and neat, yet fully comprehensive, that it is no problem to carry round with you.
Very well produced, the explanations are great, so you know what is to be done, even if you cannot sit down with the handbook. The contexts are good, and the grammar covered is very useful at this stage of my language learning.
For its price, convenience and effectiveness, I fully recommend this course. I really do look forward to the next level!

Prievyet! This is a good course to bring on an advanced beginner but I have 2 reservations: 1. The person reading the English texts is unbelievably stilted in his delivery and if you plan to listen to the disks a number of times this becomes extremely annoying; after a while I could stand him no longer and gave up. 2. Take out all the repetition and pauses and it is a bit thin for a course of this price. Good - but!

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