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The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks)
 
 
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The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks) (Paperback)

by Nicholas J. Brown (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Frequently Bought Together

The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks) + The Oxford Russian Grammar and Verbs (Dictionary) + First Thousand Words in Russian
Price For All Three: £20.42

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Product details

  • Paperback: 528 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (28 Mar 1996)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140120416
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140120417
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 7,070 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Languages > By Language > Russian > Learning Materials
    #1 in  Books > Languages > Grammar, dictionaries & phrasebooks > Dictionaries
    #22 in  Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauri > Foreign Languages

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Product Description

Product Description
Whether you’re learning alone or attending classes, you’ll find this complete Russian language course for beginners both accessible and indispensable. Designed to provide the student with an excellent command of basic Russian (the equivalent of A’ level standard) the book features thirty lessons punctuated by revision exercises to ensure you have fully understood what you have learned. The emphasis is on acquiring vocabulary, experiencing conversational language and learning useful grammar. The book also includes a vocabulary of 1,500 words and a glossary of grammatical terms.
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The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks)
73% buy the item featured on this page:
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Oxford Take Off in Russian (Paperback with CDs) 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)
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The Oxford Russian Grammar and Verbs (Dictionary)
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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
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3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to learn to Russian you need this book, 28 Dec 2000
By A Customer
As a student of Russian language I have found, and continue to find, this book incredibly useful. It's ideal for all levels of learning, from absolute beginner to advanced. It explains the complexities of Russian grammar clearly using plain English, and provides a more than adequate vocabulary base. A must for anyone wishing to learn or improve their Russian skills.
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67 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Feelings, 6 Dec 2002
By Fiona Goncalves (Algarve, Portugal) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
As the title of this review indicates, I have very mixed feelings about this book.
I studied Russian at school (many years ago) and used the original Penguin Russian Course as a text book, finding it excellent. For this reason, I had no hesitation in buying the New Penguin Russian Course a few months ago, when I dedided to renew my acquaintance with the language.
At first glance, I felt the new course would be every bit as good as the original; the explanations of the grammar points are easy to understand and are written in such a way as to be not only informative and interesting but even, on occasion, entertaining. I am quite sure that, in a classroom context, with the back up of a teacher, this would be a first class course book.
However, as a self-study tool, I feel the book leaves a lot to be desired. There is too much material crammed into each lesson, to the extent that the student may feel not only daunted at first glance, but also discouraged by the seemingly slow progress, because it takes so long to cover each chapter from beginning to end. In addition, I found that, even with prior knowledge of the language, I was having to turn back the pages frequently to go over a point covered earlier in the chapter, or in a previous chapter, because there are not enough practical exercises of each grammar point to allow the student fully to consolidate the knowledge acquired. I think a complete beginner, studying alone, would find this extremely discouraging.
I now find myself in the situation whereby I feel the need to acquire a separate workbook with exercises to practice the grammar points covered in just the first few chapters of this book.
In conclusion, I would highly recommend this book as a text-book for a classroom situation, but would definitely not recommend it for those studying alone, especially if they are complete beginners.
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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book of its kind, 11 April 2002
By A Customer
The Penguin Russian Course is, quite simply, the best self-study Russian book there is. I own Colloquial Russian and Teach Yourself Russian, and neither of them come close in terms of attention to detail or clarity. This book approaches topics in a sensible order, building up vocabulary and providing plenty of exercises and texts as the course progresses. The most helpful aspect, in my view, is that in the key to the exercises, there are explanations for 'unexpected' responses so you are never left searching through the book to find out the reason for an irregular usage.
I use the book as a revision course before exams, but I would suggest that anyone could get a decent grip of Russian from this course through self-study. The same cannot really be said of the other two books - they may cover the same grammar topics but you are given far less opportunity to practice what you have learnt and explanations are much more concise. Highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but could be better
I agree with most of the comments from other reviewers. This is useful but far from perfect. In particular, I imagine it might be rather daunting to a complete beginner (who it... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Nicodemus

2.0 out of 5 stars Far too complicated and crammed chapters
This book really is not suited for beginners, it is too complicated and expects a lot to be understood in one go. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Faye

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinarily well-presented, knowledgeable course
I've been looking to get my Russian on to a sounder footing for a while now, and find this book to be absolutely perfect for my needs.

My aim? Read more
Published 6 months ago by E. Bradburn

4.0 out of 5 stars Traditional and demanding, but a thorough introduction
If you're looking for a quick introduction to Russian for a short trip or holiday, then this probably isn't what you're after; I'd try Oxford Take Off in Russian (Paperback with... Read more
Published 8 months ago by R. WEST-SOLEY

3.0 out of 5 stars Help please
Can someone tell me if this book has accents to show where the stress falls on a word? I have used "Oxford Take Off in Russian", which does have these accents, and found it very... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Ian Weekes

5.0 out of 5 stars Discipline pays off!
This was a book I picked up whilst browsing one day, and bought on a whim. Little did I know that I was buying the book that would develop my knowledge of Russian far more than... Read more
Published on 30 April 2007 by Neil Skinner

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!
I don't know why but I do! When it first arrived I opened it to be greated with "what the hell is this going on about?!?!?!". So it went to one side for a while..... Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2006 by D. Tomkin

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for complete beginners
This book claims to be a complete course for beginners. It is not. The grammar is well dealt with; the order in which it is introduced is, in my opinion, not as productive as the... Read more
Published on 24 Dec 2005 by Sergio Angel Verbo

5.0 out of 5 stars Provides easy access to the language, but treat it as an aid
I am one those people who can kinda of speak Russian by having a Russian parent but who never studied Russian, makes plenty of mistakes, can't really read and don't... Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2005 by just-josh

5.0 out of 5 stars The best there is!
Having studied Russian for five years up to A-level and now restarting it as part of my Masters degree, I have seen a fair few Russian text books. Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2004 by C. Burin

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