Russian In 10 Minutes A Day

Book Review

Title:	Russian In 10 Minutes  A Day
Author:	Kristine Kershul
Publisher:	Bilingual  Books Inc., Seattle, WA
ISBN:	0-944202-47-4
Reviewed By:	Frank Fogg
Review Date:	June, 2001
Rating:

Russian In 10 Minutes A Day is a language course targeted to beginning students of the Russian language. This work is a colorful  paperback book of about 135 pages.

The  workbook begins at square one in its approach to teaching Russian, assuming that you know absolutely nothing. It starts with presentation of the Russian  alphabet, gives you the most important question words, then starts to build  a vocabulary around this base. Some of the topics that are covered in this course  include ordering food, obtaining transportation, and finding your way around.  The course integrates additional useful information along the way with explanations  of the postal and monetary systems, traffic signs and signals, and measurement conversions.

Several different teaching methods are used simultaneously in this course. The most common is that the course integrates Russian words into English sentences so that you can gradually increase your usage of the language. Most of the course work consists of filling in the blanks, matching words, and reviewing common phrases and cognates. A crossword puzzle is also included as a teaching aid. Every word used in the course is contained in an index near the end of the workbook.

This program also has a variety of study aids included.  There is a sheet of stickers that are placed on objects in the house to remind  the student of the Russian word for the object. About seventy flashcards are included that can be cut out and used to study the most important words in the course. A foldable pocket guide to important phrases is also included to take  along on a trip or for individual study. Each of these aids covers only the most important elements of basic Russian.

Each Russian word used in the book has a pronunciation key next to, below, or near it, and the key gives a good approximation of the  actual pronunciation of the word. This method is not as good as an audio program  however, so use of this course should be considered in conjunction with another  course that includes a tape or CD. The bulk of the course is targeted toward  a traveler and little topical material is covered outside of this range.

This course is an introduction to Russian for a beginning  student and includes a number of useful study aids. The workbook is colorful,  the pronunciation key gives a close approximation to the actual words, and the  range of vocabulary is acceptable for a traveler or tourist but very basic.

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