Ultimate Russian Advanced (Coursebook) (Ultimate Advanced) – Buch gebraucht kaufen

1400020700

(ISBN-13: 9781400020706)

wie neu

14.99 x 3.05 x 22.61 cm

432

USA

Softcover

Englisch

Ultimate Russian Advanced (Coursebook) (Ultimate Advanced)

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Reviews from readers:

"Very good all around. You get twenty lessons. Each one starts with a dialog that's word-for-word the same as the corresponding lesson on the CDs. The subjects, engaging enough, range over situations like "visit to an antique store", "job interview", "at the airport", "at a wedding", "at a computer show", "visit to a factory", "visit to a farm", "visit to a hospital", "TV news", "at a movie festival", "visit to St. Petersburg".
Chekhov's plays they are not, but they are way more interesting than typical textbook fare, and Chekhov won't teach you how to say "buckle your seatbelt and prepare for landing".

Following each dialog you get a translation, which is usually fine but occasionally a bit loose. For example, "Kakye proizvedenya iskustva vam osobeno nravitsa" (p.133) is rendered "Is there any particular type of art that appeals to you". If you don't know "proizvedenya" or "osobeno", you'll be headed for your dictionary.

On the other hand, the "primechanya" -- about a dozen or so footnotes to each dialog -- are outstanding little word vignettes that impart the kind of context and depth you won't get in any dual-language dictionary. (You know how dictionaries try to cover a word's full range by giving you about four or five English words each of which means a distinctly different thing -- which is ok if you're trying to understand what you're reading, but less useful as a guide to your own attempts at speaking Russian.)

Following that, each chapter gives you a section on grammar (which will be mostly review to the likely customers for this book, but it doesn't hurt and it's presented nicely). Then a section on idiomatic expressions (usually related somewhat to the theme of the dialog). And finally, in English, a couple pages of cultural background (for example, in the "at a movie festival" chapter, a little essay on the Soviet and post-Soviet movie industry. These are all quite interesting (and in an ideal world would have been presented in Russian).)

You get eight CDs. Four of them are, as mentioned, the same as the twenty lessons' dialogs. The other four are a miscellany meant for practice while on your stairmaster or whatever; a voice says something in English, and then you're supposed to translate to Russian.

I've concentrated on listening to the CDs -- over and over, decoding a few more words each time before resorting to the book to pick off the most stubborn trouble spots. Now two months into it, the improvement in my listening ability is marked, and I speak better too." - Theodore D. Sternberg



"The best advanced text available. This book is now (2013) out of print and the price has soared to over $400! That surely says something about how users value it. I got my copy back when the whole set was about $30. I don't make much use of the CDs, but the text is excellent. I have studied it at home and taken it with me to Russia a number of times. Each lesson is both a pleasant and comprehensive review of things once learned and half forgotten and a revelation of new things. My spoken Russian improves rapidly when I can devote an hour or so a day to the study of this book. I feel pretty safe in saying there is nothing else like it.

I agree with and need not repeat the other 5-star reviews. The reviews below 4 stars simply say "Russian is a hard language, and this book confronts the difficulties squarely."

Unfortunately, Living Language gives no indication that they have any intention of republishing, despite the soaring price. What a shame!" - Clopper Almon Jr
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Zustand: Neuwertig. Das Buch wurde nie gebraucht. / Condition New. The book was never used.

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