Russian

[Natalija]

Dd13, who is starting high school soon wants to learn Russian.

Am I wrong or is there a limited number of choices for learning Russian?
I know Rosetta Stone offers Russian. Powerglide used to but not any more?

Anyone who used RS Russian...did you like it? Was it worth the $$$?

Anyone have any other suggestions?

A local CC offers Russian so she can take those classes in her junior year. If you already studied it, do they give you a placement exam?

Thanks so much!
Natalija

[lionfamily1999]

:bigear::lurk5:

[Orthodox6]

My eldest used this program, from Prentice-Hall, for his high school language requirement:
http://www.gwu.edu/~slavic/golosa/ (http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eslavic/golosa/)

We engaged a bilingual friend as his primary teacher, and I oversaw his work at home.

It's really quite a good program. (I'm not drawn to Rosetta Stone, or other gimmicky-style programs.)

This link goes to a very old (1997), negative review of Rosetta Stone.
http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/chorus/call/reviews/rosetta_russian/index.html
I wish that an updated review such as this one were available. (Occasionally I spot-check for one.) I read this review when we were looking for ds' Russian program and, as a result, was really turned-off from Rosetta Stone. If I could find a recent, positive review of the program, -- a review, such as the Berkeley one that discusses fine points of accuracy -- of course I would think again about it.

Here is a review of the company from September 2008:
http://www.language-learning-advisor.com/review-of-rosetta-stone.html

Here are some assorted links for supplementing the study of Russian:
http://www.language-learning-advisor.com/russian-language-resources.html

[lionfamily1999]

This link goes to a very old (1997), negative review of Rosetta Stone.
http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/chorus/call/reviews/rosetta_russian/index.html
I wish that an updated review such as this one were available. (Occasionally I spot-check for one.) I read this review when we were looking for ds' Russian program and, as a result, was really turned-off from Rosetta Stone. If I could find a recent, positive review of the program, of course I would think again about it.
Thank you for the link. This was why I haven't wanted to even try Rosetta Stone. It looked too much like the other foreign language programs I've tried that come on CD-Rom. IOW, you can name all your colors and count, but interaction would be stilted at best.

[KAR120C]

I wouldn't say Pimsleur is a complete program, but it does help the "interaction" part of it.... not with real interaction (so it's limited) but it definitely takes on pronunciation and speedy responses to normal conversation prompts. We use it for Spanish with a grammar book and a reading book. For Russian I'd also add a handwriting book, or at least some cursive practice sheets, just to keep the alphabet and script in mind. Educational Fontware has a Cyrillic font and IIRC it's fairly reasonably priced. Trying to type in Cyrillic to make the sheets to print, though, is sure to make your head explode. ;) The Russian word for handwriting workbook is "propis"... you could try googling that.

We enjoyed the New Penguin Russian Course (http://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247347650&sr=8-1) for a little while last year, but couldn't keep up with the scheduling of three languages and dropped it after maybe two or three chapters. It's touristy, and has a lot of references to alcohol, but then so does Pimsleur (at least in Spanish). Not a full program, but kind of a fun start anyway.

Hope this helps!

[Orthodox6]

Pimsleur is fabulous for a conversation course in any language ! I don't know whether anything better exists ! (Please pass the trust fund, though, to pay for Pimsleur. :tongue_smilie:)
At least you weren't forced to use Soviet-era texts for beginning levels, as was I ! They seem soooo dated when I look back at them !

If this company still exists (the website does), this is a source for a low-cost, basic (nothing flashy) software called "Cyrillic Starter Kit".
http://www.cyrillic.com/
I obtained it years ago, and never have switched to anything else. I can type correspondence using it, and search the Internet. There is a "phonetic Russian keyboard" option which makes it a breeze for a native speaker of English to type in Russian.

I wouldn't say Pimsleur is a complete program, but it does help the "interaction" part of it.... not with real interaction (so it's limited) but it definitely takes on pronunciation and speedy responses to normal conversation prompts. We use it for Spanish with a grammar book and a reading book. For Russian I'd also add a handwriting book, or at least some cursive practice sheets, just to keep the alphabet and script in mind. Educational Fontware has a Cyrillic font and IIRC it's fairly reasonably priced. Trying to type in Cyrillic to make the sheets to print, though, is sure to make your head explode. ;) The Russian word for handwriting workbook is "propis"... you could try googling that.

We enjoyed the New Penguin Russian Course (http://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247347650&sr=8-1) for a little while last year, but couldn't keep up with the scheduling of three languages and dropped it after maybe two or three chapters. It's touristy, and has a lot of references to alcohol, but then so does Pimsleur (at least in Spanish). Not a full program, but kind of a fun start anyway.

Hope this helps!

[KAR120C]

If this company still exists (the website does), this is a source for a low-cost, basic (nothing flashy) software called "Cyrillic Starter Kit".
http://www.cyrillic.com/ (http://www.cyrillic.com/)
I obtained it years ago, and never have switched to anything else. I can type correspondence using it, and search the Internet. There is a "phonetic Russian keyboard" option which makes it a breeze for a native speaker of English to type in Russian.
Educational Fontware uses the Russian keyboard that is (apparently) used in Russia... Fascinating, but yikes! Phonetic would be much simpler!!

Pimsleur is fabulous for a conversation course in any language ! I don't know whether anything better exists ! (Please pass the trust fund, though, to pay for Pimsleur. :tongue_smilie:)
We're super-lucky that our almost-local library has them, and in enough quantity that we can usually check them out (9 weeks at a time) when we're ready for some listening/speaking practice. I don't do them all the time because of that... we take a few weeks off in between to do more reading and writing. And we do pay something like $35 a year for the library card since we're a county over. But it's a lot cheaper than buying our own!!

At least you weren't forced to use Soviet-era texts for beginning levels, as was I ! They seem soooo dated when I look back at them !
I was there during the Soviet era! And you know... everything seemed a bit dated even then. LOL I wish I had kept up with the language though... I was there for a month and learned enough to be polite, order in a restaurant, and ask for things in shops, but that's about it! I switched to Ukrainian in grad school and then dropped it altogether... so I'm hoping DS will get back to it and I can tag along. :)

[Natalija]

Thanks all!

I just checked and our library has all three Pimsleur levels!! Maybe only three copies of each (could be a problem) but they weren't all checked out.

I will check into the Golosa too. I need to figure out how that works.

The link for cyrillic.com still seems to work! Thanks! I also read a reviewer on Amazon for Pimsleur that recommends Declan ReadWrite Russian for learning the Cyrillic alphabet. Thankfully, my dd already knows the basics of cyrillic when she learned the Sebian Cyrillic alphabet. Very similiar.

Thanks again for all the help! I will bypass Rosetta Stone!

God bless!
Natalija