Good points first. The presentation is excellent; words are practiced by listening with word & picture association. Each word is pronounced twice by a male and female speaker, which helps with pronunciation. The printable picture dictionary is useful. Best of all are the irritatingly addictive games.

Bad points. If you know many of the basic Russian words, you may find the vocabulary quite limited. For example numbers only run from 0-20. I’m sure that the next CD in the series builds on this, but for me, this did not feel like great value for money. There are also a couple of things I would have liked to seen included. The format is perfect for practicing the Russian alphabet. It’s a mystery why this is not included. Also, the games are geared around listening. It would have been very easy to include a game focusing on reading, for those who wanted it.

On the strength of this title I will probably buy the next CD in the series.


Good basic vocabulary builder   March 14, 2002
 38 out of 39 found this review helpful

It is fun to learn basic vocabulary and simple phrases with this disc. This interactive, multimedia approach is definitely more effective than classical vocab lists, phrase books etc. You will just about be able to survive in Moscow after using the course for about 10-15 hours. The disk does not teach grammar. You simply to learn to repeat basic sentences. It is not very useful for learning the Russian alphabet. It can be used as a strong vocabulary builder and speach trainer to support a more conventional course, evening class etc.