Customer Reviews:
 Fail to learn Russian, the fast and fun way April 10, 2003
Adam Steene
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
The book starts off with an introduction to the Russian alphabet, and then uses an example of an American travelling to Russia to try and help you learn Russian. It also uses cartoons to good effect, as they help you understand what the Russian refers to. At the back of the book is a Russian to English and English to Russian dictionary, which is useful to a beginner. The book also tries to teach the reader about Russian customs and how to live in Russia without offending anyone. A small problem lies in the book being written for Americans, so it teaches you how to introduce yourself as an American, and other parts of book make you wish that the book was written for any English-speaking person, not just ones from the USA. The biggest fault in the book is that, in order to live up to its promise of teaching you Russian quickly, it contains a lot of the American's tales in Russia, but gives little or no attention to the grammar that is the foundation of the language. For example, the book immediately rushes from the introduction of the alphabet to Mark Smith's adventures in Russia, leaving you feel that you don't know how to piece a sentence together, but you are obliged to learn how to say "My name is Mark Smith", which doesn't seem as important. Even though the book is for beginners, I recommend that only those who already have some grasp of Russian, or feel that they are talented linguists, should buy this book as their first "learn Russian" book, as it does not go into enough detail to convince the reader that they can learn Russian by reading it (or having fun whilst doing so).
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