The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks) [Paperback]

When I first started studying Russian, I had no teachers or classes or cassette tapes to help me. My eighth grade math teacher gave me a copy of the original version of The Penguin Russian Course, which was compiled by J.L.I. Fennell and published in 1961. The methodology was logical and straightforward with no spoonfeeding or watered-down grammar lessons accompanied by cutsy cartoon pictures. In each lesson, you would first memorize a list of new vocabulary words. Then you would study several concise grammar principles which were clearly explained. Third, you would examine a brief Russian text which incorporated the new vocabulary and applied the new grammar principles which you had just learned in the lesson. Finally, you would translate an English text into Russian to test yourself on the new vocabulary and grammar. At the end of the book was a key which showed the correct translation of the English text into Russian, so you could check yourself.

This new version of the Penguin Russian Course is not as concise and straightforward as the first version, but it's actually better. Nicholas J. Brown has incorporated the original structure of J.L.I. Fennell's version enough that the effectiveness of the lessons is preserved, but Mr. Brown has added much more in this modern version. He has provided numerous additional Russian texts and conversations so that you can see how the vocabulary is used in context. And in this new version, the answer keys at the back of the book show the Russian-English translation as well as the English-Russian translation of the exercises.

The best part of this book is the translation exercises at the end of each lesson and their corresponding answer keys at the back of the book. Translation is probably the best way to test whether or not you really understand the grammar and vocabulary taught in the lessons, and this book gives you plenty of opportunities to test yourself in this manner.

Another advantage of this book is that it's small enough to carry anywhere, unlike those bulky Russian 101 textbooks used in college classes which use a slow, watered-down, almost infantile approach to teaching the language.

If you want to learn Russian, buy this book and work through the lessons. The only major drawback is that you'll never really learn proper pronunciation without listening to native Russians speak the language, and this book doesn't have tapes to accompany it. Other than that, however, you won't find a better book for beginners who want to learn Russian.

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I used this book along with the 3 pimsleur sets on russian and now have a very strong foundation to proceed into advanced studies. This book has a good mix of grammar and texts to translate. I never felt overwhelmed. That said, I progressed on a two-steps-forward and one-step-back basis. You will too if you want to learn Russian, so don't sweat it. It's normal. I was relieved when I got to chapter 10 or so and the book said something about "you have now met X number of words and have probably forgot most of them. That's ok. Just learn them again and it will get easier."

My one regret with the book: I wish there was a workbook for more exercises. The exercises in the book are good, but I had to make up my own to really become accomplished at slinging those endings the way I wanted.

Stay away from this book if you are looking for nice phrases for travelers. This book will teach you only if you put the right kind of effort into your studies.

I have dozens of books on Russian and this is the one that taught me what I needed to know.

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There are weaknesses. Dependent on your point of view, the focus on an academic type course of instruction with rigorous grammar might not appeal to some (and attract others), as stated in the introduction, one of the books objectives is to bring the reader up to UK 'A' Level standard (Roughly equivalent to the first two years of an American College course). This isn't one of those 'jaunty' conversational type courses, as reflected perhaps in the lack of an audio medium such as a CD or Cassette being available.

I'd recommend this book to Russian Students and those wanting a sound academic grounding in Russian. For those whom wish to just converse in basic Russian (lets say for a tourist or business trip) it may be better to look at other courses that are combined with an Audio package.

However if you have additional access to a Russian speaker or are based in Russia I'd not hesitate to recommend this book as your first choice of instruction.

Again, as a single volume, and if I could have only one Russian book this would be it. No question about it.

For those reasons I'd give it 5 starts for a self-contained course, 4 stars for an academic instructional course, and 2 stars if you just want a quick intro to conversational Russian.

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