Russian For Dummies

by Andrew D. Kaufman, Nina Wieda, Serafima Gettys

Russian is spoken by nearly 450 million people, and demand for Russian-speakers is growing. This introductory course includes an audio CD with practice dialogues-just the ticket for readers who need basic Russian for business, school, or travel.Serafima Gettys, PhD (Newark, CA), is Coordinator of the Foreign Language Program at Lewis University.
Andrew Kaufman, PhD (Charlottesville, VA), is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Genres: Language, Russia, Nonfiction, Reference, Linguistics

363 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

An innovative, award-winning teacher of Russian language, literature, and culture, Dr. Andrew D. Kaufman holds a Ph.D. in Slavic languages and literatures from Stanford University and has spent the last twenty years bringing alive the Russian classics to Americans young and old. Dr. Kaufman, whose titles include Give War and Peace a Chance: Tolstoyan Wisdom for Troubled Times (Simon & Schuster, May 2014), Understanding Tolstoy and Russian for Dummies (coauthor), is a featured Tolstoy expert on Oprah.com, and he is frequently invited to discuss Russian literature and culture on national and international television and radio programs.

An internationally recognized Tolstoy scholar, Dr. Kaufman has lectured at the National Endowment for the Arts, the Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and at the Leo Tolstoy Museum and Estate at Yasnaya Polyana.

Dr. Kaufman also trained and worked as a professional actor for close to a decade. He helps people appreciate the rich tradition of Russian literature, and draws on his acting skills to create captivating and enlightening talks, as well as inspirational readings from the Russian classics.

Currently he is a Lecturer and Faculty Fellow at the University of Virginia, where he founded and teaches a community-based literature course, “Books Behind Bars: Life, Literature, and Leadership,” in which students lead discussions about Russian literature with incarcerated youth at juvenile correctional centers in Virginia.

Reviews

[Selenita · Rating 1 out of 5]

En general, los libros de la serie Idiomas para dummies no sirven realmente para aprender el idioma en cuestión. Lo que dan es un primer acercamiento para que decidas si te interesa o gusta la lengua, así como frases típicas por si quieres viajar a algún sitio en que la hablen. Hasta ahí bien, no obstante, en el caso concreto de este libro en su versión en español el problema está en que enseña MAL. Las cosas claras y el chocolate espeso: NO recomiendo que se lea este libro si hablas español y quieres aprender ruso, porque te va a enseñar mal y/o a liarte.

El fallo que estropea todo el libro es la traducción, que se ha hecho fatal, sin tener en cuenta que el nuevo idioma al que se adaptaba no era igual que el original y por ello los consejos de pronunciación YA NO SIRVEN. Y es que este libro, como los demás de esta colección, para simplificar emplea una transcripción más o menos literal de cómo se pronuncian las palabras en otro idioma, en lugar de una fonética. Primero pone las palabras en ruso y al lado su transcripción. Para que se entienda, es como si en un libro para enseñar inglés a gente española pone "white" (blanco) y al lado pone que se pronuncia "guait". Es demasiado simplista y puede inducir a errores, porque idiomas diferentes tienen sonidos diferentes y la mayoría de las veces no es posible una transcripción tal cual, pero para hacerte una idea puede valer (por eso digo que estos libros no enseñan realmente idiomas). No obstante, el problema con la versión en español es que se ha traducido el libro, pero las transcripciones fonéticas se han dejado tal cual y eso hace que, para gente que habla español, estén todas mal y reflejen una pronunciación errónea, porque obviamente no se pronuncia igual en inglés que en español.

Ejemplos concretos:

- Transcribe la letra rusa "З" como "Z". Eso sirve para el inglés porque en dicho idioma la "Z" suena como una "S" sonora (sonido que no existe en español), de modo que sí coinciden los sonidos; pero en español NO y una persona que hable español y vea esa transcripción va a pronunciar la "Z" española, sonido completamente diferente al sonido ruso.

- Se trascriben las vocales compuestas "Е", "Ё", "Ю" y "Я" como "ye", "yo", "yu" y "ya" respectivamente. Eso está bien en inglés porque en dicho idioma la "Y" hace un sonido no palatalizado que se es diferente al de la "J" en inglés . En español la "Y" generalmente hace un sonido palatalizado equivalente a la "J" en inglés que no existe en ruso.

¿Resultado? Cacao mental supremo al intentar aprender a pronunciar; y algo que te va a traer problemas como quieras avanzar con el ruso, porque al haber aprendido mal tendrás que desaprender.

[Scythe Rowan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Für Leute, die Russisch lesen lernen wollen, ist das Buch recht ungeeignet. Eine Transliteration der Wörter ins lateinische Alphabet mag einer Person vielleicht die Aussprache leichter machen, aber das entschuldigt nicht, dass die Wörter hier GAR NICHT mit dem kyrillischen Alphabet geschrieben werden.

[Skylerhayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this if you crave confusion, but with fun infographics!

[Adam Conig]

Maybe I'll return back to learning Russian someday.

[Fabricio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recomiendo comprarlo o tenerlo siempre a ojo en la biblioteca, es un libro que requiere de practica constante y releer ciertas cosas.

gracias a los autores, muy buen libro la verdad :D

(creo que pasaré al ucraniano)

[Nâzz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had never heard of the 'For Dummies' series until I bought this book. I love everything about Russia and the language is so versatile, learning Russian allows you not only to live another life but unlocks all of Russia's amazing literature and history. This book seemed really nice at the beginning explaining that this book is not for the advanced person nor the beginner but anyone that wants to gain an understanding of the language..

The reason I rate it 2 stars is because it didn't really give me the direction I was looking for, while reading I was supplied with so many rules and only very small exercises to practice my new skills. I was lucky enough to have Russian friends to practice with. My Russian friends even recommended that I find another book to learn from.

Now if you're reading this and are thinking "what?! It was fine for me!" -- know that I understand many people have different learning styles, I am not one for tables and tables of rules with little practice.

[Jeff]

Yeah, one of these days I'll learn this language ....

[Mehran Memarzadeh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book,it is very good.

[Roger Mexico · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Russian sucks and I blame this book! Nahhh, it was fine, I am just lazy :)

[Darian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm writing this as a more serious student, I imagine those with different purposes might disagree with my take. This book has one big, bold, and in my opinion unforgivable fault. It doesn't use the Russian alphabet. It dedicates 4 pages to explaining all the letters and their rough pronunciation, then keeps on throughout the whole 325 pages in the book to never use it in any capacity, giving the reader nothing but things like: potryasayush’ye! (puh-tree-sah-yu-sh’ee ; amazing!)

It's easier to read.. and that's a bad thing. It gives you a disadvantage in reading, writing, even accurate pronunciation. For someone who already knows pronunciation and basic Russian, you can absolutely get valuable information from this book. But frankly, it bothers me too much. I'm not that much of a dummy, (spuh-see-buh).
But then again I have to remember, this series is more like a brief overview, an introduction. Again, it has its value but I'm still not a fan.

[JP Alfonso · Rating 3 out of 5]

It teaches you a lot of facts about Russian language and culture, but one thing that bothered me was the lack of use of Russian alphabet. Transliterations are okay, but it is a problem when you want to get used to the Russian writing.

[czikitajło · Rating 1 out of 5]

raczej dla kogos kto sie chce dowiedziec po prostu co go czeka przy nauce, ale tam sie nawet nie uzywa cyrylicy i ufa sie fonetycznemu zapisowi. duzo gadania i malo robienia, rzeczywiscie for dummies.

[Whig · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to learn Russian language. Wikipedia is much better than the book.

[DW]

Helped me prepare for a short conversation with the parents of some good friends who are now citizens of my country. Never underestimate what walls you can break down with a few shared words.

[libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

a helpful book overall and i hope it helps me grab interest in russian haha :)

[Mark A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

""

[Caitlin Bickel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish the book really because I had to return it early.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful book but others are ultimately better.

[Milos]

Bylo zajímavý sledovat, jak si v americe vysvětlujou fonetiku. Pro čecha je to ztráta času.