Learn Russian Now! 8.0

Though a bit disjointed and somewhat confusing at times, Transparent Language's Learn Russian Now! is an intriguing, multifaceted two-CD package that educates in an entertaining yet fully immersive environment. The program presumes that its students have had at least minimal exposure to the language and the Cyrillic alphabet, or are otherwise immediately ready to undergo its stiff learning curve; however, those who are serious about understanding Russian in its written form and speaking it with a moderate degree of proficiency should find the software quite enlightening.

At the heart of the program is a group of four increasingly advanced sections--Fundamental Russian, Getting Around Russia, Survival Phrases for Russian, and St. Petersburg: A Window on Europe--each of which includes several diverse sub-elements. Getting Around Russia, for example, features a circa 1980s mini-movie chronicling the misadventures of an American businessman trying his best to adapt to the country and the language. The video quality is grainy and the audio portion marred by a mid-frequency hiss, but the tale is both funny and instructive.

After watching the movie, students are encouraged to access various exercises, including word and sentence pronunciation drills, online quizzes, and edutainment games such as crossword puzzles and word scrambles. The program also offers numerous visual and practical aids, including a nifty waveform display that compares the pupil's version of a particular word or syllable with that of the original Russian-speaking instructor. Unlike a virtual school, Learn Russian Now! does not chart overall progress or grades, yet many of its elements feature high score tallies and visual indicators based upon aptitude and performance.

The program isn't structured linearly, and therefore may frustrate those who like to follow a set path, but for those ready to speak and recognize the characters, words, and common phraseology of the Russian language, Learn Russian Now! is a fine educational enhancement. --Gordon Goble

Average Customer Review: ( 10 customer reviews )
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The program has four basic parts to it with the main portion being fundamental Russian. The basic presentation is straight forward with text in Russian and English displayed with audio in Russian. There are also games and some nice multi-media in the other portions of the software.

The course builds up a fairly good vocabulary and the use of proper grammar is taught through out the Fundamental Russian portion of the course. There are many features which help you learn pronounciation such as the ability to record your voice and compare your wave, pitch loudness and fricatives to the native speakers', as well as listen to your pronouciation and the native speakers in alternating playback.It also provides a Speech correctness meter which give you some idea of how you are doing.

Some of the audio and diction isn't as clear as I would like, but perhaps that more closely approaches "real world" conditions.

This isn't a "listen and learn" but it is a very good time if you can spend some time in front of your PC each night. You should be able to speak Russian fairly well and as a valuable plus, read in Russian, up to the limits of your vocabulary.

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62 of 67 found the following review helpful:

Excellent way of learning RussianJun 14, 2000
By Denson Lo
This CD rom provides you with an indepth teaching of the Russian language. It is user friendly, and it is created in such a way that it prevents the user from getting too intimidated by this new language. The native speaking part is extremely useful, it allows you to compare your pronounciation with the actual one. An absorbing product, highly reccomended for anyone who is interested in picking up Russian.

21 of 22 found the following review helpful:

Very good program.Aug 27, 2001
By J. Bundy "Lovemehlabs"
This is a very good program to learn Russian in because it gives you the benifit of being able to instantly hear what you are looking at. Not only that but you get instant translations and full dialog on one screen. You can "bookmark" certain words, or write down thoughts that occur to you as you learn. It's a very good program and will help you learn quickly if you get into it. Learning a language is not 'easy', but it doesn't have to be the most difficult thing in the world either. This program is the best aid I've had in my studies of Russian so far.

25 of 28 found the following review helpful:

The Best Russian Language System on the MarketDec 01, 2000

I have the complete system of Russian from Transparent Language, since they offer "A+" and a translation dictionary, too! The entire system is integrated, and while you are studying you can look up a word in the optional dictionary and it will pronounce it in Russian for you. "A+" is another additional system for this software, and it only adds to the value of the experience by giving you lessons in relative order, augmenting everything. I have done extensive repeat business with this company and they stand behind their product one hundred percent. If you have any problems with the software they will take care of it-but I never had any problems! Whenever I ordered optional software packages from them it arrived in a few days, and any problems I had installing were promptly handled by their tech people. I cannot recommend this system, in all languages, in addition to Russian, strongly enough. In the "Big Four" of Spanish, French, Italian and German, they offer an even more thorough system with a book; it gives you the equivalent of a year's study in the language. I speak Spanish, French, and now, Russian, in addition to my native English. Go with this system! I cannot praise it highly enough!

17 of 21 found the following review helpful:

Etot bid prevosskhkodniy!!!Mar 22, 2001
By Dmitry Arkadeyevich Popov
This was excellent. I was able to learn English from this program from my native Russian, and this is a good thing. Whoever made this must be very intelligent. Those of you reading this must buy it. Whoever set this web site up is also very intelligent, for they have made it possible for me to learn English. For this they should be commended. Learn Russian, it is a good language to know, even if you do not live in Russia. This I know. I can be reached at tovarischwoofwoof@yahoo.com or on the Yahoo Instant Messenger service as tovarischwoofwoof. Thank you for reading this.

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