Start Russian (Learn Russian with the Michel Thomas Method) CD-ROM – Audiobook, 25 Nov. 2011

This short CD follows the format of Michel Thomas learning, which I love & have enjoyed in the Italian and French languages (just the basics, I'm no linguist & hadn't tried for over 20 years before these). There is a teacher & 2 students - you are the third student.There's a relaxed start where similarities between the English & Russian languages are explored & I immediately felt less worried.I used this in the car for about 3 days & enjoyed learning & practising please, thank you, where, who, I, you etc as well as station, metro, theatre and more.I was super pleased when trying out my simple sentences to be told by native Russians that I speak with "no English / foreign accent"Great Job Michel Thomas Method, on to the next level!p.s. It clearly states that you learn - without homework & without memorising, so to complete the course & complain that it doesn't have text to follow seems a little churlish. It would be a good idea to familiarise yourself with the alphabet - but any guidebook or online search can give you this.Highly recommended

A very easy relaxed way to learn Russian. It explains similarities with other languages, including English. It is set at a good pace, with lots of repetition to help you to remember the Russian words. Useful set up with a teacher and two students, with you as the third student. New words are introduced gradually and you are encouraged to build sentences with words you've already learnt. You can repeat individual tracks if you didn't retain the words from that part. There is one point when you're asked to build a sentence using a word that is not covered until the following lesson, but this seems to be the only inaccuracy. The teacher compares pronunciation with English words/phrases to help you to pronounce the word correctly, some of these I found really helpful and others not so much.Overall a really easy relaxed way of learning a new language. I have retained most of the words having only listened all the way through once. I know by repeating I will retain more words. Very happy with this product, and I would definitely recommend to others.

I found this CD very useful. It could have been longer and imparted much more information,if the teacher had not insisted on long winded explanations and perfect diction. I have tried much of it out on my Russian wife. Not always successfully. She also thinks the teachers insistance on perfect diction is too dictatorial. It would seem that Russian speach is very different, not only from reagion to reagion, but also from person to person. And I don't see that the "MT" method of learning is any better than other methods. But it is nice to learn without having to read and write. The teacher says, It's her responability to ensure that we retain the knowlage that she imparts... It would be a nice trick if she could do it!

I cannot rate this highly enough. For someone with very little affinity for learning languages (five years of German at school and I can barely speak a single sentence) I thought it might be impossible for me to learn something as tricky as Russian. Not so with the Michel Thomas method. The narrator and teacher of the CD, Natasha Bershadski, is fantastic and the classroom set up with two pupils learning along with you means the repetition doesn't feel forced, nor do you get bored. Learning a couple of tracks at a time while I got ready in the morning, repeating three or four times before moving on, meant that a full month and a half after completing the CD I can still remember how to speak the basics I've been taught. Also the fact that you can buy this beginner's CD relatively cheaply to see if you like the method of program before shelling out for the Total edition (at nearly £80 a big investment) is very much appreciated by this poor student!!

While I ma only after listening to the first set of lessons on the CD I am very impressed. It is very suitable for learning Russian while driving. I like the way the language is taught. It uses repetition and introduction of a new word or 2 each lesson. You get to practise correct pronunciation plus sentence formation. The pace of learning is just right for me. I can see myself making progress already. I would recommend this course for total beginners starting to learn to speak Russian.

This course is true to the Michel Thomas method of teaching and the pupils are attentive. It is a good introduction but quite expensive for the amount of content received. If you have the budget and definitely want to learn Russian, the full course would be a better option.

I recommend it to people who wants a quick introduction to the language is fun and easy.

Amazon Service was excellent but the product did not meet the expectation. The disc is not accompanied by any kind of book and does NOT teach you the Cyrillic alphabet which I think is essential when you are in Russia. The amount of the language material was quite small for a disc but the drill to remember the vocabulary is good. There are no explanations on pronunciation of any kind - you need to expect to do it all by ear. I do not feel I've learnt a lot.