I love dabbling in languages. As a language teacher this is useful because through learning languages myself, I can strive to comprehend what my students struggle with and go through on a daily basis. And sometimes, it doesn’t matter what part of the world you’re traveling to in order to teach English, you’ll definitely want to pick up on some of the local language as well. So today I’m looking at Russian Stage One: Live From Russia: Volume 1 for those who are interested in learning the language or are looking for a good text to use in the classroom.
"Sometimes what it takes to really grasp the foundational concepts of a language is to be pushed to practice using the taught theories through written drills – which is why this book is an excellent learning tool."
Though the title is long, there is nothing unwieldy about the form in which basics of the Russian language are taught in this series. This is a great textbook for people who have never studied Russian before in their lives – it literally starts with the most basic, being the Russian alphabet, and works its way up from there. There is quite a bit of logic involved here as each lesson presents new vocabulary then moves onto applying the vocabulary into the grammar lesson. And since this book comes with an accompanying workbook, it does an excellent job of reiterating the new vocabulary and grammar lessons through exercises. Sometimes what it takes to really grasp the foundational concepts of a language is to be pushed to practice using the taught theories through written drills – which is why this book is an excellent learning tool. You’ll have a chance to work on standard fill-in-the-blanks and match-the-words exercises as well as have opportunities to form your own sentences and apply the grammar directly to your writing.
What’s also really nice about this set is that it comes rounded off with a DVD and CD. The student gets a good dose of hearing fluent Russian and working on listening comprehension. At the same time, the DVD presents aspects of the Russian culture which are fascinating to the student and an added bonus; one particularly memorable scene being the chapter where the student is taught about Russian food and traditional Russian dishes. It really pulls together the concepts of language and culture and shows how they truly go hand in hand.
My only complaint? Although informational, I did find the DVDs to be a little on the corny side which, in my opinion, makes them a bit inappropriate for adult students. Older students tend to take language learning a bit more seriously and may seem skeptical of the cheesy scenes presented in the DVD.
Overall, Russian Stage One: Live From Russia: Volume 1 is a great series to consider if you’re just starting out in the Russian language. Although it would obviously be more beneficial to use any series with a good language tutor, the awesome thing about this book is that you can really get by pretty well on your own. Because there is a textbook, workbook, DVD, and CD, you shouldn’t struggle too much and will get a well-rounded language learning experience, whether at home or in the classroom.
