Thread: what subjects to pimsleur cd teach(and many questions)

It seems like they have only taught me about business and numbering my family, and traveling. does it ever change to other topics?

the person I bought my Cds from game me one with 2 guys one sounds like a deep/mono toned voice (like what you might hear on t.v)

and the other one sounds like a more russian/almost french like accent (my first impression)

one opens up with "this is Russian unit 1 of russian 1"
the other:
"this is speak and read essential Russian"
which should I be using?

If I listen to theses all I "doubt" I will be even close to fluent, maybe enough to watch a russian movie.

if pimsleur ISNT the best listening or cd software out there, what it?Rosetta seems to be popular but I hear it isnt good at all.

I dont like books except for dictionaries to make my speach correct or to correct my grammar.

it seems Pimsleur is made for Business owners and tourist, rather than someone who might live ther for a little while.

Sorry for all these questions I have been keeping them kept up for a while.
Balshoi Spasiba

Don't use them, they are crap.

Get a book and worry about speaking later.

You may want to take some typing classes too.

They are not crap, they will help a bit with pronunciation and understanding, they'll make you memorize a few set phrases so when you begin actually learning the language you'll have a jumpstart. Their best part and main selling point is imo that you can do them while commuting. Also, you'll at least be more familiar with the sound of the spoken language, so that it won't sound quite so alien any more.
I have an issue with a few of their words/phrases, which are either unnatural or incorrect... "ja hochu pit' koe-chto", ugh!! I think it's one problem with Russian Pimsleur specifically, they tried to avoid some common grammar patterns, and this resulted in unnatural phrases...
Still they are better than nothing. They are no replacement for regular language learning though, even if you learn a phrasebook by heart it alone won't do that much for you.

I agree, they certainly will give you a jumpstart. And with New Penguine aswell you will be well ahead of any college program. I know people that have been studying Russian for 3 and 4 years using only college courses and I can barely understand their pronounciation of the most simple words. Pimsleur is great for pronounciation. The big draw back is that the vocabulary is small. 90 lessons is not even close to being enough.

Originally Posted by kwatts59

You may want to take some typing classes too.

That's quite a TATYesque comment

I have The New Penguin, and Russian For Dummies. they're really good for words pronounciation.
I understand what you man about avoiding grammerical patterns, for instance i have never heard a russian use "сoбираюсь " for going I have always heard "edu,edosh,ediom,

Oh your probally the 50th person that says my typing sucks, for some reason when it comes to writing/typing I have a hard time, but I speak very well.

Originally Posted by Sir Krist

I have The New Penguin, and Russian For Dummies. they're really good for words pronounciation.
I understand what you man about avoiding grammerical patterns, for instance i have never heard a russian use "сoбираюсь " for going I have always heard "edu,edosh,ediom,

Oh your probally the 50th person that says my typing sucks, for some reason when it comes to writing/typing I have a hard time, but I speak very well.

сoбираюсь has multiple meanings. When used with a verb, it means "I am intending or planning or going to do something." When not used with a verb, it means "I am preparing" or "I am packing (clothes)".

Я сoбираюсь покупать билет.
I am planing to buy a ticket.

Я сoбираюсь мою одежду.
I am packing my clothes.

Sorry about the typing remark. It wasn't meant as an insult.

As for the typing... I think paying money to learn how to type in Russian is a waste. All you need to do is download the key-layout, and (without looking at the keyboard) just start typing the alphabet over and over. Then move to typing short words over and over. Do this for about an hour / day and in one week you will have trained your fingers to find the right key.

As for learning the actual language, i've never used Pimsleur or New Penguinn or anything like that, so I can't comment specifically on that. Sorry to DDT, but all my russian was learned in an American college classroom However, I think there was a poll here as to what is better, knowing how to speak vs. knowing grammer. I think it is important to pick up a Russian grammer book, because once you know a few basic rules you'll be able to learn Russian at a much quicker rate. I can almost guarantee that it will take a _lot_ longer to learn declinsions for each noun than it will to just learn the endings and rules.

tdk

Originally Posted by tdk2fe

As for the typing... I think paying money to learn how to type in Russian is a waste. All you need to do is download the key-layout, and (without looking at the keyboard) just start typing the alphabet over and over. Then move to typing short words over and over. Do this for about an hour / day and in one week you will have trained your fingers to find the right key.

Most Russians themselves type by "hunting and pecking". I think in recent times in some schools they started to teach the blind typing method (to girls only, of course), but 15 years ago it was still quite uncommon.

and Russian For Dummies.

Ugh why do people buy these books, you've got to be a real dummy...

Probably because unlike books written by professors and doctors, the "Dummies..." books make no presumption about a readers abilities, and explains everything. I don't know how many times i've paid around $100 for a book for a class, and it turned out to be too cryptic and pompous, but for $20 you can get one of these books and everything is pretty clear.

Я сoбираюсь мою одежду.
I am packing my clothes.

No, you can't say "Я собираюсь мою одежду". It's either "Я собираю одежду" or "Я собираю свою одежду" ("Я собираю мою одежду" is also possible but less usual).
After "собираюсь" you can only use неопределенную форму глагола (infinitive) and in some cases an adverb (e.g. "Я всегда собираюсь быстро" - "I always get ready fast" or "I always pack fast") but not a noun.

"I am packing (my bags)" can also be translated as:
"Я собираю чемоданы" or
"Я пакую вещи/вещички"

Originally Posted by basurero

and Russian For Dummies.

Ugh why do people buy these books, you've got to be a real dummy...

Hebrew for dummies doesn't each teach the alphabet.

It can also mean to gather.

As in we will meet (gather) outside the metro.

Or if used transitively, to pick/gather berries (for example).

Originally Posted by tdk2fe

Probably because unlike books written by professors and doctors, the "Dummies..." books make no presumption about a readers abilities, and explains everything. I don't know how many times i've paid around $100 for a book for a class, and it turned out to be too cryptic and pompous, but for $20 you can get one of these books and everything is pretty clear.

Yes that's true but there comes a point where it's so dumbed down any possibility of learning anything useful actually dissappears.

I'll bet a barrel of puppies that the "Idiot" series books are better than the ones used in universities, which cost hundreds of dollars by the way! Nachalo and Golosa can kiss my arse!........and V Puti too!