Quote Originally Posted by Marcus View Post
Entirely wrong expalanations cannot be justified, because they do not help but make big harm to a language learner. I explained why. It is difficult to understand for a native English speaker that replacing a soft consonant with a consonant (usually hard) is not an approximation, that's just a replacement of one sound with two different. Like w is v and oo pronounced simulteniously, lets approximate w like voo. Or English th in think is f and s pronounced simulteniously, lets say fs instead of th - fsink.
Don't forget that English in Russia is a widespread academic subject which most learners begin in school, so beginner English texts in Russia are introductory-level academic works. In contrast, academic Russian is virtually unheard-of in anglo countries and the overwhelming majority of Russian-learners are teaching themselves in their own time, and so beginner Russian texts are more like hobby or self-help books than academic textbooks.

There is a world of difference between learning a language as an academic subject and learning a language to "get by" conversationally. Different motivations, different market, different approach.