Quote Originally Posted by lolajl
Well, I'm a beginner - we have barely started to touch on the case but I've been reviewing "English Grammar for Students of Russian". I think, for the English speaker, it's simply hard to understand the role that case plays in Russian.

I know from looking at page 16, that the dative case is for indirect objects and objects of some (but not all??) prepositions. Why do I have to do it this way? When am I supposed to use this? How do I know that I'm referring to an indirect object and not a direct object? I guess these are some of the questions that beginners face up to.

From looking over contemporary textbooks, especially those at the college level, it seems that they throw the cases at you right from the beginning.
That's a problem I've noticed in first year language classes. Most Americans don't even understand the grammar and syntax of their own langauge and attempt to learn another. If you do not understand what an I.O., D.O, etc. Then you need to learn the rules of English grammar before you learn Russian.

In reference to books not explaining them, get the New Penguin Russian Course. Nicholas Brown does an excelent job of explaning them (assuming you are aquainted with English grammar.)