Thank you so much Black Forest. Nice reply, and helpful. Ok concerning the alphabet, do I need to learn to write them, or speak them, or identify the letters on a Russian keyboard.
Your advice makes sense though. When I was learning ABC's of English, as a child, we had to learn to say the letters first, then write them, then came short sentences, then came reading.
About memorizing literature, did you mean I should be able to pronounce the words first, then quote again and again out loud to start to improve.

For instance: I learn the word boat, b-o-a-t, say it, spell it, then read it in literature, etc?
And thanks for the book recommendations, I'll google them right away.