Извините, Russian speakers! I have come today to introduce you to my struggles with the Russian language; hoping that perhaps you may wave your shepherd's staff about and guide me home. I had been previously learning with Rosetta Stone but realized after searching the web vastly that this was not the true way to learn Russian efficiently. So, with the advice of many threads and people here I chose to get involved with Pimsleur! A very handy help it has been, teaching me the essentials before the stuff that seemed unrelated in RS.

As a humble student treading among the masters of the Russian tongue, I come to ask: what is the best way to truly get started? Is Pimsleur a great way to start? What sort of things should I practice often? Is it a good idea to listen to things like Russian music or radio broadcasts in my spare time just to sort of get the feel for the way it's spoken or sounds? I was also told I don't need to know the alphabet - is this true?

I pray these questions will be granted with gracious answers taken from everyone's time. Thank you, and good day!