Rating: 
Summary: Wow!
Review: This is the best audio only series I've ever seen. I love it. I've tried many of the others and they all not good[]. This is the frist series that I've really felt I'm learning something. I agree with the reviews that say that it has a limited scope, if you want an "learn everything" Russian series, this isn't it. You will still need to learn to read Russian, but for an audio only series, I haven't found better. This is the best place to start and after series I, you should be primed to learn the alphabet and some written stuff. Well worth the money, as hard as that is to accept. I've wasted more than the price of this series trying to find something that was good for me.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing amount of information crammed into thirty lessons
Review: This is the first audiocassette language program I've tried that really does an excellent job of breaking down words and phrases into meaningful units. The pace is perfect; just about the time you're on the edge of forgetting a word or phrase, the coach on the tape asks you to repeat it.The process of acquisition is nearly painless, as long as you do your part and talk back at the tape. Russian-speaking friends of mine are quite suprised at my progress. I'm certainly going to continue with the second volume.
Rating: 
Summary: Way overpriced
Review: Very effective. It is also an enjoyable way to learn
a new language. The only problem is they don't teach you a
whole lot and it is way overpriced.
It doesn't take long to complete the entire course. After completing course one I can say a few things in Russian but that is a light years away from saying I mastered the language!
Rating:
Summary: It Works!
Review: Well, it's a long story but I'll try to make it short..... While I was in college, I traveled to the Russian Far East many times. I was volunteering on A Siberian (Amur) Tiger rescue program (quite a story in itself). Many times I was out in the Siberian forest with 4-10 men that didn't know one word of English! I yearned to learn the language for many reasons. One, for survival purposes in the forest, and secondly (maybe this should be the first reason) while at headquarters (in Khabarovsk) I was dying to converse with the incredibly beautiful women there. Back in The States I learned that a classmate had the Pimsleur tapes and wasn't using them anymore. So, I borrowed them and learned A TON! The Pimsleur tapes cut down the learning curve. You will be engaged in conversations in no time! My pronunciation was so good that some Russians second-guessed whether or not it was my native language. For example, while at a restaurant my Russian friends told me to ask our waitress something. They told me what to say and I repeated it to her when she came to our table. I didn't know that I had just asked her to sleep with me (I was still on the first lesson)! But, my pronunciation was so true that she didn't know it was a joke. My friends were dying in laughter and I was looking at them with the word "TOTAL CONFUSION" stamped on my forehead! She said, "justa moment paleez." She came back and said "Eet wuldz be ah plezshur." Then looked at both my friends and stuck her tongue out at them! It was hysterical. Well, the point is....these tapes first taught me basic conversation skills and later I could talk to any Russian speaking person with complete confidence. And the point I was trying to make with the "waitress story" is that your pronunciation will be 'native-like'!
Rating: 
Summary: Culture short-cut.
Review: Would you feel funny if a French-language course had "Union Jack" on its cover? Well, the two drinking fellas on the cover of this volume are as Russian as Chinese Samurai. The style of the painting looks like the work of a Georgian artist Niko Pirosmanishvili. Georgian is a very anchient and very rich culture, but very different from Russian, too. I can understand the logic of the cover designer. The picture looks folklorish and rather primitive, people are drinking alcohol -- it is certainly as Russian as it gets, right? Well, you'll be better off if you learn the language and come to the country to see for yourselves. Don't get me wrong, I have the warmest feelings towards all the folks who learn Russian, my native language. And that's exactly why it is a shame to see such a blunder on this otherwise extremely useful learning tool. ZHELAYU UDACHI VSEM IZUCHAYUSCHIM RUSSKIY YAZYK!
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