Dictionary of Spoken Russian

Rating:
Summary: Easy way to build English or Russian Smalltalk conversation
Review: Finally,I've discovered an easy and working way to converse with Russian officials,or tourists,or just the opposite with American scouts or White House inner circle people without ever trying to memorize all those declensions or irregular forms.

The right way to learn a foreign language is to hear to the other people speaking and then repeat what they say in the right situation.Just like babies or illiterate immigrants do.Otherwise,in about 50 years of hard working on a grammar or syntax you'll end up being a grammar scholar but still you won't be able to converse with native people. Sometimes you think you're smart enough and you buy a dictionary for yourself and then following the rules of your own language you start building phrases and sentences that no one but you will understand.It's because you played your own rules in a strange field.You see my point?

And this is the reason I'm buying two copies of this book from Amazon.This book contains every kind of situation you want to fit in your conversation,I mean ready-made blocks,whether you need to talk to that Russian guy in a cubicle next door,or to an American lady in a government office. Question: why this particular War Dept Book of 1970? Because they did the job right,because they used the right approach.You know those military guys - they always one step ahead...

Now,why do I need two copies of one book - the first one I want to keep at my work to speak with the customers, the second one,to keep home and answer those pesky telemarketers' calls.I'm really excited that I finally have found this book,not in my local library,but on Amazon site!I really need it,and the book will help me. Excuse me for my poor English - well,I was born in Russia,and English is a foreign language to me.

Rating:
Summary: the most useful Russian-English Dictionary
Review: I browsed Russian-English dictionaries for a couple of weeks before deciding on this one. This one had a few features that made it the obvious choice. Most importantly, rather than just being a list of words, this is indeed a sentence and phrase dictionary in the sense that you can look up a word and see it used in several example sentences. Seeing the words in context sure helps a lot in my view. Also, the appendecies I found to be very valuable. Lists of translations of well-known cities, countries, and nationalities are given. I found that seeing familar words (such as cities) helps me understand the logic of the alphabet and how to use the sounds properly. Lists of given names and foods also help bring this language to life, making it more than just scholorly. The downfalls are insignificant in comparison. But, it's a few decades old, and it goes without saying a lot has changed in Russia since the 1970's. That doesn't affect the language a whole lot, but appendices that aren't refering to SSR's would be helpful. A 2000 updated version of this very book would get my 5 stars, but I won't be too picky, since it's still helping me more than any other dictionary every will.

Rating:
Summary: Russian words as they are actually used.
Review: This Phrase and Sentence Dictionary, the Kenneth Katzner Russian dictionary, and possibly the Frequency Dictionary are the three most useful books for the practical learning of Russian for everyday use. Living in the U.S., I can glean from this book that key phrase or sentence to say precisely what I want to my Russian client. It's seeing the word in context that makes the book valuable and unique. (There happens to be a Spanish equivalent, for those who are interested.) Beyond useful, this dictionary is often even entertaining! Be warned: The book appears with both sewn and glued spines. Of course the sewn version will last far longer.