Synopsis
The Easiest and Fastest Way to Learn Russian
Whether you want to travel, communicate with friends or colleagues, reconnect with family, or just understand more of what’s going on in the world around you, learning Russian will expand your horizons and immeasurably enrich your life.
The best part is that it doesn’t have to be difficult or take years to master. Thirty minutes a day is all it takes, and we get you speaking right from the first day. Pimsleur courses use a scientifically-proven method that puts you in control of your learning. If you’ve tried other language learning methods but found they simply didn’t stick, then you owe it to yourself to give Pimsleur a try.
Why Pimsleur?
• Quick + Easy – Only 30 minutes a day.
• Portable + Flexible – Core lessons can be done anytime, anywhere, and easily fit into your busy life.
• Proven Method – Works when other methods fail.
• Self-Paced – Go fast or go slow – it’s up to you.
• Based in Science – Developed using proven research on memory and learning.
• Cost-effective – Less expensive than classes or immersion, and features all native speakers.
• Genius – Triggers your brain’s natural aptitude to learn.
• Works for everyone – Recommended for ages 13 and above.
What’s Included?
• 30, 30-minute audio lessons, all featuring native speakers
• Reading instruction in the form of a short story to provide you practice reading Russian
• A Reading Booklet
What You’ll Learn
Builds upon skills taught in Pimsleur’s Russian Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4. You’ll be speaking and understanding Russian with near-fluency and with considerable skill. In Level 5, the pace and conversation moves more rapidly, making way for even more substantial mastery of vocabulary and structures.
Some topics included in Russian Level 5 are:
• Activities: Going to an exhibition, meeting with Russian friends, notifying friends about running late, going to a restaurant, mentioning your dietary preference (e.g., vegetarian), talking about food, going on a sightseeing tour of parks and gardens, dancing, skiing, and attending a language club.
• Culture: You’ll get acquainted with some Russian superstitions and discuss good and bad omens. You'll also talk about Russian relatives immigrating to another country, learn about the New Year's tree tradition, and how to leave a tip.
• Expressions: You’ll learn useful expressions like Happy Holidays, At another time, Deal, or Time flies! We've also included phrases to express intense emotions such as — I'm impressed!, Can't believe it!, What a nightmare!, I'm speechless!, and Can you imagine?
• Other topics include: Riding the subway with a pass at rush hour, paying fares, and lending cash. You'll also find a way to describe accidents like breaking an arm, having something get stolen, having a breakdown, and a fire.
Reading Lessons are included at the end of Lesson 30 in the form of a short story. These lessons are designed to give you practice reading Russian, to provide vocabulary, and improve pronunciation. Before you know it, you’ll be reading Russian with the ease and flexibility of a native speaker.
Learning the sound of each letter alone and in culturally distinct combinations allows your brain to process what you’re hearing in the audio lessons from a new and different perspective. It’s a powerful combination that makes Pimsleur different from every other method on the market.
The Pimsleur Method
We make no secret of what makes this powerful method work so well. Paul Pimsleur spent his career researching and perfecting the precise elements anyone can use to learn a language quickly and easily. Here are a few of his “secrets”:
The Principle of Anticipation
In the nanosecond between a cue and your response, your brain has to work to come up with the right word. Having to do this boosts retention, and cements the word in your mind.
Core Vocabulary
Words, phrases, and sentences are selected for their usefulness in everyday conversation. We don’t overwhelm you with too much, but steadily increase your ability with every lesson.
Graduated Interval Recall
Reminders of new words and structures come up at the exact interval for maximum retention and storage into your long-term memory.
Organic Learning
You work on multiple aspects of the language simultaneously. We integrate grammar, vocabulary, rhythm, melody, and intonation into every lesson, which allows you to experience the language as a living, expressive form of human culture.
Learning in Context
Research has shown that learning new words in context dramatically accelerates your ability to remember. Every scene in every Pimsleur lesson is set inside a conversation between two people. There are no drills, and no memorization necessary for success.
Active Participation
The Pimsleur Method + active learner participation = success. This method works with every language and every learner who follows it. You gain the power to recall and use what you know, and to add new words easily, exactly as you do in English.
The Russian Language
Russian, one of the six official languages of the United Nations, is the official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Krygystan, with an estimated 150 million native speakers around the world. Pimsleur's Russian uses speakers from Moscow and St. Petersburg, which accounts for slight pronunciation differences between speakers, but accurately depicts contemporary spoken Russian.
Tech Talk
• CDs are formatted for playing in all CD players, including car players, and users can copy files for use in any portable media player.
About the Author
Dr. Paul Pimsleur devoted his life to language teaching and testing and was one of the world’s leading experts in applied linguistics. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed The Pimsleur Method based on two key principles:  the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory training that he called “Graduated Interval Recall.”  This Method has been applied to the many levels and languages of the Pimsleur Programs.
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