Conversational Russian Dialogues: Over 100 Russian Conversations and Short Stories (Conversational Russian Dual Language Books) Paperback – January 17, 2020

Lingo Mastery continues its mission – to make Russian more accessible to a wider population. In the Introductory Note the goal is stated well: ‘So you want to learn Russian?...Our goal with this book is to allow you, the reader, to encounter useful, entertaining conversations that adapt very well into dozens of real-life situations that you can and certainly will encounter in the Russian-speaking world, giving you a chance to fend for yourself when you come across them. Vocabulary is crucial to learning any new language, and the conversations in this book will guarantee you pick up plenty of it and watch how it is applied in real life …So what should you do to improve your learning with Conversational Russian Dialogues? - Role play these conversations, Look up words you don’t understand, Make your own conversations, and Don’t be afraid to look for more conversations once you’ve finished reading this book.’After their success teaching Spanish, French, and Italian, German and now they turn to teaching Russian! And it works. The technique is to expand vocabulary and practical conversational topics as presented first in Russian and then in English. Some topics included are Ordering dinner, Choosing a new car, Let’s go to the gym, At the grocery store, Eating healthily, Stuck in traffic, Waiting to board an airplane, Checking in at the Hotel, Career change, Power outage, Tipping customs and so much more. Practical situations and how to communicate like a pro. And so it proceeds with one of the more accessible adjuncts to mastering the Russian vocabulary in a manner that places words in context and thus – easy to remember!The technique is solid and the lessons well taught. This is a very fine introduction to Russian dialogues that may arise when you visit Russia, appropriate for all age levels, and a book much needed at this time in our national status! Grady Harp, January 20

The latest title from Lingo Mastery, Conversational Russian Dialogues, fills a need for realistic material that takes the learner beyond the standard textbook. A beginner should know enough elementary Russian to be able to read simple text comfortably without constantly stumbling over basic grammatical constructions, but intermediate and even more advanced students will be well rewarded, too. The conversations serve as an effective resource, providing terms and expressions used in real-world situations. The diligent student, or even the casual one, should find plenty of variety in the over one hundred dialogues provided—they are brief and varied enough to evoke and hold interest. The student’s understanding of vocabulary and idioms will deepen with such contextualized terms and expressions. And immediately following the Russian text, idiomatic English renderings enable the student to do a prompt check on comprehension and grasp specific meanings and usages in the dialogue. For the serious learner this material offers relief from the classic textbook, a little fun, and can help foster a sense of accomplishment. The Kindle version is convenient, and is offered at a fair price.

If you have AT LEAST 6 months of Russian under your belt, and ideally about 12-15 months, you'll be ready to tackle this wonderful book. Have gradually worked my way through it 6 or 7 times, and know it'll be my constant companion in the years ahead. The book is so good, in fact, I have both the print and digital versions, plus the audio version (highly recommended).The book contains some words here and there which are not really suitable for beginners (beef jerky, Snickerdoodle, etc.) but for the most part the dialogues are very entertaining and well suited to A1, A2 and B1 students. In fact, the more time you spend with the book, the more you realize how much thought and care went into it. The English translations are very accurate.Overall, this is a magnificent work of pedagogy. If you put in the effort to master these dialogues, you will be richly rewarded.Am really hoping the publishers have volume two in the works.

The dialogues are very readable, and sometimes very funny or surprising. They're not dull like a lot of dialogues and reading materials for language learners can be. They use colloquial language and are plausible conversations that any person might have. The only thing I don't really like about it, and the reason it's not five stars, is that some of the language they use in the book seems a bit more American than I think it should be. It's hard to explain exactly what I mean - just that some of the colloquialisms and ways of phrasing things make me wonder if it would actually sound odd to say it that way in Russia. For example, in some of the dialogues someone says "Веселись" meaning, "Have fun!" And I wonder if that's something that Russians would actually commonly say. I wish the book addressed this more, and maybe in future books Lingo Mastery could add a bit of an idiom or grammar section.

I speak Swedish and have a need for a family member to learn it. This is a great guide to start conversing. Mind you I have the grammar and syntax down which I see little of in the book. It’s a conversational guide and not meant as an academic grammar guide. It’s effective though.