2000 Russian Words (Russian Edition)

By: Kendal Mark

Narrated by: Eugene Tarasov

Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

This audiobook is for people who are interested in learning Russian. It is an indispensable list of the most common words translated. In this audiobook are 2,000 basic words necessary for communication. Having mastered this amount of vocabulary, you will be able to read books in a foreign language, as well as communicate in a variety of situations.

Please Note: This audiobook is in Russian.

©2013 New Internet Technologies (P)2013 New Internet Technologies

Good, But Would Be Better With Guide/Script

What made the experience of listening to 2000 russkih slov [2000 Russian Words] the most enjoyable?

The speaker's pronunciation is very clear and repeats the words or phrases twice. The amount of vocabulary for each topic is fairly extensive.

Would you recommend 2000 russkih slov [2000 Russian Words] to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend this audio book to intermediate or advanced students of Russian. The principal concerns: (1) there is no accompanying PDF with the text to follow along, so unless you have a fairly good command of Russian phonology you would not be able to write down the words that you want to remember with the correct spelling. (2) Without a PDF guide, you have now idea which topics are presented nor where they are on the file.

What does Eugene Tarasov bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Very good pronunciation/diction.

It is what it is

I've learned 4 languages enough to travel, by myself, in rural areas of foreign countries. French I could read from school, but German, Amari, and Spanish were new to me at the time. When traveling, I was able to get by and even have simple conversations at museums with guides and with the people I met. Even in Paris, don't believe it if people tell you "everyone speaks English." Yes, that is true if you only stay at the Hilton and only want to ask for coffee at a restaurant, but if you want to actually have conversations with people or travel off the beaten trail, it is imperative to learn the language. The exception was Ethiopia where people really did speak English (go to Ethiopia! It's wonderful- see my review on Amazon on the best guidebook).

As background, I am terrible in languages. French was one of my worst subjects. Despite studying it for hours, I could not get more than a B, while science and math came easily to me. So I have learned that I need to use a variety of resources to learn a language.

In learning languages, it is most helpful to have a vocabulary of 2000 to 5000 words. That, and the ability to make simple declarative sentences, will get you through most situations.

This "book" has the chapters arranged by topic, such as travel words, etc. The English word is stated first, then the Russian word is said twice. By using the audiobook download program on my phone, I've slowed down the narration to 50 to 75% of normal speed. This allows one to hear each part of the word slowly which is very helpful as Russian has a lot of sounds that are new to English speakers.

Don't give up on Russian. I'm finding that, after looking at Russian words, I can sound them out fairly reliably and am very hopeful, that by the time I go to Russia in September, I'll be able to communicate at a simple level.

This book would be most improved by having a PDF attached.

2000 almost useless nouns

Wow. After learning the entirety of this audiobook imagine how little communication would be possible. There are multiple chapters just on names of flowers or plants, but no inclusion of basic verbs, adjectives, prepositions, or adverbs. It feels like a Scrabble game being read for 3 hours straight