Best Basic Textbook for English-Speaking Students of Russian

[Stephen M. OBrien]

Dear Professor Foley:

Please allow me to take the liberty of replying to your interesting
e-mail inquiry, despite the fact that I am a student, rather than a
teacher of, Russian (at least at this time).  I am ABD in comparative
literature with a concentration in Russian literature at the CUNY
Graduate Center in New York.  I have been studying Russian for years, and
I am familiar with a number of Russian textbooks, both American and
Soviet.  At the present time, I am auditing Business Russian and Modern
Russian Poetry at Hunter College.

In the light of my experience as an English-speaking student of Russian,
I feel that the best introductory, intermediate, and reference textbook
for similarly situated students is Mischa Fayer, *Simplified Russian
Grammar* (Skokie, IL: National Textbook Company, 1977).  There are
audiocassette tapes which accompany the book.  I hope and pray that this
book is still in print.

Since I do not believe that any single Russian textbook is truly
comprehensive and ideal, I must note that Fayer should be supplemented
with two aids which will be useful throughout the student's study of (or
should I say "unending struggle with"?) Russian:

E. Wedel and A. Romanov, *Langenscheidt's Pocket Russian Dictionary:
Russian-English, English-Russian* (Maspeth, NY: Langenscheidt Publishers,
Inc., 1969)--ISBN 0-88729-108-2

Patricia Anne Davis, *Russian Verbs* (Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational
Series, Inc., 1992)--ISBN 0-8120-4754-0

Langenscheidt's and Davis are essential because of their coverage of the
horrendous Russian verbs--the one area in which Fayer is somewhat
deficient.  Langenscheidt's is better for the verbs than even *The Oxford
Russian Dictionary* and has the practical advantage of being able to fit
conveniently into a student's knapsack.  Whenever I am in Russian class,
Langenscheidt's is there with me.

I hope that these opinions will prove useful to you.

Sincerely,

Steve O'Brien


Stephen M. O'Brien
1100 Clove Rd., Apt. 4H
Staten Island, NY 10301-3631
Home: (718) 447-7891
Work: (212) 331-4078

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