Intermediate Russian: The Twelve Chairs (Russian and English Edition)

If you're a fan of great Soviet comedy, The Twelve Chairs, this book will give you a taste of the original text by Ilf and Petrov. Ilf and Petrov are fairly difficult to read, so if you need to brush up your Russian for a go at the classic, Intermediate Russian is the place to start. As a textbook, I.R. is first rate. I wish they had used this book in my college Russian course!

It was in 99% Russian.

excellent book!

A friend asked me to review this book, since we are both studying Russian, and it looked interesting so I agreed. I read the introduction and "how to use" portion of this book, checked out all the different sections, then read all and did most of the first lesson. They say the book is designed for someone who has already had a year of Russian; I assume that means 1 year at uni. I have been self-studying for 3 years, and found it challenging. However, it's meant to be challenging, so it's probably a good fit for me. I recommend that the learner has at least been introduced to all the basic grammar, and has 1000+ words under his control.The book is designed to be used in a classroom. Most exercises are fine for self learners, but some (maybe 10%) are not. For example - have the students discuss the following with each other...There are lots of good exercises, but no answers in this book. There is a teacher's manual, which I assume has the answers.I don't remember reading how the movie and transcript are supposed to be used with the program, but I suppose it doesn't really matter, as long as the student watches the scenes and reads the transcripts for the lesson. I did it before I did the lesson in the text.Movie sound and picture are understandable, but quite low quality. I know it's an old movie, but I would be surprised if there isn't a better quality version available.This book is for an intermediate student, and contains a lot of grammar exercises. So what's it supposed to accomplish, and will it succeed? I would hope that it will give the student automaticity with all the basic grammar, and increase vocabulary substantially. After a brief look, it appears to cover sufficient material to do this, but I can't guess if it will succeed. Not only was my glance brief, but the approach is intentionally non-systematic, so it's hard to nail down.In summary, I like the fact that the exercises have you translate, formulate questions and describe things. They go a lot deeper than a typical text's exercises. Combining that with an actual movie, one that's interesting, funny and has transcripts with clickable definitions, was a great and innovative idea. I give it 4 stars, taking off one for the low quality of the picture and sound, and the lack of answers to the exercises.

This textbook, along with the CD and audio tapes is, like The Twelve Chairs itself, a classic of learning materials. It will reward the diligent student with a knowledge of the language and culture of Russian while entertaining him to a degree he has no right to expect.Based on a classic Russian novel, the course is centered around simplified chapters adapted from the novel. Notes and a vocabulary on the facing page make the readings fairly easy I would say for anyone with knowledge of basic Russian.But there is more! Each chapter from the book is then matched with a segment on the video CD, showing a clip from the Russian film based on the book. The clips are broken down into manageable chunks, and even more importantly have several features which make for a thorough learning experience. Beneath the video is a complete word for word transcription of the video. On the right hand side of the screen is a list of key words and terms. Click on any word or phrase and get all the information you need to know, grammar, definition, and sometimes a cultural note or two.Back to the book. Grammar is explained on the pages following the text and notes at a level you would expect from a university course. Nothing dumbed down,but still very clear and understandable. The emphasis seems to be on the verb system, distinguishing perfctive from imperfective.There is also a set of short dialogues for each chapter, which use modern, contemporary people and settings, but still highlighting the same grammar and vocabulary found in the adapted text.There are plenty of exercises as well. The problem for self learners is an answer key. Still, it would be a good idea to spend a good portion of time on the last set of exercise, translating from English to Russian. The answers can be found easily in the lesson itself, if in fact you studied the chapter thoroughly.Topping it all off is short one page continuous story that goes throughout the book, chapter by chapter, of two fictional college students, taking the course at Yale (where the author teaches), and reacting to the story as they go along. This is entirely in Russian and I recommend you read through it.There is a thorough grammar of the Russian verb in the back of the book which will be of interest only to extreme lovers of grammar. Otherwise, don't let it discourage you.Also, there is a set of audio tapes that you can order from Cornell University which has recordings of all the adapted texts and dialogues, read I believe by the author himself. I ordered mine a while back, so check and see if they are available and if they have updated the format to digital instead of old fashioned cassettes.All in all, I cannot possibly recommend this enough to anyone who has gone through a beginner's Russian course already. The story is hilarious and the book and othe rmaterials are so well done.