Student Activities Manual for Golosa: A Basic Course in Russian, Book One 5th Edition

This is college recommended textbook for people who take Russian language. Delivered as promised

Perfect for Russian 1 class

The main things I have to say about this:1. you NEED the textbook in addition to this, as this workbook was meant to follow the layout of the textbook. Together, they do a decent job at teaching introductory Russian, but not ideal (as I'll explain below).2. you NEED to use this workbook, along with the textbook WITH a class. These books are NOT suitable for self-study, because first and foremost: there are no answers to the exercises anywhere. You need an instructor (or a Russian) to check them.3. Do NOT buy this workbook USED, because the pages are perforated, thus there is a high chance that you will receive one with missing pages. That is what happened to me the first time I bought it used from a seller that claimed it had no missing pages... it did, and I had to return it.For reference: I'm using this workbook along with the accompanying textbook. Been using both now for about 2 months into my first Russian course. I am a serious student with full intentions of becoming fluent. I also do a lot of self-study on my own, aside from this textbook and workbook. So I have *really* paid attention to how this textbook works.Regarding this workbook: The workbook is far more helpful and valuable than the textbook, because I do think it contains enough exercises for you to come away from each chapter generally knowing what was covered in the chapter. But again, I have to stress -- you absolutely need an instructor (or a Russian) to check your work. If you diligently do all the workbook exercises, you should certainly come away having learned the concepts, but you will still need a lot of practice to actually memorize what you know. There are also exercises in the textbook (and they are similar to the ones in the workbook), but there are far fewer in the textbook (and again -- no answers anywhere). So you can't learn everything with the textbook alone. The meat lies in this workbook. Another good thing about the workbook is that as you progress to a new chapter, they will give exercises that review previous concepts in previous chapters, thus making sure you're retaining and applying what you've learned. I always come away feeling satisfied and accomplished when I complete all the exercises in the workbook and have them checked.Regarding the textbook: I have to say, I really don't like the textbook. (I would give the textbook 2 stars). While it does a decent job at introducing grammar concepts one by one, it also throws a lot of completely unfamiliar and higher-level things: sample letters/correspondences between Russians, Russian advertisements or menus, and other things that you are literally not even supposed to understand yet (it even says for example "read this e-mail written by an exchange student. You won't understand everything, but just try to piece together the main ideas." What the hell? It is difficult *enough* for students to learn the grammar, vocabulary and do the exercises -- the last thing any new student needs is trying to read higher-level texts and "try" to translate it. I am an advanced student, but even *I* always just totally skip these, and my instructor never uses these parts of the textbook either. It's a total waste of space in a textbook meant for introductory Russian, and can even be discouraging. I would recommend ignoring these parts, or saving them for the very last thing you ever attempt from this textbook, because it's the most difficult.Another reason I don't like the textbook is how generally disorganized it is. In the beginning of each chapter, they throw dialogues at you which contain the new grammar, vocabulary and expressions for the chapter -- none of which you have learned yet. And *then* they will go on to explain those things. It seems totally backward to me. But at least there is a theme to each chapter. However, the selection of vocabulary for each chapter seems largely random despite there being a theme.Overall, this really is not the best approach for beginning Russian students. I know there are better textbook/workbook combos out there. My Russian instructors have agreed they don't want to keep using this textbook, either. If you're stuck with it, you can make the most out of it by making sure you do all the exercises in this workbook and go over them with your tutor or instructor. The exercises in the workbook are well-organized and repetitive enough for you to learn what you need to learn.

I am using this with a class and it helps me learn what I need to learn for the course which is what one would expect.

Missing first twelve pages, although listing described it intact. I needed this book for class but ultimately had to buy another copy from the university since this one was incomplete.

It's a Book!

If used with the Golosa textbook, and an instructor this workbook is great for practicing Russian grammar, pronunciation, and vocab. There is even an accompanying free audio program online. Now I would discourage someone buying this if they are self-studying, as there is no answer key and not many explanations. There are much better resources that are also much less expensive.

Item arrived on time. Item was described accurately. Great to work with the vendor. Good price for book I needed.

There were pages missing...complete rip-off.