Product Description

For courses in First-year Russian - Introductory Russian.

Golosa is a two-volume, introductory Russian-language program that strikes a balance between communication and structure. It is designed to help students reach the Intermediate range in speaking and listening plus reading and writing. In addition to the text, each volume of Golosa has an accompanying Student Activities Manual (workbook, lab manual, video manual) with audio-drills and written exercises, and an audio program that includes listening comprehension exercises, dialogs, conversations, and rapid-pace oral drills. The robust Companion Website offers additional lexical and grammatical exercises, links to authentic Russian websites, and the entire Golosa audio program.

Each unit in the program revolves around a theme (university, family, etc.), and follows the same basic format: introduction of basic vocabulary for the chapter theme, listening to introductory conversations, short dialogs with activities and role-play practice, practice in listening and reading with emphasis on strategies, grammar study and practice in both oral and written form, and written workbook exercises that go from mechanical skill-building to creative skill-using.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #370377 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

Language Notes
Text: English, Russian

From the Publisher
Both volumes of this beginning-level Russian-language program address the four skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing), as well as culture. Each unit, based on a common theme, contains a set of goals for each of the skills, supported by dialogues, texts, exercises, and other material necessary for the achievement of these goals. Both volumes present a balance of functional competence on the one hand, and accuracy on the other. Although students will not be expected to attain complete control of all the grammatical categories during the course, the materials present a systematic framework of Russian grammar.

From the Back Cover

With its careful balance of communication and structure, Golosa has been the pathway to contemporary Russian for English-speaking students throughout the post-Soviet era. Students learning with Golosa work towards functional competence in all four skills while building a solid grammatical base. This foundation enables them to increase their proficiency through additional study.

The Golosa program consists of two texts (Book 1 and Book 2), two student workbooks, a Web-based audio and video program, and additional Web-based exercises. Each book offers realistic communicative activities (in listening, speaking, reading, and writing) that are designed for use in a learner-centered classroom. Students acquire personalized vocabulary to express individual needs and practice strategies that promote the balanced development of productive and receptive skills. The problem-solving approach in Golosa leads students to become independent, confident speakers of Russian.

The third edition of Golosa, Book 1, has been revised to provide a complete grammatical base.The web site also provides a regularly updated set of additional resources for teachers and students that further promotes independent, individualized work with the Russian language and realia. The entire audio program — nearly 20 hours of recordings — is available on the Golosa web site as well as on CD.

Customer Reviews

Better than the rest (but wait for the 3rd edition)
I am on the brink of completing an intensive Russian course (1 year of Russian compressed into one quarter) which has used this series. Over the course of 8 weeks with the two books and a PhD candidate as my guide I have found myself possessing enough proficiency to converse with a couple I met on a bus, to listen to the news in Russian, and assume I could keep my head above water were I to travel.

The authors' approach is vastly different from other texts I have encountered. A large number of listening and reading excercises accompany lessons on grammar and a wealth of vocabulary. Texts and dialogues, unlike other texts, are not overly glossed and seem to focus on adding unknown words and phrases, forcing the student to pick out what he or she understands to follow the action. Such an approach approximates what a student might experience in a real world situation.

For a student or teacher of early Russian classes I believe there to be few better books. I could not recommend the text and the authors' approach more. Although I would suggest awaiting the 3rd edition (the current edition is rife with confusing errors and typos as well as a cumbersome delivery system for the accompanying audio) the issues can be surmounted by a dedicated student and/or knowledgeable teacher. They do little, however, to detract from the overall quality inherent in the books' approach to learning.

Perfectly adequate textbook
I used this textbook in an intensive Russian class I took in college. It follows the standard textbook format: Each chapter introduces a grammatical concept and new vocabulary. There are a few short dialogues and several exercises to reinforce the grammar and vocabulary. There are also exercises at the beginning to practice cursive in the cyrillic alphabet. At the end of the book there was a grammar reference so it was easy to review and brush up on previous lessons. It was a perfectly good textbook to use as part of a class.

In this case I also used the workbook and tape set. The workbook has additional exercises for each chapter in the book. It helped, but isn't necessary since things are covered in enough detail in the book. The tapes were helpful for picking up on how to pronounce. Russian pronunciation is very tricky. Basically they contain spoken versions of the dialogues in the text and a few simple exercises. I would just try to repeat after them to pick up on how to pronounce. The tapes are only useful as a supplement to a class, and not to teach you Russian on your own.

This and Golosa Book 2 is a good textbook set to use as part of a class. I used it in college but it would also work for highschool. It did a pretty good job of explaining things and covered the concepts adequately. Teachers will want to know that there is a third edition out now.

If you are trying to learn Russian on your own: Don't try to use this as a tape and book set. It isn't designed for this and unless you have superhuman amounts of natural aptitude for Russian it isn't going to work. Instead find a good tape and book set specifically designed for studying on your own. If used copies of the Golosa books are on sale dirt cheap then consider buying them for the exercises and to use as a grammar reference, but don't expect to learn Russian from them alone.

Limited Use
After two semesters of using this book it is my opinion that it is only useful for students who already speak the language but need grammar reinforcement. Even though there are many exercises in the manual and a workbook to accompany the material, there are no answers in either the manual or the workbook to verify that you have done the exercises correctly. In many cases, when I developed answers from examples in the dialogs in the book and tried to verify them with Russian friends, the typical response was "well, technically, its correct ... but we don't talk that way".
The book also seems to have no organized structure. It is very possible that it is organized to suit the needs of the professors who wrote it to fit the curriculum at George Washington University ... but I don't attend GW and it seemed like the information was just thrown at me and left to me to sort it out.
While the vocabulary presented in the book seems to be well suited to the material covered, five months of school lasted about 5 minutes in conversations with native Russians on a recent visit to St. Petersburg. There are a large number of words that just are not used in everyday conversations.
I suggest that if you know that you are going to be using this book because it is a college requirement, you should try to prepare yourself by taking a conversational Russian course prior to using the book.