Best Language Program To Learn Russian
Without a doubt, the three names that dominate the 'Learn Russian' market are Rosetta Stone, Russian Accelerator, and Pimsleur. Each has its own unique approach, and with that comes a very different learning experience depending on which course you are using. I have owned all three courses as I was determined to be able to speak Russian because I was headed to Russia and obviously it made the most sense to able to have a handle on basic Russian when I got there. More importantly though, I was able to save a ton of money on my trips to Russia as well. In this review I'm going to give you the low-down on what makes each course good, where the weak points are, and more importantly, which one gives you the most bang for the buck.
The Best Language-Learning Software of 2017. French, German, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian. The Best Paid Language-Learning Program. Master Russian now with our selection of the best language learning resources broken up by category, price and proficiency level. Language learning software is a great innovation, but as with any other product, we have to know what to look for before jumping into Russian learning software.
Reviews of Top 3 Russian Language Programs: with regard to depth of learning and speed. The oldest (and most out of date) of the three is Pimsleur. For decades a leader in language teaching, Pimsleur relies on an audio-only approach. What you are getting is CDs.lots of them. No booklet, no explanations, just CD after CD after CD. It might seem logical to teach with only audio, since language is primarily a spoken medium, but that's not how we learned our own languages.
Visuals are a large part of the learning process. How else do you learn what 'red' means? By utterly ignoring the visual process in language acquisition, this course does not lend itself to learning a language FAST. I felt that Pimsleur is doing a great disservice to their students (and to me) by leaving out fundamental aspects of the language learning process.
It's strong point is that it will be useful for those who are auditory learners, since it is entirely CD based. Of course I did learn a little bit, but not nearly with the same speed and breadth of knowledge as I did from the other courses. Ironically, the second oldest amongst the top Russian language courses - Rosetta Stone - uses the complete opposite approach. They rely on visuals only, with absolutely no explanation of what meaning is intended. Here's how it works: You are shown a screen with four pictures.
Let's say: A Cat, A Dog, A Boy, A Girl. The speaker says, 'sabaka' and you are to blindly guess which of the four pictures is being refered to. Even if you guess right, by clicking the dog picture, you have no way of knowing if the word indeed means dog, or perhaps the breed: 'Poodle'. Or does it mean 'Pet'? You are meant to guess.
This works ok for concrete nouns, but is totally ineffective and counter-productive for more complex situations. In one picture, two kids stand on a table as a third kid leans as if to jump, and two more kids stand on the ground.
Is it clear what the following sentence means in relation to that picture: 'Odeen malchik dumaeit o tom, shtobi prignut so stola a drugee deitee ni xotyat prigat.' Crystal clear, isn't it?
Rocket Languages
The sarcasm is intended.and deserved. For all their glossy attention to their big marketing machine which sucked a fairly large amount of money out of my pockets., Rosetta put surprisingly little thought into their courses. I spent so much time with my dictionary confirming meanings, that I felt I should have just dropped all that money on a nicer dictionary and passed on the course all together. It's doubtful anyone has learned much Russian this way, certainly not beginners anyway. At best, the course is useful for those with experience in the language already, and who are prepared to look up in a dictionary all the countless ambiguous phrases they present.
Virtually every phrase in the entire course, sorry but it was frustrating! It's strong point is that the images used in the program are visually pleasing in some cases. Due to the fact that so much time was spent looking up words to confirm their meaning, Rosetta does not lend itself to learning Russian fast. I learned the most in depth and fastest with Accelerator.
In fact the course practically forces you to learn whether you want to or not. At the start of each lesson, a quick video presents new words using a technique called PowerPhrases to implant the words in your memory. The meaning is then rooted deep in your mind via contextual learning.
Immediately, your are given a reinforcement exercise that deeper ingrains and confirms the meanings. The way they put this together is devastatingly effective, try and forget the words and phrase: you can't. It's great, and I really love this course. In the middle of each lesson, another video covers a single important grammar point using yet another proven principle called Pattern Recognition. This is perhaps the area where Russian Accelerator most outshines its competition.
Whereas the other courses shy away from teaching Russian's complex grammar, Russian Accelerator presents the material so easily, you wonder what all the fuss was about. Even for a soggy brained guy like myself, learning the necessary grammar was a piece of cake. The other aspect where Russian Accelerator has no competition at all is in its personalized Success Coaching.
Each and every student is given the opportunity to send audio of themselves to their native speaking Success Coach, for feedback. Because Russian Accelerator combines so many effective language learning techniques all geared toward speed and depth of acquisition, it helped me pick-up Russian dead fast. To this day I still retain what I learned from their training modules.
Sorry if I sound biased toward Accelerator, but as I said I OWNED all of these courses and have some pretty strong opinions due to the lack of quality and price of two of them that left me flat out disappointed. One was just OK, one was worse than just Ok.
I'm a fan of Accelerator, because they delivered on their promise of teaching fast and thoroughly. In my humble opinion, Russian Accelerator wins hands down. Mark Thomson, the co-creator of the course and accelerator team leader, has a video on the site that reveals the number one secret to acquiring proficiency in Russian at an unusually fast rate, it's good stuff. Last Updated ( Tuesday, 14 December 2010 15:50 ).
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If you have any specific questions while considering which product or service you may buy, feel free to reach out to us anytime. If you choose to click on the links on our site, we may receive compensation. If you don't click the links on our site or use the phone numbers listed on our site we will not be compensated. Ultimately the choice is yours.
The analyses and opinions on our site are our own and our editors and staff writers are instructured to maintain editorial integrity. Our brand, ConsumersAdvocate.org, stands for accuracy and helpful information. We know we can only be successful if we take your trust in us seriously! To find out more about how we make money and our editorial process. Language software are online programs that teach you another language. Some people use them to brush up on a language they already are somewhat familiar with, while others use them to learn a language from the ground up. Each of the language software companies we feature have different strengths, interfaces, and approaches to teaching.
Choosing the right one depeds on your personal goals. Someone whose job is transferring them overseas in two weeks time to a country they are completely unfamiliar with has different needs than someone traveling to Spain in the summertime who is just looking to learn for some helpful and conversational phrases. Therefore, you should take into consideration a given language software package's intensity and level of immersion.
The teaching style is also important. Some people work best under strict instructions on when and how long to study. Others learn best with the freedom to set their own schedule, jumping from lesson to lesson. Does the ability to learn on-the-go through a mobile app appeal to you? Do you enjoy a more fun approach consisting of games and strength building exercises? Would you be more likely to succeed with a program that offers live interaction with actual human beings? These are all things to consider when choosing a language learning platform.
Many of our companies offer free trials. If you decide to go with one of these, we recommend you test drive the program for at least one week. That is the minimum amount of time for you to really get a feel of its approach to teaching you another language. This ranking factor evaluates teaching method(s) of a particular language software package. There are that dominate the business of teaching languages, either online or off.
They are: the direct method, the grammar translation method, and the audio-lingual model. Choosing the correct method or combination of methods depends on how a given customer learns best, what their intention is in learning the language (get out and talk with locals, read, in business life), how quickly they would like to communicate, etc. The best programs offer the customer the choice of multiple and innovative methods.This criteria also evaluates the efficacy of said method(s). This is based on the personal experience of students and teachers who have purchased the product. It also takes into account its credibility (used by government agencies, learning institution and major companies). Regardless of the method, keep in mind learning another language is a significant undertaking, especially when you are older. Be wary of programs that make claims or guarantees you'll learn overnight. Although this type of language instruction does exist, say for military or foreign service personnel.
But it's usually not online based and involves one on one immersion at a physical language teaching facility. This factor evaluates the actual online interface between the program and the learner. Some programs come off as more fun and video game based, where for example students can collect rewards as they progress which they can use to 'buy' special features.
Other programs are more straightforward and serious translation and reading comprehension exercises. The learning format for you depends entirely on personal preference.
Language courses that offer a variety of formats (online support/ coaches, audio, visual learners, quizzes) provide the best package to accommodate everyone. This factor evaluates the intention of a given course in terms of what level of language proficiency it intends to bring you. Is the course able to develop your language skills so they could reach native-speaker levels? If it is does it make unrealistic claims about speed of learning? A language course should not only be able to introduce a new student to a new language, but also be help them achieve an advanced understanding if needed (professionals, diplomats) within a realistic time frame. Another useful feature of good language programs is the option to help those who already have some knowledge of the given language and are just looking to improve or brush up. The best programs here can quickly evaluate a person's existing level of proficiency, and allow them to 'test out' of what they already know. Again, be wary of language programs that claim incredible, native-level-speaker results too quickly.
Duolingo
As with most things in life, the most expensive doesn't always mean the best. Your decision to purchase a language program should not only be based on the price. This decision should also take into account the amount of content and overall quality of the product, as well as additional features like mobile apps. Each offer (price) is compared to the overall quality of learning (methodology + format). Considering this, find the best priced product that fits your intention.
If you want to just casually learn a few phrases there are actually free options available to you. We recommend you test drive as many programs as time allows in order to ascertain the teaching method and learning format that best suits you. Once you discover this, you might find your preferred program isn't as expensive as you might have thought. This factor looks at the number of languages a given platform is able to teach. Although it might be tempting to rank those that offer the most the best, this is another case of quality versus quantity.
The number of languages available under the language course is weighed against its ability to teach the language effectively (methodology). As with the other factors, be wary of programs that offer scores of languages.
While there are respectable and trusted sources that can and do deliver the goods in this area, make sure you are dealing with one of them and not a company that is just out for your money. Our Top Ten list and online user reviews are a good way to discern this. If you are an auditory learner, for instance, if you absorb information better if you hear it, you will probably want to pick a program that has a lot of audio content. On the other hand, if you are a visual learner, audio clips may help, but you will probably want to find a program that is text based. Or if you are a kinesthetic learner, who learns through experience, you may want to find interactive programs that will test you on your learning or will engage you in the lessons in other ways.
Additionally, you should decide what your goals are for learning a language. Are you looking to speak a language conversationally, or are you trying to read and write the language as well? If you are going on a trip and just need to have some words and phrases in your word bank to help you get around, you may be looking for a far less intensive program than if you are taking a job that requires you to speak, read and write a foreign language proficiently.