Take off in Russian by Nick Ukiah (review)

Abstract

Reviews Ukiah, Nick. TakeOffin Russian.Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, 2001. X + 246 pp. Glossary. Index. 4 x 75-minute cassettes (CDs also available).f2 1.99: $24.95 (paperback). TAKE OFF IN RUSSIAN is a course designed to take the 'complete beginner to intermediate level in fourteen easy-to-understandunits' and is intended for self-paced independent studyof Russian by a complete novice. The textbook consists of an introduction, fourteen lessons/units, a grammar summary, a vocabularycoveringthe first iooo wordsand a glossaryof grammaticalterms. Each unit contains dialogues and activities (fourteen pages of text and seventeen minutes of recorded material)related to most every-day situations in Russia, such as 'meeting people', 'shopping', 'public transport',etc., and 'language building' (grammar explanations), giving pronunciation practice, language learning technique, tests and revisions. The introduction provides detailed instructions on how to begin 'learning Russian from scratch' and explainshow to use the learningblockswithin each unit. Both the textbook's approach and structurereflect the current concern to create instructionalmaterialswhich allow the learnerto be fullyin control of the learning process. Two featuresof the textbook contributeto this focus on the learner its user-friendly format and careful attention to learning strategies.It also accommodates differentlearningstyles,usingboth inductive and deductiveapproachesto introducingnew material,andprovidesactivities for analyticaland global learnersalike. The structureof the textbook is logical and transparent.Each unit begins with a set of clear objectives. The grammar summary and the glossary of grammaticaltermsat the end of the book are concise and informative. TakeOffin Russianplaces emphasis mainly on the development of two skills speakingand listening and, consequently, readingand writingare treated as supportingskills.In this respectone should note that in view of the apparent absence of tutorial supervision and explanations, the mastering of writing techniques often presentsthe greatestdifficultyin self-taughtcourses. No hints to this effect are found here, however. The hand-written forms of Cyrillic letters given on page ix are difficultto copy and may discourage the learner. Russian pronunciation often presents yet another pitfall in self-taught courses. Here, the first cassette starts with the recording of the Cyrillic alphabet,providingletternames (includingthe tverdyi and mjagkii znaki)instead of theirpronunciation,that may confusethe beginner. The assignments are presented in a logical order, and grammar explanations are clearly written. The author's attempts to introduce the elements of Business Russian are laudable. The recorded material is of an exceptionally high qualityand executed in a very professionalmanner, which differentiates TakeOJf inRussian from other similartextbooksavailableon both the Western and Russian markets,yet one may not always agree with the order in which the materialis introduced.Forexample, Russiannameswith patronymicsfirst 498 SEER, 8o, 3, 2002 appearin unit I .4, but an explanationof how the patronymicsareformedand applied is not given until unit 6.I. On severaloccasions the traditionalorder of introducing cases is disturbed:the genitive plural of the noun is given in unit 4, while the instrumentalsingularof nouns is explained only in unit I o. In the same block one may find the instrumentalof pronouns, as well as the dative, instrumental and prepositional plural of nouns, adjectives and possessives. The heavy concentration of grammar in a single unit may discourageeven the most motivatedlearners. The book's main shortcoming lies in the insufficientamount of language practice it offers, involving an active generation of utterances in Russian. Since the textbook covers reasonably broad material, activities promoting both the development of language structureand conversation skillsare very thinly spread. They tend to illustrate linguistic points rather than build a strongfoundationforlanguageproficiencyat beginners'level. The book's subtitle ('The easiest way to learn Russian') suggeststhat it can help a complete beginner make a leap to the intermediatelevel. It is truethat the definitionof intermediatelevel in language pedagogy is very vague, but if we consider, for example, the definition of the Intermediate Low level in speakingused in theAmerican Council on the Teaching of ForeignLanguages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines (i999), it is hard to see how the available amount of practice in speaking can take the learner as far as the level presupposed. In spite of these minor criticisms, TakeOffinRussianis accessible and wellorganized , particularly useful for students working alone and all those interestedin modern approachesof learningauthenticRussian. UniversityofDurham MARIANNA TAYMANO VA Rubins, Maria. Crossroad ofArts,Crossroad of Cultures. Ecphrasis in Russianand French Poetgy. Palgrave, New York...