This is excellent for the beginner. It would have been nice though if this continued throughout the rest of the book because it really helps to learn vocabulary and see the word in context. The other criticism I have is that the conversations have obviously been gatherered during the Soviet period since some of the words in the top 600 are quite military or Soviet based and native speakers state that these words aren't heard much anymore apart from the older generation. Also, there are some words that look out of place in the top 1000, for example, "line of poetry" and is above words like "sister" or "newspaper". I can't imagine that this word is used that often in spoken Russian nowadays, so I question the frequency order sometimes. I would be really nice if this book was updated and brought up to date.
All in all, gripes aside, this is still a fantastic learning reference for learners at all levels and should be a part of your resource list.
Our Rating:
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3 out of 5]