Golosa: A Basic Course in Russian, Book 1

by Richard M. Robin (Editor)

Golosa is part of a two-volume series communicative approach to Introductory Russian that is designed to help learners reach the Intermediate range in speaking and listening plus reading and writing. Each volume of Golosa includes a main textbook, a workbook with audio drills and written exercises, and an audio program that runs approximately ten hours per volume and includes listening comprehension exercises, dialogs, conversations, and rapid-pace oral drills. In addition, a Companion Website offers additional lexical and grammatical exercises from each chapter plus links to authentic Russian websites, and the entire Golosa audio program is available online. Each unit in the program revolves around a theme (university, family, etc.), and follows the same basic 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. For individuals being introduced to?and learning? the Russian language.

Genres: Language, Reference, Textbooks

398 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1993

Reviews

[Evan Chow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Topically coherent but presents grammar in a highly disorganized fashion. Cases are spread out over multiple chapters and verbs of motion are a confused mess.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must confess that I haven't retained much Russian, although going over this I can still sound out words written in cyrillic and recall some of the simpler words and phrases. I'm probably about as proficient as I am in Spanish, which I tried to take as a youngster without much success. I don't think it's fair to blame this textbook, though. I haven't made much effort to keep it up, and I never really was comfortable with the language, the way I am with German, which I have consistently read and listened to since I first got to the level of basic understanding.

As far as this book goes, it seems to be well-organized and covers a lot of material in different ways. The Golosa course materials include web-based materials, audio and video, and, at least this edition had a CD-ROM (does anyone use these anymore?). It seems like it would be useful from a teacher's standpoint, in that there is a good deal of supplemental material one could use in class, on top of the reading that can be assigned for students to do at home. Basically, it's a solid and useful textbook, nothing too exciting, but useful for its purpose.

[Peter Sprunger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the style of each chapter. They start with some vocab and general knowledge (such as clothing, family, furniture, shopping) and then there is a distinct break into grammar, followed by reading exercises. Of the different Russian texts I've looked at/tried, the grammar section in this book is the best (to learn from). Cases, conjugations, and other points are explained by first a definition and then a few examples. They do not shy away from using colorful tables to help make things clearer. The readings do a good job of adding and building on previous information and putting it into some useful context.

[Ace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Golosa is a great textbook to use either in-class or on your own. My Russian I and II classes used this textbook: the diagrams are helpful, the explanations are great, and the exercises are repetitive enough to help you learn but not obnoxiously so. I bought this about a month before my class started and, on my own with almost no background in the language, I was able to get through the first few chapters on my own - so no teacher needed! This is a great reference and I often go back to it when I need a refresher course.

[Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a good textbook.

[Megan]

Golosa: A Basic Course in Russian, Book I (2nd Edition) by Richard Robin (1997)