Frayn Plays 1: Alphabetical Order, Donkey's Years, Clouds, Make and Break, Noise Off (World Dramatists)

Book Description

Full of pain, ruthless observation, and a sense of humor which is sardonic, lunatic, and warm.--Sunday Times

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Gong Donkeys
Richard Cameron
Manufacturer: A&C Black
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

School's out, and David is sent to spend the holidays with Aunt Deelie, Uncle Robert, and cousin Charlene in the rough part of town. It's a summer of stories, but when a child goes missing, accusations are thrown at David's new family, and the line between fact and fiction becomes dangerously blurred.

Richard Cameron's The Glee Club was a West End hit in 2002 and 2004. Gong Donkeys opened at the Almeida Theatre in London in November 2004.

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The Irish Donkey
Averil Swinfen
Manufacturer: Lilliput Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Animal Husbandry | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1843510421

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The Irish Donkey
Averil Swinfen
Manufacturer: J.A.Allen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 085131239X

Travels With a Donkey an Inland Voyage the Silverado Squatters (Everyman's Library (Paper))

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Travels With a Donkey an Inland Voyage the Silverado Squatters (Everyman's Library (Paper))
Robert Louis Stevenson
Manufacturer: Everymans Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0460872788

Book Description

In a sail-powered canoe, on foot with a pack-donkey, playing house in a derelict silver mine, Stevenson celebrates the romance of life as a voluntary inland castaway. From canalside Belgium and darkest rural France to the wild west, he gazeteers history, landscape and inhabitants with equal enthusiasm, despite being taken from a madman; in his youthful relish and supreme disregard for discomfort, this precursor of Kerouac and Chatwin joys in his life on the open road.

Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes and Selected Travel Writings (World's Classics)

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Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes and Selected Travel Writings (World's Classics)
Robert Louis Stevenson
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Scottish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

Switzerland | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0192826298

Book Description

This volume of Stevenson's travel writings--the only collection in print--includes his first published book, An Inland Voyage (1878), a vivid account of a canoe voyage in Belgium and France in two sail-powered skiffs, and his popular description of a tour with his recalcitrant donkey Modestine in Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (1879). This edition also includes a selection of travel essays deriving from the writer's experiences on the Cote d'Azur, at Fontainebleau, and in the Swiss Alps, each revealing Stevenson's iconoclasm, his unconventionality, and the Bohemian stance which brought about his confrontation with the Edinburgh literary establishment.

What Do You Feed Your Donkey On?: Rhymes from a Belfast Childhood

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What Do You Feed Your Donkey On?: Rhymes from a Belfast Childhood
Colette O'Hare , and Jenny Rodwell
Manufacturer: Putnam Pub Group (L)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Average customer rating:

A great book - an easy read
Bygone Ireland brought to life
I loved this book
Last of the Donkey Pilgrims - Last of a Dying Breed
"Ass-backwards" on a "personal Acid Trip"

Last of the Donkey Pilgrims
Kevin O'Hara
Manufacturer: Forge Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Travel | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

Jaywalking with the Irish
McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland
Round Ireland with a Fridge
O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our First Year in County Clare
In Search of the Craic: One Man's Pub Crawl Through Irish Music

ASIN: 0765309831

Book Description

The warm hearted story of an Irish-American who goes back to discover his roots ome people search for the truth of their lives in their families and in their past. Some go back to their roots in an effort to discover who the people were who helped shape their lives. Kevin O'Hara did just that. A Vietnam vet, Kevin was left with unanswered questions and a gaping hole in his heart. So he went home, home to Ireland. Not the place of his birth, but his mother's homeland. He went to try and sort out the sort of man he was and to try to find a way back. Kevin's journey began as a mad lark: who in the world would convince themselves that they could circle the entire coastline of Ireland in a donkey cart. Along the way, Kevin meets some of the more colorful examples of Irish wit, humor, (and temper), and through adversity, sheer folly, and some joy, finds out just the sort of fellow he'd become....and the man he could be. Told with humor and love, The Last of the Donkey Pilgrims is a book for those who need to make the journey of the soul . . . and those who wish they could. An upbeat and eye catching cover that focuses on the more on the heartwarming and comedic aspects of this memoir was chosen specifically to break this title out of the more traditional Irish focused titles.

Customer Reviews:

A great book - an easy read.......2007-03-20

Kevin's writing draws you into his journey - a remarkable romp around Ireland with a donkey that seems human. I loved it. You could nearly smell the air and see the characters. A magical look at an island that has changed so much in the 25 years since his journey took place. I wanted to be there by his side as he runs into character after character. His book is the next best thing to being there.

I didn't want his journey to end. Alas, time moves on and progress can't be stopped. If only there could be a sequel.

Anyway, it is written in very short, easy to read chapters. Perfect nighttime reading. If you like adventures, humor, self reflection, and interesting characters - read this book. If you have ever been to Ireland and fallen in love with it, this book is a must read. If you live in Ireland now and want a look back at the country as it existed 25 years ago, this book is required reading.

Bygone Ireland brought to life.......2007-02-17

This is a fun story of a Yank's trip around Ireland with a donkey cart. His trip fulfills his longing to know the land of his forebears, and he wonderfully captures the language and attitudes of the people just before modernity finally arrived full force. Highly recommended!

I loved this book.......2007-01-17

At first it seemed a bit slow and I feared it was going to be one of those "Oirish" books full of Paddy-wackery. However, Kevin O'Hara seems to find his barrings a couple chapters in, about the time he finally gets on the road, and ends up writing an interesting, sometimes spiritual, sometimes beautiful book about his experience in an Ireland that barely exists in that same way anymore. My favorite bits were his evolving relationship with Missy, the donkey, the rare glimpse he gives us into the lives of a group of Travellers, Mr. O'Hara's reverence and appreciation of the countryside and it's people, and best of all, his chance encounter with an elderly woman praying the rosary after midnight in a field, just as she did as a child with her family many years earlier... that scene was magic. "Slan abhaile agus oiche mhaith."

Last of the Donkey Pilgrims - Last of a Dying Breed.......2006-08-18

Kevin O'Hara's epic 1800 mile journey around Ireland with a donkey is an amazing depiction of Irish culture, humor, historical pain, and generosity. Completing the book 25 years after his journey in 1979, O'Hara paints a detailed mosaic of an Ireland before the infusion of European Union money and a fragile peace accord that has halted the violence between North and South. With only a few pounds in his pocket, this American Irishman discovers his roots, his heritage, and bit of the Blarney during his trek around Ireland (albeit counterclockwise!) An extraordinary read!

"Ass-backwards" on a "personal Acid Trip".......2005-12-22

Titles described as "heartwarming" are not the type of book I usually read about Ireland, but the enthusiastic responses here drew me in. The beginning, honestly, was so full of blarney and begorras that I thought I'd never get past the first forty or so pages. It picks up awkwardly as if unsure of itself--I don't know if this is intentional or not, but it should not put you off. Luckily, the writing settles down as the pace of Missie and Kevin adjusts to their daily perambulations. It's a worthwhile travelogue from 1979, 150 nights spent in barns and farmhouses relying upon local kindness, and a thoughtful look at a nearly vanished, if much poorer, Ireland that nobody today--as the preface acknowledges 25 years later--could have believed would have slipped away. With slower traffic, stagnant villages, and loquacious pub chat, O'Hara recorded these now faded scenes in his diaries and recreates on the page over subsequent decades of what evidently was a long labor of love.

Surprisingly few hostile or suspicious or rude people cross his path, testimony to his own savvy and also to the notoriety spread by press and word-of-mouth as he progressed each day for eight months, to arrive back where he started to finish on Christmas Eve. The religious underpinnings are gently compared, as when he fears to enter Belfast, as a Gethsemane, a fool on a donkey, or when Brother Malachy asks if his trip has moved him to grace, or when he finds himself falling into prayer on his long treks allowing introspection. The political contexts are also explored nimbly and intelligently; a game of pool in a pub turns vicious, a visit to a family who has lost a son to an IRA bomb is handled delicately, and his encounters with families for whom he's the first Catholic their children may have met speak more than the few words given. One woman exclaims as she adds his name to her address book: "you're the first one I've written under 'O'."

Having driven often all too quickly along many of the roads O'Hara trudged, it's also intriguing to get a donkey-level and slowly observed view of the Irish landscapes. He takes the circuit against Celtic practice, going inadvertently but symbolically "ass-backwards" against the sun, counterclockwise or widdershins, but manages to survive. Especially intriguing for me were his reports from rarely visited areas like the Belmullet peninsula of Mayo, the interior in Co Roscommon, or the Leitrim coast, all three miles of it. While I wish he would have spent more time in the interior of Ireland, he seems to follow the understandable preference of most travelers to make the coastal circle, and his accounts of the familiar as well as the less frequented corners are worthwhile. Most memorable for me were his night attempted sleeping in a stone circle said to have been the place of human sacrifice millennia ago; a entertainingly told pub-knowledge match that he--almost--wins; his imagined conversations of those following his trek from the pub where he began his trip; and his journeys up the Glengash Pass in Donegal and the hills that rise and dip above Dingle.

For every reader that might be drawn in by the garish cover, another may be repelled (as I was initially), but despite the rather persistent touch of Oirish in the stage-dialogue that seems to be on the lips of every other expansive farmer and eloquent pub denizen he meets, O'Hara does balance these broad stereotypes--and you also read between the lines to learn how the Irish are playing their own clever roles as they meet the eccentric Yank "Mr Donkeyman" who the press faithfully plays up on his perigrinations--with efficient portrayals of landscapes and personalities. (I agree with those who have wished for pictures that should have accompanied these printed accounts; perhaps these will gain their own publication soon?)

What other readers may not have noticed is how O'Hara does quite well in setting himself up as a "character" to survive: to play off not only the locals in hopes of a warm meal and shelter each night, but the visiting Yanks who gawk at him, and also the more aggressive boyos from wherever who try to knock him down a peg. He also plays off his role against the Travellers he sometimes meets or for whom he is mistaken, revealing again another often ignored or romanticized or reviled side of rural Irish tradition. He handles himself well in some sensitive situations, you sense, as his confidence grows and his bond with Missie tightens. Their relationship provides a moving coda to the tale, too.

Since O'Hara's not a professional writer, his effort rings oddly more true and less pat, for you sense how long he labored to bring the right balance of stereotypical clever blather and slowly witnessed beauty to these hundreds of nights and pages assembled.

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Irish Donkey
Averil Swinfen; Preface Vincent O'Brien
Manufacturer: MERCIER PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OJQF7O

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Delightful and Humorous - Sympathetic Look at an Isolated People.
Fresh, Delightful
Looking for the Camisards in the Lozère Mountains
Discover a beautiful region of France

Travels with a Donkey
Robert Louis Stevenson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Eothen (Konemann Classics)
Oxford
Donkey: The Mystique of Equus Asinus
An Extravagance of Donkeys
Eothen: Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East

ASIN: B00005X02L

Amazon.com

Most of the problems travelers encounter have to do with transportation. On a 12-day trek through the Cevennes, Stevenson's cross to bear was Modestine, a stubborn, manipulative donkey he could never quite get the better of. After many humorous trials and tribulations, Stevenson found that his disdain for the creature had turned to love, and at the end of the trip he said goodbye with much regret. Written in just a few months when he was in his late twenties, the publication was initially a means to earn a quick buck. Little did Stevenson know that his Modestine would become one of the great characters in travel literature.

Book Description

The wild Cévennes region of France forms the backdrop for the pioneering travelogue Travels with a Donkey, written by a young Robert Louis Stevenson. Ever hopeful of encountering the adventure he yearned for and raising much needed finance at the start of his writing career, Stevenson embarked on the 120 mile, 12 day trek and recorded his experiences in this journal. His only companion for the trip was a predictably stubborn donkey called Modestine.

Travels with a Donkey gives the reader a rare glimpse of the character of the author, and the journalistic and often comical style of writing is in refreshing contrast to Stevenson's more famous works.

Customer Reviews:

Delightful and Humorous - Sympathetic Look at an Isolated People........2007-03-31

Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (1878) is among the earliest published works of Robert Louis Stevenson, and yet it is in no way inferior to his later writing that established his fame. In fact, this delightful account of Stevenson's solo trek in the Cevennes Range in south central France ranks among the best travel literature in the nineteenth century.

Wishing not to advertise that he would be camping alone in remote areas, he chose not to travel with a tent. Instead, he designed a sleeping sack some six feet square, made of green water-proof cart cloth without and blue sheep's fur within. This commodious bed was too heavy to carry, and thus Stevenson acquired a donkey, one Modestine.

Stevenson and Modestine for twelve days were close companions, traveling some 120 miles over several mountain ridges, along rocky roads, and even through boggy marshes. The stubborn Modestine was never quite convinced that the journey was entirely worth the effort, but nonetheless Stevenson and Modestine eventually became fast friends.

Stevenson actually found lodging most nights, including a stint at a monastery, Our Lady of the Snows, allowing him not only to sleep more comfortably, but to share meals with strangers. Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes is as much about the people Stevenson encountered as about his adventuresome travels through this remote region of France. My only criticism of this short account, a little more than one hundred pages, is that it is not twice as long.

Stevenson was familiar with the history of the Cevennes, especially the Protestant-Catholic strife under Louis XIV that eventually resulted in a Protestant rebellion in 1702. With the passage of nearly two hundred years, the Protestants and Catholics were now living peacefully together, although these two peoples seldom mixed socially and intermarriages were quite rare. Stevenson himself was Protestant, and while staying at the monastery his hosts made sincere efforts to convert him to the Catholic faith.

The young Robert Louis Stevenson was a rare individual that truly enjoyed life, one that was continually fascinated with his chanced acquaintances. Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes is delightful and amusing, but at the same time it is equally successful as a thoughtful examination of the people of the Cevennes, isolated by both mountainous geography and a minority religion.

Fresh, Delightful.......2003-10-15

In the late 1870s, Robert Louis Stevenson needed cash to break dependence on his parents so he could go to the woman he loved (and they did not). A chronic invalid, he also needed adventure. He decided to do some travel writing and one such trip is recounted in TRAVELS WITH A DONKEY. He headed off to the remote Cevennes mountain range of south central France and got himself kitted out nicely, so nicely, he needed assistance in carrying everything. Enter Modestine, a donkey. He might as well have attempted to harness and pack up a cat. Thus, to a deft narrative that works in powerful landscape description, sketches of country folk met along the way, and a revisiting of the region's dramatic history, he adds the self-deprecating wit that would become a model for his 20th century counterparts like Peter Fleming, Eric Newby, and Bill Bryson. Though his commentary moves along at a swift but casual gait, it builds a tension on the upside, beginning with the age-old legend of the murderous Beast of Gevaudan that haunts a neighborhood where he finds the peasantry by turns hostile and friendly and accommodations primitive. Near the summit, a visit to a monastery introduces the religious theme that will attend his descent into the beautiful land of the Camisards, the friction between Protestants and Catholics that erupted into a tragic civil war in the first decade of the 18th century. Stevenson does a fine job of sorting out the history and evoking the awe that comes with visiting the deceptively bucolic scene. No wonder this book has continued to inspire: it often appears on recommended lists and it prompted Romantic biographer Richard Holmes to retrace the journey early in his career, a century later, complete with a donkey of his own (see his book FOOTSTEPS). The critical introduction to this edition is worthwhile.

Looking for the Camisards in the Lozère Mountains.......2002-06-29

R.L. Stevenson writes here the first account of a touristic journey in France. He is the first modern tourist. He penetrates and discovers the country and the people of what he calls the Lozère, this mountain range in the south of The Central mountains in France, a range of mountains that was the locale of a protestant rebellion at the very beginning of the eighteenth century, severely repressed by Louis XIV. These protestant insurgers are known as the Camisards. Stevenson tries to discover the landscape, the natural setting of this insurrection and tries to show how the insurrection was connected to the very nature of these mountains. He also shows how no repression can change a person or a population. These old Camisards are still alive in the memory and the customs and ways of the protestant population of this region. It is the survival of this faith that interests and fascinates Stevenson. He also notices that the catholics and the protestants, at the time of his travels, lived in harmony but with an absolute divide between the two communities. A young catholic man who married a protestant girl and changed his faith in the process was unanimously condemned for this breach of loyalty. This book is also a perfect example of what tourism can and must be : the discovery of the visited people's mentality, culture, way of life, and the connection of these with the surrounding nature, and not only a quick look at monuments and other (un)perishable. One has to live with the people, no matter how little, to eat the people's food and to be in contact with the people in order to discuss general and particular subjects and to understand their way of thinking and behaving. Thus tourism becomes an adventure even in the heart of the most civilized country and only a couple of miles away from a railroad.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Discover a beautiful region of France.......2000-08-25

If you want to discover a beautiful and wild French region through the eyes of a Scottish writer, read Travels with a donkey. Stevenson, before he became famous, depicted his journey in the cevennes, with his donkey "Modestine". Rediscover the excellent style of a young writer about to become world-wide-known.

Understanding Weatherfax
Average customer rating:

Really great book, part of the whole picture

Understanding Weatherfax
Mike Harris
Manufacturer: Sheridan House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Weather | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Boating | Water Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Marine SSB Radio for "Idi-Yachts": A Guide for Using Marine Single Sideband Radio

Communications at Sea: Marine Radio, Email, Satellite, and Internet Services

International Marine's Weather Predicting Simplified: How to Read Weather Charts and Satellite Images

HF Radio E-Mail for "Idi-Yachts"

Storm Tactics Handbook: Modern Methods of Heaving-To for Survival in Extreme Conditions

ASIN: 1574092154

Book Description

How do you turn the symbols on a weather chart into a meaningful forecast? Armed with this book and a current weatherfax chart you will have all the essentials for making your own forecast no matter where you are in the world.

Understanding Weatherfax explains: Sources of weatherfax images; Receiving equipment and software; Types of weatherfax charts; Interpreting synoptic chart features; World weather patterns; Personal forecasting; Tropical storms-their formation, tracking and avoidance.

An appendix lists worldwide fax stations and their operating frequencies, call signs and transmission schedules.

New for Second Edition: Satellite Images - equipment, software and how to receive live images from satellites Interpreting early warning signs of storm development from satellite images Case studies on the 1991 Perfect Storm and the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race

Customer Reviews:

Really great book, part of the whole picture.......2007-05-17

I bought this book in preparation for an advanced mariner's meteorology course, and could not have made this comment without having first gained that higher level of knowledge.

This is a suberb book. It provides superb information about the weather fax, including an excellent and easily portable manual for the various symbols. It has two areas for improvement:

1) It sticks to the two-dimensional depiction of weather that is common to the average person. Although there are a couple of illustrations showing altitude, the author could easily have put in a few pages on the rotation of the earth, the 500 mb level, and how weather on the surface cannot be understood without underestanding what is happening at the 18,000 level. As my instructor put it, the high-level troughs are the chicken that hatches the surface level (scrambled) egg.

2) It does not make the connection, at least that I could see, between the vital importance of making your own observations at 00 and 12 Zulu, so that when you finally receive the weather fax six or seven hours later, you can compare reality with what was provided. This also applies to forecasts--you can keep them, compare your own observations as the time passes, and get a sense of the difference.

Add the above, and read "Mariner's Guide to the 500-Millibar Chart" by Joe Stenkiewicz and Lee Chesneau, and Google for to find his web site, and you'll have all you need to move to the better three-dimensional interactive viewing of weather and weather charts.

I also recommend The Weather Wizard's Cloud Book: A Unique Way to Predict the Weather Accurately and Easily by Reading the Clouds

Understanding Weatherfax a Guide To Forecast

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Understanding Weatherfax a Guide To Forecast
Mike Harris
Manufacturer: SHERIDAN HOUSE+
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N662NK

Complete Russian: The Basics (CD) (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)
Average customer rating:
Complete Russian: The Basics (CD) (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)
Living Language
Manufacturer: Living Language
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Russian | Foreign Language | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books
Phrasebooks - General | Instruction | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
Russian | Instruction | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks)

Ultimate Russian Beginner-Intermediate (CD/Book) (LL(R) Ultimate Basic-Intermed)

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Teach Yourself Russian Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself . . . Complete Courses)

Complete Arabic: The Basics (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)

ASIN: 1400021561
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Book Description

The top-selling Complete series has been fully revised, with all new supplemental material and a bonus wallet phrase card for travelers. Each program contains everything a beginner needs—a coursebook with 40 lessons, three hours of recordings on three CDs, a quick-reference learner’s dictionary, and an all-new indispensable wallet phrase card, all in a convenient and compact package.

The courses still use the popular and effective conversation building-block method, but all content has been thoroughly updated and now includes e-mail essentials and internet resources for each of the eight languages in the series. In addition, 18 supplemental vocabulary sections, covering such topics as “Family and Relationships,” “On the Job,” “Sports and Recreation,” and “Around Town,” are now included. As an added bonus, the new handy wallet phrase card with 300 essential words and phrases is the perfect reference for on-the-go learners, travelers, and businesspeople.

With a fresh look, great new features, and the same rock-solid approach to language learning, the best-selling Complete series is better than ever!

Russian Complete Course: Basic-Intermediate (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)

Average customer rating:

Very Good Course!!!
Hang in there.
yeah not really
Not bad, but everything else is better.
Useless course in Russian

Russian Complete Course: Basic-Intermediate (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)
Living Language
Manufacturer: Living Language
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
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The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks)
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Learn in Your Car Russian: The Complete Language Course (Learn in Your Car)
Teach Yourself Beginner's Russian Script

ASIN: 1400020263
Release Date: 2002-04-16

Book Description

SPEAK RUSSIAN WITH CONFIDENCE IN JUST 6 WEEKS!

The Living Language® Russian Complete Course teaches the basics of Russian language and usage. It uses a highly effective speed-learning method developed by U.S. government experts to teach languages to overseas-bound service personnel and diplomats.

TWO 90-MINUTE CASSETTES WITH 40 LESSONS
• Begin with simple words and progress to complex phrases and sentences.
• Just listen and repeat after the native speakers on the recordings to learn naturally, the way you learned English.

RUSSIAN COURSEBOOK
• 40 lessons from the recordings with translations, additional vocabulary, detailed explanations, quizzes, and reviews.
• Verb charts, a comprehensive grammar summary, and a section on letter writing are also included.

RUSSIAN–ENGLISH / ENGLISH–RUSSIAN DICTIONARY
• More than 20,000 words, idioms, and expressions.
• Examples show how words are used in everyday conversation.
• 1,000 frequently used words are highlighted for easy reference.

Customer Reviews:

Very Good Course!!!.......2006-02-12

The Living Language RUSSIAN course is actually a very good one, BUT you will need many other materials, aids, etc... to actually learn Russian, become fluent, converse and read. I am actually using about 15 different products to tackle Russian properly, this is my 8th language and I have just ordered a few books in Russian... classic Russian literature and Pushkin, not translations, but books in Russian Cyrillic.

This package comes with a coursebook, dictionary and a set of 3 CDs.... I completed the 40 lessons in the coursebook, but hardly used the provided dictionary. I personally use the Babylon dictionary and the Langenscheidt.

The lessons are very well organized, grammar is explained in a very clear way, the lessons are fun to do and quite amusing -- at the same time you are actually learning a lot about Russian culture -- and you will definitely need to use the CDs along with the book.

I think the greatest strength of this course is that it ultimately teaches you how to read Russian ... again, the actual native voices on the recordings are great and you go lesson by lesson studying dialogs, particularly in the second half of the course.

Russian is heaps of fun... but you need to work hard at it!

Good luck!

Hang in there........2005-09-21

When I first bought this item I really did not know what I was in for. I thought I was buying a listen and learn CD course. What you get are CD's, a dictionary, and a course book. I have to admit I was not keen on the idea of the course book and I hated the whole thing after a couple of days, but I stuck with it. Over all I will say that the course is good and you do learn to speak, read, and write Russian. This course teaches you how to pronounce the words really well. I feel this was better for me than courses I have tried for other languages. The only thing I really think could use improvement would be the CD's them selves. There is no English spoken with the words and sentences come one time really fast. You will find your self pausing and replaying a lot. If you want to learn to read and write Russian as well as speak it then this is a good course. If you just want to lean a few phrases and how to ask for things I might try something else.

yeah not really.......2005-07-14

So unless you are a seriously motivated, self-starting, ready for a challenge type of person, I can't reccommend this. It is not very clear and the method is really just not good for language learning. The cds basically just go through long lists of words and phrases in Russian, with no real pauses or explanations or anything... and you can follow with the book and a pronunciation key but it tends to just be exhausting and uninteresting.

I am a languange learner and have found interactive approaches to be MUCH more effective.

Not bad, but everything else is better........2005-05-06

At first glance, it seems too good to be true: A lesson/excercise book with grammar tables, a pocket dictionary, and 3 lesson CDs. What a bargain!
Living Language attempts to teach reading, writing, grammar, and every day conversation all in one convenient package, but does none of these tasks particularly well. For every positive point a reviewer might make about Living Language, I can point to other available products that do it much better. The dictionary? The Langenscheidt Pocket Russian Dictionary is the gold standard, although it's difficult to do worse than Living Language in this area. The lesson book? I'd recommend any of the 5-star Russian grammar texts via Amazon, and most cost a lot less. Conversational Russian on CD? Granted, I haven't heard all of them, but Living Language is near the bottom of the pile, if not actually occupying that position. In this case, Pimsleur is the absolute best of the best; your functional fluency will improve immensely, and natives will compliment your pronunciation--if and when they realize you are actually an American.
Again, it's difficult to recommend this Living Language course to anyone, because it doesn't particularly excel at anything. For a beginner, this will be 6 weeks of foreign language hell. For an advanced-intermediate Russian speaker such as myself, this will be about a week or two of slogging through tedious grammatical review.
Perhaps 10-15 years ago when Russian materials were few and far between, this Living Language course would have been the biggest bang for your buck available. Today however, the availability and quality of alternative products renders this one obsolete.

Useless course in Russian .......2005-02-27

This set has 3 CD's, a Russian coursebook, and a Russian dictionary. The coursebook does have information in it but the book is not put together in a way that aides learning.
The first lesson is 5 pages long. Part A is titled The Letters and Sounds of the Russian Language but tells you that the letters and sounds will be learned in another chapter. Part B gives a list of people's names and Part C lists geographical names.
Lesson 2 is just another list of words and names.
Lesson 3 gives a list of the Cyrillic alphabet and the names of the letters but not the sounds!
The dictionary might be ok but since I don't know Russian, how would I know. The front of this book gives a 4 page pronunciation chart.
I do think the coursebook would be ok for a phrase book.
I don't think the CD's are very useful except the parts that conjugate verbs.
Overall, this is not worth paying full price.

Russian Dictionary (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)

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Russian Dictionary (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)
Living Language
Manufacturer: Living Language
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1400020298
Release Date: 2002-04-16

Book Description

This dictionary includes more than 20,000 of the most frequently used Russian words. Readers will find more than simple definitions: Phrases, sentences and idiomatic expressions show how words are used in everyday Russian conversation. More than 1,000 of the most essential words are highlighted to make them easy to find.

The Living Language® Russian Dictionary has been revised and updated to reflect modern usage and features new entries related to business, technology, and the media.

This dictionary is included along with a coursebook in the Living Language® Russian Complete Course, available in cassette and compact disc editions.

Russian Coursebook: Basic-Intermediate (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)

Average customer rating:

russian language

Russian Coursebook: Basic-Intermediate (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)
Living Language
Manufacturer: Living Language
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 140002028X
Release Date: 2002-04-16

Book Description

Learn to speak, read, and write Russian quickly and easily with Living Language®. Developed by U.S. government experts, this book introduces readers step-by-step to all the basics of Russian: pronunciation, vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, and grammar.

IN THIS BOOK, READERS WILL FIND:
• All the words and phrases from the 40 lessons on the Living Language® Russian Complete Course recordings, plus additional vocabulary
• A guide to pronunciation
• Useful topics including directions, introductions, shopping, faxes, and e-mail
• Explanations of grammar and usage
• Short quizzes to help you check your progress
• A comprehensive summary of Russian grammar
• Verb charts including all tenses
• A special section on writing letters

While this book stands on its own as an instructional program and an invaluable reference, readers will find that using it with the recorded lessons is even more effective. Living Language® Russian Complete Course cassette and compact disc packages include this book as well as a dictionary.

Customer Reviews:

russian language.......2007-07-07

this book is very good for begginers who want to learn russian on their own, without a teacher or instructor, the price is reasonable, i would suggest it for any one who is interested in the russian language

Complete Russian Dictionary (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)

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Complete Russian Dictionary (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses)
Living Language
Manufacturer: Living Language
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1400021545
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Basic Russian Complete Course: Cassette/Book Package (Living Language Complete Courses Cassette Edition)

Average customer rating:

Makes a supplement for grammar and vocabulary
A Useful Tool for Beginners
Really fantastic... a great deal too
Not for the casual student
Good instruction but not for learning while driving

Basic Russian Complete Course: Cassette/Book Package (Living Language Complete Courses Cassette Edition)
Living Language
Manufacturer: Living Language
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

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ASIN: 0609602683
Release Date: 1998-06-16

Book Description

Speak Russian with confidence in just 6 weeks!

Living Language Russian Complete Course is a step-by-step guide to the basics of Russian conversation and grammar. This revised course uses the highly effective speed-learning method developed by U.S. government experts to teach foreign languages to overseas-bound servicemen and diplomats.

40 lessons on two 90-minute cassettes
Begin with simple words and phrases and progress to more complex expressions. Just listen and repeat after the native speakers. Only Russian is spoken on the recordings, so you learn naturally, the way you learned English. The accompanying Russian Coursebook includes the English translations.

Russian Coursebook
The pocket-size book contains all the translated phrases from the recorded lessons, plus additional vocabulary, detailed explanations, and quizzes.

The book also features verb charts with all tenses included and a comprehensive summary of Russian grammar.

Russian-English/English-Russian Dictionary
More than 20,000 words are defined.
Idiomatic expressions and common phrases show how words are used in everyday conversation. The dictionary doubles as a phrasebook.
1,000 of the most frequently used words are highlighted for easy reference.

The best-selling language course that really works--revised, updated, and expanded!

For Beginners or Those Who Want a Thorough Review

Customer Reviews:

Makes a supplement for grammar and vocabulary.......2005-02-20

During my struggle to learn Russian, I've had this course for a few years. It has served a good purpose, but not the purpose advertised.

The tapes have proven extreemly helpful in learning pronunciation. Only Russian is spoken, so there's no distraction from the sounds of the language that you're trying to imitate. The dictionary is also somewhat helpful. Though compact, it contains many useful words with simple definitions.

Here's the catch: Though the coursebook contains a lot of useful information, it is not arranged for progessive learning. Some lessons focus on reading, others on pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary. So in stead of learning to communicate in sentences (which don't even occur in the first few chapters) you learn a lot of disconnected facts and rules.

Here's my take: If you need help with pronunciation, or a source for vocabulary, this is a good buy. But if you need a complete course for self-learning, your money may be better spent on a different course.

A Useful Tool for Beginners.......2001-07-07

There are three things that I find valuable about this product. First, the tapes give you an opportunity to hear real Russian spoken by four different narrators. This is a great way to get used to the native accent and to try to mimic it yourself.

Second, the dictionary is pretty weak, but it highlights the one thousand most common words in the Russian language. Working through the dictionary and memorizing these words is a great way to build a useful, working vocabulary in the language.

Third, the coursebook and its accompanying tapes give the learner a basic taste of the Russian language in a variety of settings. Even if you're clueless about how the grammar works, memorizing the phrases that are used on the tapes can give you some useful vocabulary.

There are a couple of drawbacks, though. First, I didn't like the approach to grammar which the coursebook took. If you really want to learn the language, there is no better book than Nicholas J. Brown's "New Penguin Russian Course." And second, the tapes are all in Russian, so they are only useful in the car if you've already memorized the words that are used. But other than than, this is a good product for beginners getting familiar with the Russian language.

Really fantastic... a great deal too.......2001-03-06

After returning from a trip to St. Petersburg, where I had to rely on brief guidebooks, I decided to pick up this Living Language course to learn Russian. I bought this one because it was in my price range, but that turned out to be a great thing. The explanations of grammar are really clear, and there are plenty of charts inside. Being able to hear the words as you read them in Cyrillic is wonderful; if you get too used to reading them in regular letters you'll never know how to read the signs for the bathroom! I recently called some Russian friends in St. Petersburg, and they told me my Russian is great! I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn Russian correctly, without spending way too much money.

Not for the casual student.......2001-03-03

I agree with reviewer from Michigan. My objective was to learn a little Russian in three weeks to speak with some visitors from Russia. It is not much help. The tapes have no English speaking translation, so are useless for in the car. The book has no equivalent phonetic English spelling, which would have been a big help for the beginner. I should have checked other products.

Good instruction but not for learning while driving.......1999-02-16

This is based on the first eleven lessons or one side of one tape. The course book and tapes together give a good start in learning Russian. They provide a fairly thorough understanding of Russian pronunciation rules. It is not a very good way to learn while driving a car though. It is necessary to read the book at the same time you are listening to the tape. With the Russian only on the tape, all you can do is mimic the sounds and without the book even that is difficult.

Book Description

Add visual excitement to signs, posters, bulletins, catalogs — almost any print or graphic project — with this collection of 329 swirling, imaginative designs. Choose from a broad selection of cupids, flora and fauna, knights on horseback, strolling musicians, mythical beasts sea life, exotic birds, and much more.

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