Don't let your Russian experience become Russian Roulette! Pick up this phrasebook instead, and begin communicating with ease.
*Comprehensive food section *Tips on cultural etiquette *Useful phrases for finding accomodations, dealing with health emergencies and hitting the town *Easy-to-use pronunciation guide *Two way dictionary and sentence builder
2.5 stars [Phrasebook] The new map and Intro section that Lonely Planet has added to the 3rd Edition are good. The phrases are better-chosen as well. There was a fun James Bond section of phrases toward the end.
Lonely Planet's 3rd ed. omits the few phrases for gay hook-ups and murdering your baby, but a new, generally-applicable section of phrases for hooking up and leaving the next morning was included. Maybe the next edition will advise the reader on how to navigate the underworld of sexual slavery trafficking.
Compared to Barron's 2nd ed.: phrase usefulness is a little better. Transliteration is somewhat worse--either some of the diphthongs are wrong, or it is using a non-Muscovite dialect. It occasionally repeats whole sets of nouns, and a few verbs. The leeway that the authors get from using Lonely Planet's stock phrases was used to include many political phrases, heavily liberal and few of general political discernment. ("Meat is murder," man!)
This little reference book has served me well in my role as a tutor of ESL. Although I generally teach by immersion, without direct translation to the student's native tongue, this proved most useful when I encounterd 2 learners with almost no English !
The writers have also included many interesting features, such as cultural practises, geography, food and how to get around this vast country.