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U**Y
A fun and interesting addition to your Russian
I’m learning Russian and I purchased this book because a couple translations I have use “******” where the swear word is. I wanted to know what it was. But this book also has practical phrases you can use. I think anything fun like this that still teaches you Russian is a plus.
D**E
Great, Hilarious Russian Slang Book
They weren't kidding about dirty! Just reading the English on some of the phrases in this book were making me laugh out loud. There's a lot of things in here you might not use everyday, but the fact that it has been translated is appreciated. As another reviewer said not everything is dirty and this is true. I would consider myself at the intermediate Russian level so I really like how they arranged stuff in sections in English. The only thing better would be to list phrases/words alphabetically in English and I think an index in future editions would be a nice touch. They also provide some background on various topics and those are enjoyable to read. I have the Dictionary of Russian Slang and Colloquial Expressions, 3rd Ed. and although more complete it's hard to find a phase/word you want to say because it's alphabetized in Russian. If you don't know the words in Russian already it's hard to find the right phrase. All in all I think it's a good book and am glad I gave it a try. So far I have found one spelling error (i.e. they used "s" in the Russian part instead of "'c") and I tried a few of the more mild phrases out on my native Russian tutor and she agreed with the translation.
D**E
Review for "Dirty Russian"
I minored in Russian at Indiana University over 50 years ago. Next year my wife and I are taking a 13 day cruise on a riverboat from St. Petersburg to Moscow and I wanted to review my Russian language skills. This book is not a "how to speak" book with grammar structures and everyday phrases (at least not the everyday phrases you might expect to encounter.) "Dirty Russian" is street slang that would not be taught in a standard university course. However, it does contain the language that might be heard on the street and in common usage. I don't expect to use such language during my trip but I feel that I should be aware of it. A warning: The language in this book is definitely "X rated" and if you blush at 4 letter words, "Dirty Russian" will turn you a deep crimson.
C**B
Pretty Erroneous
So, this book is KINDA funny, and only KINDA useful. It has quite a few errors that you would not know existed if you didn't already speak/read Russian. For example, I noticed in the translation for the colloquial way of saying "bye" ("Пока"), the book phonetically spells it out in English letters as being pronounced as "kahkah".....but it should be "pahkah." So, that's just one example, and if you don't read Cyrillics, you will be walking around speaking gibberish.Also, there are six grammatical cases in the Russian language, and three grammatical genders. This book only ever gives you one case, and one grammatical gender in each word it has. For instance, the word for "marijuana" is given in accusative case, or, in other words, as a direct object. Well, it's not always a direct object in any given sentence, is it? And there are many slang adjectives, they are usually given in masculine form. If you use one to describe a woman, or if you use one given in the feminine form to describe a man, you'll just sound like an idiot. So, be careful with this book!
M**N
Great book, may make a truly useful present for some people.
This is a very useful book for people living in certain countries. I gave this to a friend who was moving back to Poland, thinking he might need it in the far future. Now, given the current political scenario in the world, he might need it sooner than we all thought, so it was money well spent. This book has a plethora of creative ways to express yourself in Russian. It's the ideal companion for those days when Comrade Putin decides to come a-knocking in his horse and his tanks, or when you discover that someone secretly taped your adventures in a hotel in Moscow. Recommended.
C**I
Funny, Entertaining and Surprising Phrases.
Was a gift for my boyfriend, it has sections on nicknames, jokes, dirty phrases, everything. He really loved it and affectionly calls me "kroshka" now which means breadcrumb (like how in spanish loved ones can call eachother 'pan dulce') or how in english you call someone muffin or honeybun. The book looked like new, and came in good condition in air tight-sealed baggy.
O**Y
My Russian Instructor Says This is Great
I'm just learning the language, so I can't verify that it's perfect, but my language instructor says the translations are dead on.I find it helpful to learn a lot of short and useful phrases when learning a new language, and this book is full of them. They also get a lot of laughs from the Russian instructors at the school I attend, so it must be amusing at the least.
A**Y
Must have appendix for every proper language course
Gave this book as a gift to my friend who wants to learn Russian. I speak 4 languages and Russian is my native. Every time I was learning a new language I felt like I was missing a secret sauce, because most people use 90% of their proper vocabulary and 10% of the slang. Some use this ratio vice versa of course.So you really serious about learning Russia or visiting Russia, you should get this book as valuable addition to your favorite proper course.As a native Russian speak I also fulfilled my vocabulary in both Russian and English.
B**D
Great but if you're not American it's going to be hard to understand.
This book both really pleases me and disappoints me at the same time. First off, be aware this is NOT a book for learners. Never use slang in a language you don't know well. You just sound silly. It is for advanced students of Russian. They don't say that because they need to sell the book. Having said that if you are studying Russian at a higher level this book is fantastic for giving you access to vocabulary you'll hear in conversation in Russia and even in films. It's really good in that respect. Almost invaluable.My HUGE reservation is this. I am English. The author translates all the Russian slang into American street slang much of it totally incomprehensible to anyone who isn't American. I understand it's tricky. To avoid that she would have had to translate the slang Russian into a less slangy English which might give the wrong impression of the Russian. I just think she could have made a bigger effort to remember not everyone buying her book is American. She has instead gone for a very, slangy American. Non native English speakers will really struggle. As I said, I AM a native English speaker and I was lost. I have just randomly opened the book now on page 40 and found hick, goofs off and jacked my wallet none of which are ever used in the UK. I can guess from the Russian (I have a degree in Russian) what she means but this book should have an alternative translation for non-Americans.
N**R
Fun but not practical.
This book is a great laugh if you know no Russian and have Russian friends. It enables you to cover the naughty topics, which you'd never learn and also things you'd never need.From a practical point of view, I don't see any reason why anyone would be this, as it teaches you absolutely nothing useful or practical for the real world and daily life. How often are you to order a prostitute, really?It is good fun though, like I said in front of friends who do speak Russian and want a laugh, it's great so therefore it has come off the book shelf a few times over the last 5 years but other than that it would be of no use.
K**E
Great little joke book
Arrived in good time, as described. Nice little book will keep my boyfriend a little occupied as he learn some interesting Russian. It's nice that it shows the phrase with Russian characters as well as broken down to pronounce it.
I**8
... knowledgeable enough to know any different but it seems good to me
I'm not really knowledgeable enough to know any different but it seems good to me. Спасибо.
A**R
Useful
Excellent book giving some street language to your studies. Prior knowledge of Russian is really a requirement to make use of it.
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