This imaginitive textbook is an excellent introduction to Russian, covering 16 basic topics. It is broken up into three main sections which all contain reading texts and/or a listening exercise.

1. Family; Meeting people; Personal identity

2. Public services (Transport; Restaurant; Telephone etc.)

3. Cultural life (Theatre; Cinema; Museum)

Each of the 16 topics has a basic text, questions, dialogues, plus additional exercises for more advance students. A clear and easy-to-follow grammar summary, poems,songs, pictures and a vocabulary list are to be found at the end of the book.