Manasevich Boris, Lemonnier L., Freese John H. A Russian manual for self-tuition, containing: a concise grammar with exercises; reading extracts with literal interlinear translation and Russian-English vocabulary; and a select English-Russian vocabulary in roman characters

London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, 1915. — 156 p.This little book, adapted from the Russian Manual by Mauassevich-Lemonnier in Hartleben's Knnst der Polyglottie series, is mainly intended as an introduction to the Russian language for the purpose of self-instruction. Russian is by no means so difficult as it is supposed to be; the construction of sentences is plain and straightforward, and a knowledge of the phonetic laws simplifies much that seems irregular in the grammatical forms. One of the chief deterrents is the strangeness of the vocabulary. Many words are borrowed from French, German, or other European languages, but the Slavonic element will appear quite unfamiliar, and its acquisition will make large demands upon the memory. The knowledge of other non-Slavonic languages will be of little assistance. Familiarity with the prefixes and suffixes added to a root-word to form other nouns, adjectives, and verbs will be of great assistance in determining the different shades of meaning of these. The Manual contains: — Rules for pronunciation; a grammatical sketch which, while not pretending to be exhaustive, should be sufficient for ordinary purposes; a number of exercises illustrative of the chief grammatical rules; extracts for reading, accompanied by a literal interlinear translation and a vocabulary of the Russian words; a few easy phrases and dialogues in everyday style, which should be learnt by heart and can be varied with the help of the English - Russian Vocabulary. This vocabulary, which should not be used until the grammatical section has been thoroughly mastered, has been carefully compiled from the best sources, and in it an attempt has been made to give the actual pronunciation according to the latest authorities without regard to the original Russian orthography. Where two more or less similar forms of a verb are given, it may be assumed that the first is the imperfect, the second the perfect " aspect " of the verb. In the grammar it has been endeavoured to give a clear idea of this distinction, which is of the utmost importance in translating English into Russian.