... in response to re: English 4 Russian speakers, posted by Del on Nov 16, 2002My two cents is that you might consider other materials. I have the Pimsleur Ukrainian lessons (which I laboriously transferred to cd) and the topics are quite travel oriented. Also, there is little or no support in the form of text. Unless your children need to know how to say, "Where's the subway?", "Where's the opera house?" and the like, you could probably do better.
My baby asked me for my Ukrainian phrasebook. Even though I saw it as rather travel She learned a lot of vocabulary (this is a specific skill point-- it didn't improve grammar, listening or speaking necessarily) from it and found some mistakes in the Ukrainian representations. I believe the book is published by Lonely Planet. They might have a Russian version.
I believe that the best help for your children is by getting an experienced ESL teacher to tutor them. I don't know if there's a university or college in your area, but if there is a school that offers a degree or even just a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language, you could post a notice on their bulletin board (or contact the department office should they maintain a list of willing tutors) to the effect that you are looking for a tutor for your daughters. I bet some students in the program, many of whom likely do have experience in the field already, would be very interested in tutoring your stepdaughters. They would probably be able to find good materials for them and use an approach that would work-- and also tailor the lessons to their precise needs. I know people who have done this and were happy with the results. Hopefully, this is an option in your area.
