This course includes Lessons 1-16 from the Russian Level 1 program - 8 hours of audio-only effective language learning with real-life spoken practice sessions. Each lesson provides 30 minutes of spoken language practice, with an introductory conversation, and new vocabulary and structures. Detailed instructions enable you to understand and participate in the conversation. Practice for vocabulary introduced in previous lessons is included in each lesson. Topics include: greetings, numbers, meals, shopping, telling time, scheduling activities, and asking and giving directions. The emphasis is on pronunciation and comprehension, and on learning to speak Russian. Russian, one of the six official languages of the United Nations, is the official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Krygystan, with an estimated 150 million native speakers around the world. Pimsleur's Russian uses speakers from Moscow and St. Petersburg, which accounts for slight pronunciation differences between speakers, but accurately depicts contemporary spoken Russian. - CDs are formatted for playing in all CD players, including car players, and users can copy files for use in iTunes or Windows Media Player.