As opposed to memorizing Russian phrases or forcing yourself to get through another dry Russian grammar or verb manual, this Dual Language Reader ("DLR") uses short stories so that you're eager and excited to turn each page In addition, short stories in DLR format serve as an excellent tool to aid you in developing the ability to "think" in Russian. In this book you will find a magnificent collection of the Russia's greatest short stories, written by the most notable Russian authors: Anton Chekhov ( ), Alexander Pushkin ( ), Fyodor Dostoyevsky ( ), and Nikolai Gogol ( ). This compilation features Pushkin's masterpiece "The Queen of Spades." Other stories include: Gogol's incredibly disturbed... and disturbingly humorous: "The Diary of a Madman"; Dostoyevsky's "The Thief" (also known as: "The Honest Thief"); as well as Anton Chekhov's famous short story of "Slander" and the eerie tale of "The Witch." Language Formatting: English & Russian Russian (Cyrillic): Each stories' language of origin. English: Accurate Translations by some of the world's most renowned Russian-to-English translators, including Constance Garnett, Lizzie Gorin, E.L. Boole, and more Using this Dual Language Reader: The key to mastering any foreign language is developing the ability to "Think" in that language. With the Russian (Cyrillic) text on the right and the English Translation on the left, you're able to comprehend the ideas being conveyed without turning a page Oh... and for students who wish to test their ability to read the Russian (Cyrillic) text, you can fold the left page back and easily hold the book to read entire stories (or the entire book) in Russian; If (or when...) you have difficulty understanding exactly what the Russian author is trying to say, you can quickly look at the provided translation to make the concepts clear, to get yourself back on track. Another useful technique (for beginners, especially) is to read the English translation first and, once the concepts are clear, then move on to reading and comprehending the Russian (Cyrillic) text. Your goal, other than enjoying the process of learning, is (again): to develop the ability to "think" in the new language.