Although my level of Russian knowledge is rather ‘intermediate’, I have gone through this ‘advanced’ adaptation of Dostoevsky literary achievement with the utmost pleasure. It has contributed to the improvement of my vocabulary without too much effort thanks to the accurate translation notes. The audio files are good for the progress in listening skills. I think it is perfectly fit for advanced student but also of good help for those at an intermediate level.

I recommend this reader. First, because it is a classic story I was familiar with and loved in English. Beyond that, although the language can be advanced in some sentences, there is always the translation just below, so you can make sense of the story as you read it. And some of the more unique words are repeated periodically in the story, and that repetition helps hammer home. I feel that every time I reread these books, I add one or more vocabulary words to my Russian. Kristina, with your books, movies, and songs, you do an excellent job of providing great learning materials for students of Russian.

I am an intermediate student and this advanced book helped me gain confidence in myself while learning Russian. It is hard for me to memorize new vocabulary but the way it is written makes the reader understand the sentence by its simple construction. I must say I improved my Russian syntax and grammar. I certainly recommend it for other readers, especially those who already have some vocabulary and grammar roots. To sum up, after reading this book, I say with certainty that Russian is not a complicated language to learn: just go ahead!

This is a great introduction to Dostoyevsky’s genius work. The Russian is suitably challenging at an intermediate level, but understandable. My vocabulary improved, without question, as I made my way through the book. I would recommend this book without reservation to Russian learners looking to polish their grammar and vocabulary.

This book, which was a bit over my level at first, was a personal challenge for me. The translations were helpful, informative and to the point. As with all your other tutorials, your reading and pronunciation is clear and after listening to the audio and reading the text numerous times I became familiar with both the written word and the sound and was able to identify words easily in other parts of the story. I have enjoyed reading the abridged book and look forward to a time when I will be able to read the actual book in Russian. Yes, I most definitely would recommend your readers to any learner wishing to learn Russian.

Reading is the best way to gain more vocabulary without being “bored out of your gourd” — learning words in context. But normally you have to have quite a large vocabulary before you get enough out of your reading to be able to make sense of it. Kristina offers us a nice compromise: reading real Russian in context, but with handy interspersed explanations after every paragraph, so you can follow what’s going on. And ideally you should read the text several times, perhaps many times, until you can easily skip the explanations. I especially appreciate the stress accent marks, so I can confidently read aloud or at least pronounce the words under my breath. And I’m finally reading Dostoyevsky in the original Russian! Hurrah!

This book is based on one of the greatest novels ever written. I’d always heard of Crime and Punishment but had never read or watched it. This book was my gateway to the story and it was fabulous. In fact, after reading it, I bought the English Language version as well. This book was a perfect telling of the story in many fewer pages. All the major parts of the plot were covered. I hope to read the full novel in Russian but that is a long way off as the English version was a semi-tough read and would be insane in Russian. That is what makes these books so wonderful. And they build your vocabulary like crazy.

I am enjoying this reader very much. Although this novel is a little above my current Russian level, I chose it because the story is so interesting. Thanks for including the accent/stress markings, they have been very helpful. With my French background, the Russian word stress is not always intuitive!  I feel that this novel, although challenging, is definitely boosting my Russian. I’m being extra careful whilst reading so as not to lose any valuable plot information.

Kristina’s approach to teaching Russian is very well worked out, and I only wish her books and audio recordings had been available a couple of decades ago when I was first studying Russian. I’ve studied many languages to various levels, and Kristina has managed to produce some of the best language-learning material I’ve seen, and she has clearly thought through the problems of previous methods. In particular, she understands the need to offer learners material that they will be strongly motivated to read and study (as opposed to, say, antiquated dialogues about buying a stamp in a post office, or at a higher level, dull news reports on alcoholism statistics in Chelyabinsk).

Her inclusion of accents is very welcome, even in a book marked as “advanced”, since I’ve been told (by a Russian) that even senior academics in Russian/Slavonic Studies departments still regularly mis-stress various words in their conference papers (normal words, not just surnames) – so this is a serious problem that besets even those whose Russian is at a very high level, and Kristina is trying to prevent her students from going the same way as their predecessors.

In books for language learners that have a gloss, the editors often seem to misjudge or simply overlook what the learner needs to see explained, with the result that easy phrases are covered unnecessarily while opaque idioms are left without any key. Again, Kristina has judged her explanations very well, and has obviously taken care of this aspect of the book.

I’ll admit that I haven’t yet begun to compare Kristina’s version of the text to Dostoevsky’s, but given the hard work and expertise she shows in other areas, I have little doubt that she has carried out her editing of the original with the same care.

I look forward to learning from many more of Kristina’s books and videos, and I hope that others who have benefitted from her teaching will support her excellent work by continuing to purchase her books.