The textbook is the original course of the Russian language designed for the foreign students who begin learning Russian. It is distinguished by the colorful and vivid illustrations, the thoroughly selected samples of the conversational practice dialogues and the structured grammar material presented in the form of tables and patterns. The course consists of forty-eight lessons. Each lesson lasts for about two hours. The duration of the entire course is approximately one hundred hours. The first part includes the material on the lexical and grammar units aimed at the development of the oral speech habits of the students. The texts and the dialogues presented in the second part of the textbook allow the students to successfully get ready for the oral speech testing level. The learning material of the textbook has been thoroughly selected in accordance with the state standards. The textbook can be used for both the classroom work with a teacher and independent studies. The textbook is supplied with a CD with the audio materials.