The author ranks speaking as the first priority and major educational objective in the study of Russian. It is felt that inadequate training in the oral skills in high school leads to an increased mortality rate in college programs. To combat this, general remarks on teaching techniques which would encourage students to continue their study of the language are offered. Particularly criticized are instructional reading materials which discourage students because of their linguistic complexity. To alleviate this problem, it is suggested that geography and grammar be studied in favor of literature. (RL)