5 comments about Serbian-English, English-Serbian Concise Dictionary (Hippocrene Concise Dictionary).

1. I am a non-Serbo-Croatian speaker, tutoring two Bosnian refugees who have little English. I learned that they read equally well in the latin (Roman) alphabet and in the Cyrillic. I don't. I planned to use this dictionary myself, but I gave it to them, so it isn't a total loss. They tell me that most people educated in the former Yugoslavia are equally familiar with the two alphabets. The book would be more useful to English speakers if Roman text was also used for the Serbo-Croatian words.



2. I am Slobodan Steve Lohja a Montonegrin born in the States (first generation). My wife is American. My Family doesn't speak english very well. They only know the basic words to get around. My wife has a hard time understanding them. Its frustrating for both sides. So I took it upon my responsibility to go out and get her a translation type book. She was excited when she received it. She ran upstairs and started playing with the words in this dictionary with my mom and aunt "tetka". They were up there a at least an hour. To bring people together and to bring communication between your wife and mom is best stress releiver. To me this dictionary would be priceless. The only thing its lacking, It doesnt teach you the alphabet, and how to pronounce the words, just definitions. Now my wife and my mom can help each other by one learning serbian and the other learning english, wish them luck!



3. Needed dictionary to help translate Serbian documents from Second World War. This volume uses Cyrillic alphabet and the scope is quite limited. Definitions are very short and there is no explantion of Serbian grammar or usage. Might be useful for someone visiting the area but was almost worthless for my needs.



4. This book does have words written in both cyrillic and latin alphabet, but the latin is NOT correct for some letters. The majority of commonly used words are not in this book. I would recommend for a beginner, but not for someone trying to translate anything of importance.



5. Misses a lot of common words, poor definitions, uses cyrillic... I shouldn't have bought it.

3 comments about Serbian: An Essential Grammar (Routledge Essential Grammar).

1. There is a lot of good information in this book, but the presentation makes it difficult to find. The index is too general and it's often hard to locate or distinguish between subsections.
   
   It's also written in a very formal, academic style, which makes it difficult for the learner without a strong background in linguistics.



2. This book is a decent selection, considering there are few competent books on Serbian out there. Any person with either a little Serbian knowledge or even a linguistic academic background and some studying motivation can pick it up respectively, otherwise keep looking. Also, the information is dense and cluttered, I've seen better organization. Otherwise it is one of the better books on Serbian language and I recommend having it if you are serious about finding a reference.



3. I was really disappointed. First off, the font used is terrible; it makes distinguishing sections difficult. The discussion on grammar is pretty tedious and it is real easy to lose interest in it as I did. It should have, considering the high price, come with a CD for the student to be able to practice correct pronunciation.
   This book is poor value and one would be better off with the Teach Yourself Serbian series by Norris/Ribnikar.

3 comments about Colloquial Croatian: The Complete Course for Beginners (Book & 2 Audio CDs).

1. I am going to Coratia for 2 weeks adn thought it would be nice to learn the basics. this book goes way to fast and is way to complicated for jsut that. If you want to become fluent in Croatian then this is it. Other wise don't bother with it



2. I bought several learn croatian products. The book, the cd's all combined make this the best one. easy to understand with great exercises.



3. The book and the CD's are very clear and concise, and does the best possible for an incredibly difficult language. Great if you're going to Croatia to live.

1 comments about Langenscheidt Universal Croatian Dictionary (Langenscheidt Dictionaries).

1. Didn't realize from the description that it was a pocket size and as small as it was. Also, I used it for a translation test and not many words were in the dictionary. Not very impressed.

5 comments about Langenscheidt's Universal Dictionary Croatian.

1. I also was in the region as a earlier poster puts it. With this Croatian or Hrvatski dictionary if you please. Firstly this Croatian dictionary is not favored to Serbian, this is blatantly untrue. As well as the fact that the official script/text for Serbian is Cyrillic. The earlier given example of bread as sensitive, which I checked in this Croatian dictionary, clearly shows the word "Kruh" ,which is the correct Croatian word for bread. In regards to lacking several words and explanation of others, I also suspect this to be untrue, because the earlier poster would be able to provide specific examples and clearly failed to provide evidence of this. I found this Croatian dictionary extremely thorough for its handy pocket size with over 30,000 entries.



2. This is unsurpassed for a pocket dictionary. I have found few English/Croatian dictionaries to be as accurately translated or as in depth. Not perfect, but highly recommended -- and easy to carry around with you.



3. I was in a course to learn Serbian-Croatian and we were given this dictionary. One of my teachers used to say that this was only good for a bullet-stopper. If you are a serious student of Serbian/Croatian/Bosnia I would recommend one of the Morton Benson dictionaries and the Magner introductory course to the languages.



4. This dictionary is of decent quality but is too concise to be of any use other than carrying with you as an emergency aid while in Croatia.



5. This book presents lots of words in a small space, but it is strangely hit-or-miss. For example, it lists 22 compound words beginning with "air-" but not including "airport." If you take a guess and look up "aerodrom" in the Croatian section, there it is, all right, defined as "airfield (meðunarodni) airport." In each half, the explanatory notes are in the language of the word list, as if it never occurred to the editors that an English-speaking person might be in Croatia and need to translate a new word in a hurry. "Meðunarodni" turns out to mean "international," so the reader is left in the dark as to what to call an ordinary regional airport. Such gaps are typical.
   
   Irregular English plural nouns are listed with the singular forms (e.g. "feet" with "foot"), but not irregular Croatian plurals, which are common and unpredictable. No verb forms besides the infinitive are given for either language, in both of which irregular verbs abound.
   
   Where the same word in English has several meanings or can be more than one part of speech, you're not told which Croatian equivalent is which, and often they're not even all there. For instance, after "bow" you get "[bou] luk; masna; [bau] naklon; nakloniti se." Some chasing around in the Croatian section, including looking up "oruzje," which is given as a note for "luk" and turns out to mean "weapon," will enable you to distinguish the bow that goes with arrows from the bow made of ribbon, and to identify the noun and verb for the polite gesture. Too bad if you needed to know what to call the front of a boat.
   
   A really good pocket dictionary, Harrap's Italian (now sadly out of print) for instance, will consistently give you the right word in the right sense at a glance. This book, by comparison, is a clumsy toy. It seems at present, however, to be the best available in that size in the U.S.A.; I'm going to look for a better one when I get to Dubrovnik.

5 comments about Bosnian-English English-Bosnian Dictionary (Hippocrene Concise Dictionary).

1. Albeit that there are not many dictionaries on the beautiful languages of Bosnian. This book is one of a very few resourses available on the language. It is a good reference, but not the last word on translation.



2. While this dictionary is brief, it provides a good, pocket-sized introduction to the Bosnian language.

   Another good (and small) example is the Langenscheidt "Croatian" dictionary (which is no different than previous "Serbo-Croatian" editions). The Susan Kroll "Bosnian" dictionary is one to avoid.

   Beyond these, one would do best by investing in a two-volume dictionary...there's not much in the medium (not too big, not too expensive range).




3. You can buy a cheaper version of this dictionary by the same author, the same publisher, the same number of pages, and the same number of words.

   The cheaper version is the Bosnian-English, English-Bosnian Hippocrene COMPACT dictionary. (Yes, the page size and type are smaller, but if you have normal eyesight, it will do just fine.)

   If you want to save a few bucks, go with the COMPACT edition.




4. I did find this dictionary useful in the begining, it was better than not having a dictionary. I have some special needs in this department, I wish there were a dictionary that had legal terms, and medical terms. Will as in 'Last Will and Testament 'is a very different matter from 'will you do this?' There were misspellings of words in English, which makes me wonder if some Bosnian words got misspelled. It would have been very helpful to know if a word was more used by Serbian, Croatian or Muslim people too. In Bosnia that was not a huge problem for me, but I traveled in Croatia as well and sometimes it would have been a help to know. Sometimes a word would be used all over the place and I would not know what it was. This was not always a matter of declensions or tenses. I would have liked if some of the 'bad' words were included. I learned on the ground that perfectly respectable Bosnian people do use 'bad' words. It is also not a service to people that words for basic bodily functions are stinted on. If you have a medical problem abroad and can't even find words to tell what is your problem, that could be deadly. My other problem with this book is that it is physically speaking poorly constructed. This is not the author's fault. My dictionary is falling apart! It began to fall apart during my first trip to Bosnia. Still it was a help at the time. When I got this dictionary it was what was available. I got it in 1998 shortly after meeting my Bosnian fiance. It was a big help to us, to him learning words in English, to my learning a bit of the lovely Bosnian language. I am glad that since 1998, more affordable dictionaries are out there. I did also get Celia Hawksworth's book 'Colloquial Serbian and Croatian.' It has been a help too.



5. This dictionary isn't too bad; however, beware! There are quite a few words that are translated into Serbo-Croatian and not Bosnian, such as biirth certificate. In Bosnian it is rodni list, but in this book it is krsni list, which to Bosnians is a substantial difference. If you know the Bosnian culture, the book is okay; however, if you're tryng to learn BOSNIAN, do not buy it.

5 comments about Just Enough Serbo-Croat.

1. I think this book is the best book ever for getting to know the basics for this language. I know several words in serbian already but I will be meeting my in laws for the first time and I need to know more than everyday words and enough to get by . I have purchased several learning books for a ton more money than this book for the language and this has been th most helpful. They have the pronunciation in English and it's exactly the way I know it's suppose to sound due to looking at the words I already know !



2. Some one came out with this book! This is a life saver I have been together with a serbian for 5 years and have not completely learned the language. I am leaving for Bosnia in 4 days to meet my in laws and this book has everything I need to know! It's more that enough to get by, and I have purchased several books in the past for a ton more $$$ and didn't get half of what I got out of this book for $4.00. It's a must if yuou are going to FRYOG !



3. This book is designed to help you get around a Serbo-Croat speaking environment with ease. I think the book is capable of providing the basics needed to get around. I would recommend this book for foregin travelers.



4. This book is very helpful & definatley somthing I would recomend. Not only does it have the words & translation it has a pronunciation as well. It comes in handy when I look up phrases & need a quick review. Definatley a good buy



5. I am Croatian but it has been over 20 years since I've visited or practiced the language. I love this book. It's very simple and it is all coming back to me very quickly.

4 comments about Dic Bosnian-English/English-Bosnian Dictionary and Phrasebook (Dictionary & Phrasebooks Backlist).

1. This book is a decent introduction into Bosnian language, which is one of the South Slavic languages. Sometimes the author is out of touch with some recent development in the language, but the overall impression of the dictionary is very good. This book is a useful tool for a beginner or a traveler.



2. This dictionary is poorly edited (with numerous typos), incomplete (random information that does not reflect the needs of a basic speaker) and, in parts, embarrassingly childish (the introduction suggests, among other bizarre comments, that Bosnian may be too difficult to bother to learn well? ).

   Although it is difficult to find detailed Bosnian dictionaries, older English/Serbo-Croatian variants are still quite relevant (the nuances for advanced usage notwithstanding) and the English/Bosnian dictionary from Nikolina S. Uzicanin is a SIGNIFICANTLY better purchase (for a pocket-sized book) than this one.




3. I don't understand why the author would identify this book as "Bosnian" when there doesn't seem to be much effort to include words specific to the region. It might as well be called "Very Basic Serbo-Croatian".



4. I can't understand how this work got published. In addition to the numerous typos (autobuski stanica instead of autobuska stanica etc) the phrases are terribly translated and in some cases will get you laughed at.
   This work is in dire need of editing by someone who actually has a good grasp of the Bosnian language. Otherwise it is a waste of one's hard earned money.

2 comments about Colloquial Slovak CD: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series).

1. Although the first couple of lessons on the CD are OK for beginners, the CD rapidly progresses to complex dialog. The CD would probably be more useful with the companion book or as an adjunct to another course in Slovak. By itself, it is not helpful.



2. The CD is pretty good along with the book. It is very helpful to see the words on the page when you hear them and try to pronounce them. It is time consuming and I have to keep reviewing from the beginning. I have not yet finished the first CD but I review it every time before I go to Slovakia. I learned some helpful phrases.

5 comments about Pimsleur Croatian: Learn to Speak and Understand Croatian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur).

1. I am just getting started and already see how well this system works. I am looking forward to the next lesson.



2. I've just begun using this guide to learn Croatian. My family speaks a heavy Istrian dialect and the "pure" language sounds almost nothing like it, so I am starting from scratch. The lessons start off at a very basic level, and gradually build up by adding a new word or phrase. Then, it will take you back to previous lessons to refresh your memory, while incorporating them into new lessons (essentially, none of the older lessons that are taught will be forgotten). The instructors' pronunciation is very clear and easy to imitate, as they sound out the syllables of each word. The narrator occasionally includes a fact about sentence structure that is helpful.
   
   Despite the fact that this really should have included a guide so that we could learn the written part, it is definitely a great place to begin learning this very difficult language. I also hope the company will release additional volumes, since it is extremely hard to find Croatian language lessons out there.



3. I was disappointed by this product. It consists of language lesson CDs plus a small manual with some of the lessons including written croatian. I had trouble getting past Lesson 1. The lesson itself wasn't bad, although the sentences being created contained words that seemed to be pronounced differently when spoken "separately" versus being spoken in a sentence. And the word pronunciations were taught from the last syllable working forward rather than the other way around, which seemed a little odd. (I speak four languages, have never learned in this fashion - maybe it's some kind of new technique). My main criticism is that the words introduced in the lesson were not included in the booklet. Some of us are visual learners and like to "see" the words phonetically spelled, along with a definition. We can learn the word and it's meaning or reinforce the word and meaning after hearing it with a visual follow up. Then, we can once again hear the word to get it's pronunciation attributes correct. The cost of providing this information would be minimal, but Pimsleur chooses not to provide it. I am forced to look the words up in a Croatian-English Dictionary and write them down along with their meanings, in addition to listening to the tapes. Ugh.



4. Effective October 2008, there will be three levels of the Pimsleur Croatian Language Program available.
   1) Basic Croatian which covers lessons 1-10 on 5 CDs. This level lists for $24.95. See ISBN-10: 0-7435-6206-2.
   2) Conversational Croatian which covers lessons 1-16 on 8 CDs. This level lists for $49.95. See ISBN-10: 0-7435-6205-4.
   3) Comprehensive Croatian which covers lessons 1-30 on 16 CDs. This level lists for $345.00. See ISNB-10: 0-7435-6204-6.
   All three levels start with the same lesson 1, so if you buy a Basic or Conversational Croatian course, and then a higher one, the lessons overlap.
   Amazon is accepting pre-release orders for these courses and is offering a 5% discount off their already discounted price.



5. This course presents information slowly and in a repetitive fashion - bad for entertainment but absolutely fantastic for learning. Every lesson revisits all of the previous material and encourages you to use it in mix-and match situations to give you a great functional overview. If you diligently follow the whole set of lessons, at the end you will have a pretty good command of about a dozen phrases.
   
   But you do not get the tools to move beyond those phrases. There is no discussion of how to swap in new words, and there are major gaps in useful information. Further, some of the lessons are actively not useful - the amount of time spent practicing the sentence "I speak and understand Croatian very well" seems ill spent, whereas sentences like "where is the bathroom" and "My name is ____" are conspicuously absent.
   
   Overall, the course TEACHES the material extremely well; the SELECTION of the material, however, is somewhat disappointing.