No comments about Talk Now! Hungarian.

No comments about A Handbook of Estonian: Nouns, Adjectives and Verbs (Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series).

No comments about Hungarian-English-English-Hungarian Dictionary.

No comments about Teach Yourself Hungarian Complete Course.

5 comments about Just Enough Hungarian.

1. I was deployed to Hungary last year and this book was extremely helpful. It not only spells out commonly used phrases but tells how to pronounce them. It also gives tips on Hungarian pronunciation in general, as well as the alphabet. I showed this book to our Hungarian translator and he said it was very accurate. I whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone traveling to Hungary!



2. ...So we won't make much effort writing a book. This guide to the Hungarian language begins with an explanation that locals will "feel gratified" that you're making an attempt at Hungarian and will "probably go out of their way to understand you." The editors' view is that Hungarian is very difficult to pronounce, so why bother with much of a pronunciation guide, so "just wing it." Hmm, well. To be fair, they do offer phonetic transliterations beneath each phrase that approximate the proper pronciation while still being pronounceable by English speakers. Still, since they offer three (whoo! three!) pronunciation hints in the pronunciation guide, they might have made a point of also mentioning something pretty major such as "J' apparently is pronounced as a "Y". However, they let you figure that out as you go along. Again, to be fair, the book is very economical and should be sufficient for a short trip.



3. Well, it does what it sets out to do. If you're looking for a quick, rough and very practical guide to speaking Hungarian, this is it. It is, above all, practical. You won't be able to chat with anyone, but you will be able to ask about the location of just about anywhere or when things are open or closed or just about any other travel-related issue. Each of the chapters is divided up by when you are likely to need certain phrases. So there's a hotel/accomadations section, a restaurant/market section, etc. And, very useful, the book also gives possible answers and translations. With this book, if you encounter someone who doesn't speak English, you'll be able to get your questions answered.
   
   But if you're trying to learn Hungarian at all, this is not the book for you. The pronounciation is very, very rough - although to its credit, the book doesn't pretend to reflect the exact way a word is pronounced. Still, I think it could mention a few more points about how to pronounce some of the letters or letter combinations.
   
   It's "just enough" - but no more.



4. I must agree with the other reviews that while this book is adequate for survival, it is no more than that.
   It has no notes on Hungarian grammar (which is VERY different from English) and only a minimal dictionary and hints on pronounciation.
   Ditto the phrases themselves - they do cover the essentials, but nothing more than that. That said, at least they are all correct, free of mistakes!
   
   Still, if you just go for a short trip to Budapest, you'll probably find this book adequate.
   But if you want something better, I recommend Lonely Planet's Hungarian phrasebook, published in March 2005.
   
   But do bring a phrasebook if you want to explore Hungary in any depth - apart from those working in the tourism industry, few Hungarians speak English, especially out in the rural areas.



5. I had a business trip to Hungary in June 2005. I was there for 2 weeks and Just Enough Hungarian was a huge help. I used it in conjunction with another guide and was able to have a great and successful trip.

No comments about Beginner's Hungarian (Hippocrene Beginner's Series).

No comments about Hungarian: Learn to Speak and Understand Hungarian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur).

5 comments about Hungarian-English/English-Hungarian Dictionary and Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebooks).

1. All I can say is that when in provincial Hungary, an English-speaker is not necessarily found. This portable phrasebook and simple dictionary serves the purpose, and using it, I was able to communicate in a limited fashion, along with gestures and smiles. The price and size are right, and it'll help you navigate in a part of Europe that still may expect German or even Russian speakers more often than intrepid and often mono-lingual Anglophones.



2. I bought this book to help me translate messages and Hungarian ancestral documents for my genealogical research. This book is has very limited vocabulary. I am currently searching for a better more comprehensive Hungarian/English dictionary. Spend more money and buy a better book.



3. Because the Hungariqan alphabet and especially the pronunciation is different from English, it it a must to have next to each Hungarian word or phrase, its pronunciation - and this book it missing it!
   Yes, they have pronunciation of letters in separate page, but you have to look back each time you want to learn how to prononuce a word.
   If you're a beginner, stay away from this book.



4. Excellent! Perfect for the Hungarian speaker who wants to learn, or refresh their language skills, especially while using the Hungarian TV shows online. This book is great for easy quick reference.



5. Hungarian is so different from romance languages and English that one finds oneself literally out in the cold when listening to even the most basic conversation in Magyar. But on my next Hungarian sojourn, I will definitely bring it along.
   
   An uneducated English speaker might think the commonly used Magyar word "jo," for example, to mean "I," or yes. It's neither. Yes is "igen," and "jo" means "good." So when you hear someone saying "Jo, jo, jo, jo," which is also very common in Hungarian exchanges, you'll at least understand that the people approve of whatever it is they are talking about.
   
   This slim 148-page book contains a pronunciation guide and a short discussion of complex Magyar grammar, as well as a 40-page dictionary containing the most commonly used Hungarian words and a 70-page phrasebook, divided according to topics, i.e. transportation, personal data, hotels, restaurants, and the like.
   
   I believe this neat little volume (less wide than Zagat's), could have been a lifesaver on my last trip to Hungary's gorgeous countryside. To be sure, next time I will not "leave home without it."
   
   Highly recommended, especially at the amazingly low "used" prices.

No comments about NTC's Hungarian and English Dictionary.

5 comments about Tamil for Beginners.

1. This is an excellent book. After years of trying to make sense of the confusing "learn Tamil in 30 days" or similar books one can get in India, I found this book to be very helpful. The only book I have found which comes close to it is the "Microwave Approach" (only sold in India, I believe), which puts more emphasis on the spoken version but leaves out most of the written elements. As to what the other reviewer has said -- my copy of this book has a small section detailing the differences between written and spoken Tamil, but maybe they've changed it since then!



2. Referring to Vols. 1 and 2
   
   As a tamilian-american born and raised in the US, I was looking for a self-study book for learning to read and write tamil as well as for improving my spoken tamil and vocabulary. I am fairly fluent in colloquial tamil. Therefore, I was also particular that the book did not solely focus on the more authentic tamil currently found on TV news and other media. For my purposes, this book is superb! It provides crystal clear explanations of the types of letters and their sounds. The rules to combine letters (sounds) are also very clearly explained. There are, of course, some typos and certain exceptions to some of the rules are missing. However, these are very few in number. Ms. Hart has done an amazing job of distilling the structure of the language into a relatively small set of rules that, for the most part, capture all there is to know in order to be intelligible. In my experience, native speakers rarely have enough grasp to accomplish this, regardless of the language.
   
   The section on grammar rules is quite comprehensive but may require the reader to be familiar with some grammatical terminology not often stressed in American schools. Some of this terminology may have only been introduced to the typical american student when he/she first takes a foreign language and usually this terminology is not emphasized. However, refamiliarizing oneself with this is not too difficult.
   
   The dictionaries at the end do contain many commonly used words and can prove useful.
   
   All in all, the book certainly is excellent in helping me accomplish my goals. Highly recommended!!!



3. I gave too much weight to the Amazon reviews when deciding between this book and Ron Asher's Colloquial Tamil. As a complete beginner who will soon spend a year in semi-rural Tamil Nadu, I want a book that will get me up to speed as soon as possible. Hart's book is very good for learning to read. Unfortunately, a lot of the basic vocabulary (like "how are you?") is used only by Brahmins. It wouldn't be a problem if Hart specifically noted this, and also gave alternate phrases, but she doesn't. Although I'm a Brahmin, I want to be able to communicate with all types of people without giving offense. So, I ultimately decided to go with the Asher books. And, unlike the reviewer of Asher's CDs who found that the speakers spoke too fast, I think they are very good at approximating native speech patterns. However, the Asher book and CD should be used in conjunction -- which is not clear from the Amazon page. If I hit you you will die.



4. I'm a native speaker of Tamil. I got this book because I never formally studied in school and my vocaublary is very limited.
   
   The introduction goes over the vowels, consonants and how to write conjunct characters. There are a few typos but it's written in a way that would suffice for most people. I was able get along with this book but it occured to my that if you don't already know some Tamil you would be very frustrated.
   
   This is what I mean... Every lesson follows the same format: a conversation (in Tamil), a vocabulary section (with English meanings of Tamil words) and exercises. There is little or no grammar in each lesson. For that you'll have to look at part 2 of the book. Consider Lesson 1 for example. It begins with a conversation written in Tamil with no phonetic translations. (You are expected to have leaned to read the charactes by now.) There is no translation of these sentences to Englist either. You'll have to do that yourself using the vocubalary section. But before looking up a word, you'll first locate and remove from the words any suffixes such as the ingerrogative suffix -a (for yes/no questions) or the suffix -um which means 'and'. the rules for adding the suffixes are not explained. Needless to say you have to figure out lots of rules yourself just to understand a simple conversation. The excercises in lesson 1 want you to convert a few sentences into the negative and to form yes/no questions but the lesson doesn't teach you that. It doesn't even teac hteach youthat the word order is Sub-Obj-Verb, which you need to know to do the exercises.
   
   I wonder if this book was originally written for native speakers to be used in Indian schools. Well, it's pretty unfortunate that this is considered the best book around. Excatly who benefits from this book? You might.. if you already speak the language somewhat and can read the script. Otherwise, if you have studied several foreign languages extensively, have a good background in linguistics and would like to take the challenge of learning a new language on your own.



5. I've used this book for self-study, but in conjunction with a set of a dozen audio cassettes. I acquired these directly from the publisher, UC Berkeley Langauge Center. I can't imagine using this book without the audio component. Compared to the excellent Asher Colloquial Tamil, the Hart audio does use a very slow pace of speaking, and this is really helpful for the beginning foreigner, the intended audience of this book (Asher's audio is absolutely much more realistic yet uses too much English and is a little too fast at the beginning, I'd say.) As noted, the Hart book is Brahmin Tamil, and the book doesn't tell you that.