No comments about Bulgarian Phrasebook.

5 comments about Teach Yourself Bulgarian Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself . . . Complete Courses).

1. i prefer the style of michael thomas - but with a little effort this can be rewarding e.g. the aphabet and english phonetic's - effort required - once accross that it gets better. I'm at it with my wife - it helps !!!



2. I have used books to learn 2 foreign languages, Spanish, Italian and a little Dutch all with sucess. I find this book absolutely useless, you need to know some bulgarian to start with and then it teaches you a bunch of useless phases which are only useful in a particular situation. There is also no [english sounds] pronounciation guide with the Bulgarian words, so advance knowledge of the alphabet and phonetics are needed. A complete waste of time and money.



3. There are very few courses on the market teaching Bulgarian, as demand is obviously not very high. Depending upon your reasons for learning the language, this one may well be as good as it gets.
   
   The book is organized into chapters based on central concepts - introductions, directions, the weather, numbers, how you feel, discussing the future and events in the past, etc. It is by no means a linear progression through Bulgarian grammar and vocabulary, and depending upon how you personally are most comfortable learning languages, that may be good or bad. The concept approach does allow one to focus on specific areas and save time and effort by skipping the parts deemed less necessary; if you are driving from Sofia to Plovdiv you need to know how to ask for directions and not have to appreciate the difference between 'like' and 'love' or abstract philosophy. If you want to become fluent enough to carry on at least a light conversation of small talk in Bulgarian, you will be jumping all over the book and gaining insight and grammatical understanding more by osmosis than by design.
   
   As such, for tourists this approach could work well. For business people who intend to stay in country for longer periods or indefinitely, it is not the best or most effective way to learn the language.
   
   The CDs help with pronunciation (the book starts right off in cyrillic and stays there, so proper pronunciation and intonation would be tough to learn off the printed page alone) but the native speakers are speaking at pretty close to normal conversational pace, which will be hard to follow at first.
   
   Finally the dictionary in the back is very skimpy. It will not be enough to use for reading or writing letters, or for much else.



4. "TYB" is a very good course. In summer 2005 I lived in Blagoevgrad and found the course to be the best preparation for a lesser-studied Slavic language. It provides dialogues that you will actually find useful everyday when in Bulgaria. Learning to read the Cyrillic is facilitated by the orientation at the beginning and then the gradual exposure to it throughout the 20 lessons. My advice is to work at a steady pace, i.e., a dialogue and grammar exercise each day. All essential grammar is covered admirably without reaching that eyes-glazed-over point. I was in Bulgaria for 8 weeks and only completed up to Lesson 12, but it provided me with the skills needed to converse on all essentials and even some more abstract conversations. In summary, if you work seriously with this book and the 2 CD's, then you'll be at an intermediate level in about 3 months -- what better praise can you give for a course?



5. I purchased this directly from Amazon on December 26, shipped on December 27, and received on December 28 at Standard Shipping. WOW! I bought this for my son who lives in the UK and is home for Christmas and it was vital that it arrive before he leaves in six days.
   
   My son has several conversational and phrases Bulgarian books and says this is the absolute best. He works in the UK with trips to Bulgaria and is thrilled that I found this on Amazon after not being able to find in a local Borders or Barnes and Noble without going to another area of town (Atlanta). Receiving it in two days is FIVE BIG GOLD STARS for Amazon. Also, this is much cheaper on Amazon here as opposed to Amazon UK, about half the price. I bought NEW directly from Amazon. It comes well packaged in a hard plastic case which makes it good for travel.

1 comments about Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian Audio Supplement: To Accompany Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Textbook.

1. Excellent, quick delivery, and a great product. I did have manually to import the data when I imported to iTunes, which so often happens, but that can be a blessing when the data are wrong or full of typos! An invaluable addendum to the two books.

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

1. This really works. It moves slowly and is very repetitive, which is great for those of us who are not very quick at picking up a language. It really walks you through pronunciation as well, which was key in learning Czech.



2. I can only recommend this product as a supplement to a written text. It really doesn't work well as a stand-alone product, largely because of the poor pronounciation in places. There are many places where it sounds like the speakers are adding whole syllables to the ends of words that aren't there, or they don't clearly enunciate other parts of words (I was hearing "ste" instead of "jste" consisently, "rozumima" instead of "rozumim", etc.)
   
   It's a pity, because the slow pace and repetition really does work for building vocabulary. The pacing is such that it really only takes one or two listens to each roughly 30-minute lesson to build the vocabulary. I was hoping that this was going to be good enough for me to unreservedly go ahead and buy the big expensive set, but I'm strongly disinclined to do so with the problems with the recorded voices here.



3. I started listening to the cd's in my car on the drive to and from work, a total of 40 minutes a day and after the first week I was extremely confident in what I have learned so far. Having never spoken a work of Czech it's very easy to learn.



4. Not as good as some of the other products I have bought to help me learn Czech. I like to see what I speaking as well as hear it. No software just audio. I like to have both so I can speak and read it. My primary goal is to read and understand. As it will help me greatly to be able to translate my own Czech Documents for Genealogy.
   
   I would not recommend this product for those wanting to be able to read it as well as to speak Czech.



5. I own language programs for French, German, Japanese, Spanish and American Sign Language, and the Pimsleur program for Czech is my favorite. I am not bored working through this auditory learning only program, and I find that even after going days without listening to the CDs, I have not forgotten any of what I have learned. For the first time, I really think I will finally be able to learn a second language and "keep" it. This is BASIC conversation with no books and reading or writing to mess with, yet I believe this program teaches you everything you would need to know if you were to actually go to Czechoslovakia. I bought the program as a marketing aid for me in my farmers market business because (1) I am half Czech and always wanted to learn the language and (2) there are many elderly Czech customers at our farmers market who may feel more comfortable with a vendor who speaks the language they grew up with. A very good buy at a reasonable price.

2 comments about Czech-English/English-Czech Dictionary and Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebooks).

1. Essential phrases to help make a vacation in a foreign country more enjoyable



2. This book includes a Czech-English and English-Czech dictionary, as well as a basic grammar section and even a short history of the Czech Republic. After looking at several Czech dictionaries, this is the one that I've found to be easiest to use and is best suited for a tourist or casual student of the language.

5 comments about Ukrainian Phrasebook.

1. I bought this to give to a friend. However, at work I was working with some Ukrainian ladies who didn't speak English. I brought this in, and it was very useful.



2. This pocket guide to Ukrainian was indispensible to me during my two week visit to this country. I carried it with me everywhere I went and consulted it almost constantly. In all that time it was always helpful and accurate. The only time it let me down was in drawing a distinction between a wild rabbit and a domestic one. Each word is given in the Ukrainian Cyrillic spelling and then in a phonetic transliteration with accented syllables in bold. Each section has an introductory piece that gives general background information. Useful phrases and sentences followed by a list of major relevant words complete each section. The end of the book has an English-Ukrainian vocabulary. A Ukrainian-English vocabulary would also have been useful, but would have repeated the vocabularies in each section. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Truly invaluable to the clueless traveler.



3. My trip to Ukraine wouldn't have been the same without this wonderful little book. And Ukrainians were flattered that a foreigner tried speaking Ukrainian to them instead of Russian. It contains the phrases you need and easy to understand pronounciation guide. It really helped break the language barrier and I made new friends in a new country. The entire Lonely Planet series is the best among travel guides, and I've travelled a lot using various guides.



4. This little book is terrific for anyone interested in the Ukrainian language. It has very good explanations of the alphabet and grammatical rules of Ukrainian. It also teaches MANY useful phrases and words for the traveler, and it gives phonetic pronunciations of every word and phrase (as well as the actual Cyrillic spelling).
   I have a close friend in Ukraine who has told me that my pronunciation of the Ukrainian words (as they appear in this book) are perfect.
   However, be certain of your purpose for using this book. If you want to learn to speak the Ukrainian language somewhat fluently, it will take a lot more than this book (but this book is an excellent starting point).
   If you are simply planning to travel to one of the major Ukrainian cities (Kiev, Odessa, etc.) in the near future, you would probably be better off with the Russian version of this book instead of Ukrainian. Everybody in the major cities still speaks Russian as their primary language. Most of them understand Ukrainian, but Russian is still the first language for most people. I understand that this is slowly changing (universities, etc. are changing EVERYTHING over to Ukrainian). And if you plan to visit a small town in Ukraine, many of them speak ONLY Ukrainian. My suggestion is to get both the Ukrainian and the Russian versions, so you will be able to communicate clearly no matter where you are.



5. I visited Kiev were they really only speak Russian. They do speak Ukranian but only in the area that is furthest away from the Russian border. Other than that the book was very good and I really enjoyed the tidbits of information in the book.

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

1. Prior to my trip to Prague I bought both the Pimsleur CDs and the Colloquial Czech CDs by James Naughton. I was a true beginner, and the Naughton series completely overwhelmed me - they talk way too fast! This series was fantastic, though. They speak slowly and clearly, start with the basics, and repeat words often as you go through the lessons so you don't forget what you have learned in previous chapters. The conversations focus on topics such as hotels, money, asking where things are, etc. so it is definitely most useful for tourists.



2. the lessons are straight forward repeating words until they start to sink in.it is not an easy language to learn especially at my age over 50!but it is well worth the effort and is apreciated by the locals.



3. The CD's provided give good basic words for greetings, asking simple questions, and teaching numbers. We went to the Czech Rep in Nov, 30 days after receiving the lessons and were able to do basic communication. In Prague most people have a basic or good understanding of English, but out in the countryside, the little Czech we learned was useful when ordering meals, buying something. The number system and pronunciation were very helpful.
   
   The CD's at times tended to be overly redundant, but they were convenient to use since there were no written lesson plans to follow. I managed to listen to all the CD's at least twice. I recommend this program.



4. Pimsleur products are always great, and this one is particularly well-done. The lessons are repetitive, which might be bad for you.
   
   But the upside to all the repetition is how well you retain it and actually learn it! For example, I was watching a TV show (Crossing Jordan, my favorite :-) ), and there was a scene where a character spoke Czech to another. Suprisingly, I understood bit and pieces of what the character was saying, even though she was speaking quite quickly! I caught "Ne vim" and "Mluvim anglitsky." Sorry about the spelling. Pimsleur Coversationals are entirely audio, so I have no clue how to spell it :-) *note that the Pimsleur Basic ones come with reading lessons and a booklet.
   
   One thing to keep in mind is that you really do have to focus to get anything out of these CDs. If you just kinda have them playing in th ebackground, it won't work. You need to take a half hour to sit and listen and repeat.
   
   All in all, worth the money. An excellent choice!!!!



5. A few years ago I ordered a Berlitz German set. It had the transcript so I could read along or just listen to the tapes. I got a lot more out of it and it didn't need to be so repetative as this clearly is.
   
   Having written material would add visual input so you could not only learn to speak better by involving another sensory channel but also READ and spell.

5 comments about Teach Yourself Ukrainian Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself . . . Complete Courses).

1. Excellent series for learning languages. The books are small enough so that you can take it anywhere with you. The CD helps you to be able to understand the spoken language. I love it. You can learn at your own pace!I use the book and CD at home, on my computer to "see" the words that I am speaking; then I use the CD in the car when I am driving, to see how much I can understand.



2. There are so few courses in Ukrainian.
   
   Pro:
   - One of a few courses out there
   - Seems like a comprehensive course, if you get through it
   
   Con:
   - Hard for me to follow at the beginning and that's where I've stayed with my progress in this course. It immediately jumps into words and phrases without spending much time on basic linguistics like sounds, alphabet, word construction, logic and thought process. Logic and thought process are very important in understanding any language.
   
   I contacted Rosetta Stone and they unfortunately have no current plans to teach this language.



3. I wouldn't suggest this if this is your first stab at any sort of russian block language. It's not exactly user friendly unless you have a teacher handy.This would be good if finding yourself further down the road in the language itself. But to become comfortable with the language first would help and this is a bit daunting.



4. This course (Teach Yourself Ukrainian) is not a good buy for the average learner. It begins by trying to teach the cyrillic alphabet first, then introduces conversations, which are presented in writing as well as on the discs. The conversations are not broken down well, so they are difficult to learn.
   How do we learn to speak as a child? We learn basic words, then how to combine words, then (much later) how to spell and write.
   I would recommend finding a program that takes the above approach, not the one offered in this course.



5. I bought this book when I was an exchange student in Ukraine... I did not have any previous experience with the language. I found the book to be immensely helpful, but gave up on the cds. I found the reader spoke too quickly to comprehend, I couldn't keep up. Just so you know, another exchange student (to Czech Republic) had the same problem with the Czech cds. Otherwise, a good (although your only) choice.

4 comments about Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Textbook: With Exercises and Basic Grammar.

1. This is a great book! I have been looking for a really long time for a textbook for Serbian language. I am so glad to have found this one. It discusses the different dialects and other differences between Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian, and in doing so is really a three-for-one language book. Mind you, there are subtle differences between the languages (as they are really just different dialects) but they are there all the same. I think it is about time someone does a book on Serbian language - one which goes well beyong the basics (travel books, etc.) and really delves into the complex grammar with examples. First-rate book! Oh, and I highly recommend the sister book - BCS Grammar. You can find it online too - great book which go in depth into the complicated grammar (and reasons why it is what it is based on the different regions of the former Yugoslavaia.) Beneficial to have this book also, if you need more explanations on grammar. I have them both, and they are both superlative.



2. I found this book very informative....and it made me want the sister book - 'Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Grammar". I've ordered it so i can have an even better understanding of this beautiful language. I've purchased 2 other Serbian books and this is by far the most helpful of them all. I bought the teach yourself series - and it was good, more along the lines of tourism but helpful in staring out, my second book i bought was Serbian Grammar (red cover) and it covers everything (I guess since i haven't read it all) but not very helpful in putting sentences together and learning in a 'learning' way.
   -----> This book here though is very, very good. Don't waste your time or money.....get this one. <-----



3. PROS:
   - Comprehensive and designed specifically for English-speaking users.
   - Plenty of exercises and explanations of grammar.
   - Gives equal treatment to Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian standards.
   - Chapters use dialogues and literary excerpts.
   
   CON:
   - No answer key
   
   I wish that I had used this course when I was learning Croatian. In a way I look at this new course by Alexander and Elias-Bursac as an unofficial upgrade on Thomas Magner's course, "Introduction to the Croatian and Serbian Language" which I was using. They apply the ideas of balancing the standards, showing accentuation patterns of words, excellent coverage of grammatical topics and useful glossaries. Alexander and Elias-Bursac have necessarily added modern touches by extending the exposure to Bosnian and updating the dialogues to reflect life in the early 21st century.
   
   If you're serious about learning from scratch Bosnian / Croatian / Serbian / Serbo-Croatian / whatever you want to call it, this is THE course that you should use if you can get help from a native Bosnian / Croat / Serb to correct your exercises and check your progress. Unlike courses such as "Teach Yourself Serbian" or "Colloquial Croatian" for example, the authors here have truly designed this course with English-speakers in mind. Not only does the textbook indicate the patterns of accentuation and tone of every word, but it also gives in-depth grammatical explanations that often use English as a reference/point of comparison. In addition, the appendices have charts that show declensional and conjugational patterns while the glossary shows the aspectual pairs of verbs - something that some courses and dictionaries fail to do.
   
   It is also noteworthy and praiseworthy that the standard variants of BCS are presented equally along with the distinctions between "(i)jekavski" and "ekavski". All of these help to give a sense to the user of the "fuzziness" of what some people insist as constituting "proper Bosnian", "proper Croatian" or "proper Serbian". The juxtaposition of texts in all three variants was indeed instructive and made me realize how parochial are some "debates" about Serbo-Croatian vs. Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian (which reflect more the political situation).
   
   It is well worth the money to buy the CDs that have the dialogues and readings of the textbook so that you may get some audio exposure to the language. The reference manual of grammar that corresponds to this textbook is in my view not required as the textbook's explanations are sufficient. However, I do recommend that reference book if you want to go into detail on the grammatical explanations of the textbook or get a readable and balanced survey of the sociolinguistic topics regarding "Serbo-Croatian" and now "BCS".



4. I was very satisfied with this book. I bought it at the last minute before my trip so only had time to work through 2 chapters, but even those set me in really good stead. I now have every confidence that what I learn as I continue to work through the book before my next trip will be accurate and valuable. Even the vocabulary which seemed a bit obscure to be introduced so early in the book proved very useful - the authors obviously really applied their knowledge of the language(s) well in structuring the lessons.
   
   The book appeared to be geared more to classes or small groups, but as long as you are prepared to put in the effort I think anyone trying to learn independently (like I am) will find it fine. The little explanations of points of grammar were clearly explained and helped me communicate much more easily than if I had relied on a phrasebook or dictionary alone. Having said that, the glossary in the back of the book is in itself surprisingly extensive - in some instances providing more information than my dictionary.
   
   If I were to make a small criticism it would be that the book could be improved by explaining what the different "cases" (e.g. genitive, accusative etc) all meant in the English language before discussing how they are formed in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian; it was to some extent assumed that the reader was already familiar with these terms, which English schooling has failed us on! However, once I found out what these terms meant (good old mum!), the way the B/C/S was presented in the book all made sense. It is a very good buy, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn these languages!

5 comments about Czech: Lonely Planet Phrasebook.

1. Although the version of this phrase book that I used was a 2004, assuming that they have not changed it much, I would certainly recommend this book. I used it extensively when I was in Prague and the Czech Republic for three months, and most of the time it proved to be just what I required. It is very portable -- fits well in a back pocket -- and was easy to use on the whole.



2. This book is really handy for traveling to Prague - It gives good advice that you might not think of otherwise. Definitely worth the money!!



3. Of all the Czech language aids I have, this phrasebook is the best organized and the easiest to understand. This is an excellant book for the beginner in the language, but also very useful for someone with a bit of familiarity with the language. It will be my pocket companion on my next trip to Prague.



4. I used this book for a week in Prague. I found this book to be very well organized and useful. It is also small enough to through in your bag or purse for the day. It is definately helpful to learn a few greetings and such as the people seemed much more helpful when you were putting an effort into trying their language.



5. It's true what they say; the natives are more friendly when you make an effort!
   
   I have purchased a variety of language guides for a number of languages (Czech, Italian, French, German), and I have always found the LonelyPlanet phrasebooks to be the best. Their size makes them very portable and discrete, they are very well organized, and have good, easy to use 2-way dictionaries for when you're in a pinch. They also don't take themselves too seriously, and include sometimes laughable - though potentially very useful - sections on things like clubbing, and "intimate" times. The guides claim to be "more essential than socks (and lighter on the nose)." I think this sums them up nicely.
   
   In particular, I found that the Czech language guide did a fantastic job hand-holding the reader through the admittedly arduous task of learning to pronounce all the different consonant- and vowel sounds with their plethora of accents. Be sure to start there.
   
   In short, this is an indispensable guide, and an absolute MUST for anyone traveling to the Czech Republic.
   
   Five stars.
   
   
   
   P.S. One word of warning: no book can really teach English speakers the infamous [r-with-upside-down-^] or "rzh" sound - as in the composer Dvo[rzh]ak - since the sound does not exist in our language. You'll see what I mean, no doubt. I suggest searching online for an audio clip of this consonant. The word [rzh]eka, for river, is an excellent example, if you can find it. Happy traveling!