1 comments about Teach Yourself Serbian Complete Course.

1. In this review I'll try to provide a brief overview of
   a. The Serbian Language
   b. Teach Yourself Serbian
   
   a. The Serbian Language
   15 years ago you wouldn't have found any course in Serbian, only in Serbo-Croat. For almost all of the 20th century the term Serbo-Croat covered the language(s) spoken by Croats, Bosniaks, Serbs and Montenegrins. Today there is no agreement on whether there are one, two, three or four different languages. Most people recognise the existence of Croatian and Serbian and tent to view Bosnian and Montenegrin as Serbian varieties.
   I'm not from the region and I don't have any national feeling involved in this issue. Neither do I have any definite answer, but I can say this:
   - Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks and Montenegrins can all understand each other. Just as Danes and Swedes or Czechs and Slovaks can understand each other.
   - The difference between the forms is large enough to give away whether you're a Croat, a Serb, a Bosnian or a Montenegrin. The difference is definitely larger than between various English dialects.
   
   The most obvious difference is between "ekavian" and "ijekavin", two different dialect named after their realisation of "e".
   In Ekavian:
   milk = mleko, river = reka, village = selo
   In Ijekavian:
   milk = mlijeko, river = rijeka, village = selo
   In other words, not all "e"s are "ije" in Ijekavian but you get the picture.
   Now, all Croats, all Bosniaks and all Montenegrins use Ijekavian. So do many Serbs. The majority of the Serbs use Ekavian, though.
   In other words, all Ekavian-speakers are Serbs but not all Serbs are Ekavian-speakers and all Croats are Ijekavian-speakers but not all Ijekavian-speakers are Croats.
   
   Another difference is the vocabulary. Croats are Catholics, Bosniaks are Moslems and Montenegrins and Serbs are Orthodox. Another big difference is that Serbia and Bosnia first came under the influence of Greece and later were part of the Turkish Empire for hundreds of years. Croatia first came under the influence of Italy and later was part of the Austrian empire for hundreds of years. Naturally this has left its traces. Many religious words in Serbian are Greek, in Bosnian they're Turkish/Arab and in Croatian they're Latin.
   Apart from the religious vocabulary there are some other words that differ. Croatia has one set of words whereas the others have another set. In short, the picture looks like this:
   
   Croatian: Ijekavian, religious vocabulary based on Latin, Croatian-set.
   Serbian: Ekavian (mostly), religious vocabulary based on Greek, Serbian-set.
   Bosnian: Ijekavian, religious vocabulary based on Turkish, Serbiat-set.
   Montenegrin: Ijekavian, religious vocabulary based on Greek, Serbian-set.
   
   Just keep in mind that there are differences but that people understand each others. I've learned Croatian but Serbs have expressed delight over how well I speak Serbian...
   
   b. Teach Yourself Serbian
   This course is great! There aren't many Serbian courses on the market, but even if there were this one would stand out. The development of courses is rather interesting. Up to the early 1980s most Serbo-Croatian courses were based on the Serbian variety because that was the language spoken in the capital. Then came the "tourist invasion" and since the tourist areas were almost exclusively in Croatia almost all courses published in 1980-1992 were in the Croatian variety. Now, those courses are often republised under the name of "Croatian". In fact, Teach Yourself Croatian is exactly the same books as the old Teach Yourself Serbo-Croat. This means that Serbian has the upper hand in courses at the moment, because now that there is a need for courses in the language publishers go for completely new courses. I guess that within five years we'll see new courses appearing in Croatian...
   
   Comparing Teach Yourself Serbian to Teach Yourself Croatian, this one is much longer and contains more information, more explanations and more vocabulary. One particularly good feature is the use of both the Latin and the Cyrillic alphabet. Modern Serbian uses both, and this course give all words in both alphabeths in the first three lessons, then Cyrillic in every second chapter and Latin in the other. Of course, there's a thorough introduction to the Cyrillic alphabet.
   
   As in most Teach Yourself-courses the grammar explanations have been written to suit the total beginner. In some courses that is not enough for the serious student but in this case the explanations will please everyone. The vocabulary is very up-to-date, focusing on a group of university students in Belgrade.
   
   If you've read my other reviews of courses you will know that I consider most Teach Yourself courses too short. Teach Yourself Serbian is one of the exceptions, it is long enough to provide space for needed explanations and for a useful vocabulary that will take you far.
   
   I strongly recommend this excellent course!

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.

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

1. For what they try to accomplish, these CD's are well-designed. After the series, you should be able to pronounce and speak many basic phrases and combine words you know to form sentences. This will certainly help you in your travels in Poland. However, if you intend to learn the Polish language (or any language), you will need more than these beginner audio tapes. But to start out, it is fun to listen to the conversations and get yourself speaking some Polish.



2. I tried Rosetta Stone Polish 1 with NO sucess
   Pimsleur is the BEST way to learn Polish
   I used it for two months before traveling to Poland and did very well speaking and understanding the basics of this difficult language to learn.
   Polish natives thought that I was REALLY FROM POLAND and not the USA
   Thanks Pimsleur
   I recommend you most highly and effective



3. I can't understand if anybody can learn polish by this course. Without any written material, I think it is impossible. Stay Away!



4. Although very repetitive, these CDs make you memorize difficult polish phrases and words. Polish is definitely a very difficult language to learn, and this CD is very helpful.



5. This item was a gift for my 17 year old nephew, who is of Polish extraction. He hopes to visit to Poland next summer. Apparently he is really excited by it and is enjoying the learning process.

3 comments about Fast Talk Slovene (Lonely Planet).

1. This little guide has been very useful in this wonderful country. Slovenian people understood me very well.



2. We visited Slovenia for five days recently and this book was useful for sharing common curtosies (i.e., please, thank you, hello) and deciphering menu items. It's very small and was easy to take along in a pocket or purse. Many people in the larger towns and cities speak English and most signs, menus, etc are translated in English but it was nice to be able to learn a few phrases in Slovene to show our appreciation to the people we met.



3. Although it speaks sadly of my language skills, I found that I really didn't need much more that the Slovenian in the main Lonely Planet guide to Slovenia. Most Slovenians speak English and almost half of the songs I heard on the radio and at concerts there were in English. While I a firm believer in trying to learn the language and culture of the places that one visits and lives, for short trips, you probably do not need this book.

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

1. 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.



2. 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.



3. 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!!!!



4. 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. These programs are a great way to learn any language. They teach you how to speak the language by listening to it and picking it up the same way you did when you were a kid learning to speak english. Very helpful, I learned more from this technique than from most.

5 comments about Berlitz Polish Phrase Book (Berlitz Phrase Books).

1. This is definitely a good phrase book, the pronunciation guide words are a big help. Depending on how far you plan on going with your polish studies, makes a big deal when it comes to purchasing this product. If you are looking to pick up on a few important phrases or common words, this book will serve its purpose. If you looking to learn a bit more than basic communication. I still recommend this book in addition to some other Polish self-learning courses, preferable an audio or CD-ROM tutorial. Like Eurotalk or Rosetta Language Online. This book will help you commit to memory some of the things these programs teach you, while your at the office or out and about, and need a convenient reference to check your memory against. Overall this is a good product.



2. This publication was very helpful. I will use it in the future.



3. What a find!! Anyone travelling to Poland will find this
   phrase book really handy! Wish I had it with me the last
   five times that I visited Poland. It covers everything
   that you will need to know about food, restaurant odering,
   sightseeing, travel, doctors, etc. etc. You'll never leave
   home without it again!!!!



4. I thought this would be more useful phrases for everyday Polish, not for travel to Poland. It's a very good travel book. Sections broken down well so you can easily find the right phrases, but this is more for travel.



5. The book is nicely organized! I speak polish and I bought the book as a gift; I was nicely surprised to see that for those who do not speak the language, this book is well written. Most of the words have great pronunciation, which is important since this could be difficult part of learning the language for someone who is not accustom to hearing it. I certainly recommend it for those who want to use this aid book to communicate in Poland!

No comments about Bulgarian Phrasebook.

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.

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.

5 comments about Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Grammar: With Sociolinguistic Commentary.

1. This elegant book does it all. It presents a thorough, linguistically rigorous grammar of a sometimes extremely foreign language in a form accessible to everyone from beginners to practiced speakers. The discussion is lucid, with plenty of examples, and is infused with a good teacher's enthusiasm for the subject and sensitivity to the reader's needs. Anything but dry, it abounds with useful observations, many focusing on the particular difficulties presented by "BCS" to English-speaking learners.
   
   The grammatical material is presented in an order that presumably complements the companion volume, a textbook with exercises. That could take some getting used to for an experienced speaker of the language: if you want to read all about verbs, for instance, you have to locate and read many short sections distributed through the book. A complete discussion of the verb or any similar topic is thus presented in segments a beginner can grasp, laid out in an order that a beginner can follow, with no compromise of scholarly detail and accuracy. The attractive layout and typography aid in the endeavor.
   
   The descriptive grammar is followed by a "sociolinguistic commentary" which raises a fine scholarly achievement to a yet more useful level. The student of BCS must deal with a situation in which people who understand each other with ease insist that they speak different languages, others who understand each other barely or not at all admit only to speaking different dialects, and the cultural history apparently entitles anyone to despise half of his or her colinguists according to whether or not they pronounce a "y" sound before the letter "e." All of this receives careful, clear explanation, illustrated with maps and complemented by painstaking notes to the grammatical examples. As in the grammar, the author's eagerness to help the reader understand is everywhere apparent.



2. PROS:
   - Comprehensive and detailed treatment of grammatical topics in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS)
   - Balanced presentation and comparison of grammatical topics and examples.
   - Includes a readable and accessible introduction to the history and sociolinguistics of "old" Serbo-Croatian and "new" BCS
   
   CONS:
   - None
   
   The grammatical sections are set up in the same sequence as that of the corresponding BCS textbook by Alexander and Elias-Bursac. This reference of grammar is useful in that it goes into greater detail than what's in the textbook and may provide a "second opinion" to someone who is unsure about something in the textbook. The examples that are used to illustrate grammatical topics also have the added benefit of being marked as being used most frequently by Bosnians, Croats or Serbs.
   
   The history and sociological survey should be required reading for anyone who is just starting to study BCS or wondering why some people from the former Yugoslavia still become emotional or sensitive about their language(s). In fact I would venture to say that these same people of the former Yugoslavia would do well to read Alexander's survey for it's a detached and balanced description of the subordination/hijacking of language to fulfill political or sociological aims. I found that reading it was instructive and a reminder than most of us English speakers are relatively fortunate in not having questions about language usage tied as closely or violently to being part of "good guys" or "bad guys".
   
   Overall, it's a valuable source of information and no one can go wrong by having it on his/her shelf when studying BCS.



3. This was a nice attempt. There is nothing out there at this time so I presume the publisher thought they could just make money by publishing this pile of paper. My background to support this statement. I teach Bosnian to English speakers. I am a native Bosnian and an English major. End.



4. I purchased this book in April, 2007 after returning from my first trip to Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. I contacted my native Croatian immigrant friends in my town, and she and her Croat Serb husband to tutor me once a week as well. This book has been an excellent resource but you really need the textbook to go with it. Serbo Croatian is a difficult language for any English speaker unless you already speak a foreign language and are familiar with linguistics, verb conjugations and all the rest. Certainly learning Croatian or Bosnian, which are pretty much one and the same, using latin script is the easiest way to start. Serbian is slightly different (use cyryllic script), but I assure you, if you speak one, people will understand you, even if they claim they typically can't understand each other. That's just nationalistic bias coming out. There are colloquial difference, but not much different than if you are an English speaker in the US and live in Idaho vs Louisiana, or are from Canada vs England, or New Zealand. I returned to Croatia and Bosnia in September for the month and had made considerable progress. Although my tutor says I'm only to a 5th grade level, believe, me, that is an accomplishment with such a complex language, and in only about six or seven months of study. I continue my studies in anticipation of moving to Croatia or Bosnia in the future for a job opportunity. This is an excellent resource. And my Bosnian friends here think it's good, too. By the way, I taught English as a second language to Croat, Serb and Bosnian refugees here, so...I disagree with other review.



5. This book presumes to teach three languages at once: a task which is simplified by the fact that the three languages are, historically and in practice, effectively the same. Due to the recent conflicts within the former Yugoslavia, the author presents them on near equal footing as "BCS", indicating the general variations of dialect appropriately in the book.
   
   While the book makes a noble attempt to explain the sometimes counter-intuitive (from a Latinic and Germanic perspective, at least) syntax of "BCS" grammar, this book, and its accompanying text, ultimately, leave something to be desired. While the author is clearly versed in etymology as a professor of Slavic languages (and in that sense, the grammar is, to my knowledge, accurate), my impression is that the usage is quite out of place. That is, whatever I have learned by studying Ronelle Alexander's "BCS" isn't quite Bosnian, Croatian, or Serbian, but the made up language that American students of foreign languages end up speaking when we study a language from a textbook, without reference to any primary sources. I don't regret the purchase of the book, as it is the only one available of its scope, but would prefer to read a text written by a native of the former Yugoslavia.
   
   I will try to update this review in a few years if my opinion changes.