5 comments about Hindi, Urdu & Bengali: Lonely Planet Phrasebook.

1. Although this combined edition is more accurate than the previous separate phrasebooks for Hindi/Urdu and Bengali, do not expect to use it to actually learn the languages or even get beyond a couple of dozen phrases.
   
   Perhaps in conjunction with a formal language guide to Bengali, this phrasebook would be more helpful, but at the time of my recent travels, there was no English language language study guide available for Bengali/Bangla (I think the Teach Yourself series has one, but that series is currently going through a one-by-one reissue as the cover format and typeface have changed).
   
   The main problem is the Bengali to English dictionary, which is listed from the point of view of the written form vs. how things sound or how they transluterate to Latin characters. This requires first learning Bengali script, which is quite difficult due to the bizarre rules in all South Indian derived scripts (including Thai and Khmer/Cambodian as well as Hindi) vs. Cyryllic, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic. And besides which, literacy is not and should not be a requirement for developing the more important day-to-day fluency of speaking and listening skills in a new language while traveling.
   
   The publisher would also be advised to make clear that there are significant regional variants within Bengali (if not also Hindi/Urdu), and thus one is not always understood even with basic everyday phrases as they are published here. They might also be advised to include the related Punjabi language/dialect in the next edition, to be more complete.



2. I've been using the computer program Rosetta Stone to learn Hindi, and it's extremely helpful in getting a person started with learning the grammar, some basic words, and the script. But Rosetta Stone doesn't teach you the really crucial basic phrases, like "Hello, how are you?", "My name is Bob," or "Where is the bathroom?"
   
   That's the specialty of this phrasebook--teaching you the basic phrases you'll need to get by. It also shows the basics of how to read the Urdu and Hindi scripts, but it's not necessary to learn them to use it, since the phrases all have phonetic renderings. One of the other reviewers complained that this phrasebook won't teach you the language. But it's not meant to; it's just supposed to help you get started, or to help you get by when you're not planning to actually learn the language.
   
   The organization of the book is very useful, since it's grouped into sections for different kinds of phrases, making it easy to find the stuff you're most interested in.
   
   The dictionary in the back, when you're going from Hindi or Urdu to English, is arranged in the order of the Hindi or Urdu alphabets. Maybe this doesn't make the most sense for English speakers, who if they're just starting aren't going to memorize the order of all the letters in the Hindi and Urdu alphabets. The other reviewer complained about this, but since the dictionaries aren't very long, I don't think it's a big deal. The dictionaries also have the phonetic spellings, so you can flip through pretty quickly to find the letter you're looking for.
   
   My main complaint is that the Urdu font in this book is kind of hard to read. It might just be because I first learned the script from another book that used a different font, and that's what I'm used to now. But I think that with the font used in this book, it's inherently harder to tell which letter is which, making it harder on a beginner.



3. This is a compact, easy to use, and helpful little book for basic phrases you will use in India and other South Asia countries.



4. This book is good for basic phrases to get by. It's better to get a book specific to the language you will be using, or use the internet for a better view of the specific language. However, for the casual tourist who wants to know a few phrases, it can be helpful. See: Bengali Flower: 50 Poems from India and Bangladesh with Psalms, Proverbs & Scripture for some history on India, Bangladesh, culture, Rabindranath Tagore poetry, brief biography, and Bengali language.



5. I saw the previous version in a library and wanted my own copy. I bought the latest version - big mistake. So I went off and bought a second copy of the previous version. The publishers broke a very good product - a pity.
   Why? The old version was Hindi and Urdu - the new version has Bengali also. Although the newer version is thicker, a lot of useful information
   was either removed or condensed in such a manner that is very hard to assimilate. Also the number of entries in the dictionary was reduced. I only wanted Hindi. The only good point about the book that there is an enhanced culninary reader (i.e. menu decrypter!).
   Buy the old one and please (publisher) - 'if it aint broke - don't fix it'

5 comments about The Adventures of Amir Hamza (Modern Library Classics).

1. This book is delightfully written as a translation from the Urdu text. As I read, it has the flowery descriptiveness of the old Urdu stories, leaving me with a feeling as if I was reading an Urdu book. It is well written, is interesting and the story is captivating. This book is one to keep in your personal library and pass on as a gift to family members. As our Urdu language seems to be withering away maybe this will preserve the stories if not the language itself. The author has done a wonderful job !!



2. I finally finished reading the more than 900 pages and am slowly returning to contemporary life. The beheadings and halvings of infidels was getting a little too much, and the donations of robes of honor turned into a choking mass, but the whole is very very endearing.



3. Musharraf Farooqi has done a great service to both Urdu and English literature by translating this all-time classic. It really captivates you so much that once you start reading it, you want to read more and more and that makes finishing this book much quicker than you anticipate. You never lose interest and find yourself taken back to the ancient times Arabia and Persia. The intensity and depth of imagination is amazing and I found it much more interesting and fascinating than Harry Potter or any other book of fiction that I ever read. I hope the translator will keep up his good efforts and translate more of Urdu classics (like Tilsim-e-Hoshruba).
   
   Good job Mr. Farooqi, and many thanks!



4. As someone who has read the Urdu kid's version of the Dastanay Mir Humza by Maqbool Jahangir I think this translation is prettier. His prose is stunningly beautiful. I remember when I was in college- an English major at that time, I happened to read an English translation of Sohrab and Rustum and in that too the prose was absolutely beautiful. So I have a theory that Farsi and old urdu translated into English makes for beautiful prose.
   
   When I was reading the kid's Urdu version by Maqbool Jahangir I was like these books must be for boys with all the "jungs" (battles) and the machismo of the heroes.
   
   Anyway I thank Farooqi for translating this. It's such a pleasure to read this instead of the other two trends in work that is coming from Pakistani writers. One trend is the Jamatay Islami conspiracy theories type books that puts whoever reads them in a bad mood and the other trend is the very embarrassing novels about messed up people doing strange inappropriate things that you can't share with other people. This translation introducing us to the beauty and exoticism inherent in that culture is a great change and I hope Farooqi will be translating more Urdu literary works for us.
   
   This book is also great to give as a present.



5. Having read the Urdu version (Das'taa'n'ae' Amir Hamza) by Maqbool Jahangir during my pre-teen years, I found the English Version to be very interesting and sweet. The funny episodes are still there. The prose is rich but requires concentration to connect the dots. The friendship of Amir and his friends is a reminder of the value of friendship and how it impacts one's life. There are many other lessons in this fairy tale like journey, but all in all it's an entertaining read.
   
   As I galloped through this voluminous book, I could feel the affection, the association and the special reverence the translator held for the characters in this magical saga. It must have required a lot of persistence and effort to translate this brilliant piece of work for the non-Urdu speaking readers. The adventures cover the entire world and the reader can easily sit down and lose herself in the "magic filled heroic saga".
   
   It is very clever of the original writer to choose long names for his characters. The names leave the reader with a lasting image. For the true fans of the Das'taan(Adventures), it is real hard to forget the names. To assist the readership, at the end, a chapter is devoted to the list of characters, historic figures, deities, and mythical beings. The list describes the meaning of each name and its relevance.
   
   The print is small to keep the number of pages down (perhaps), but each chapter is loaded with funny episodes, rich culture, poetical ballads and interactions that bring smile to one's face. Each chapter covers a story but the reader craves for the next episode. The adventures are a collection of Four Books. I am enjoying my journey through the first one. I have a long way to go but hopefully the colorful, playful and beautiful rendition will continue to make the remaining journey entertaining.
   
   In short, it's pure entertainment.
   
   Hopefully, some day someone will care to make a nice series out of this giving the readership a flavor of an Indo-Persian "Lord of the Rings".

No comments about Urdu, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Urdu with Pimsleur Language Programs.

5 comments about The Oxford English-Urdu Dictionary.

1. I would like to say thanks to the Translator of this dictionary,As it has variety of modern day's terms and the corresponding meanings and explainations ,which is very uncommon in other dictionaries.
   As a professional translator, This dictionary helped me a lot in completing my current projects.



2. This dictionary is exhaustive. It is the reflection of magnificent lexicographic research.



3. after buying the oxford english-urdu dictionary i feel that it is much more than that what i was looking for.



4. I bought this book for my step-son (new to the US. He uses it all the time.



5. This is the first thing I have ever bought online -- and my first purchase from Amazon. It is a good dictionary. It is complete, and up to date. My only complain is the the about translation of some words. For example; in urdu Raven -- is called "pahaaRi kauwwa". It is listed as someting else -- you have to read the entire paragrah to know it's a bird! Other then that dictionary is excellent.
   
   About the delivery. Mailman didn't bring to my home, I had to go to the post off, even though someone was at home the very day to receive the package. All in all I am very happy with it.

3 comments about Your First 100 Words in Urdu w/ Audio CD: Beginner's Quick & Easy Guide to Reading Urdu Script (Your First 100 Words InSeries).

1. Its great if you are a new learner of the language.
   My girlfriend wants to learn urdu. I bought this for her, and in two weeks she is already saying alot of words. CD is a plus. She saved the sounds from the cd to her ipod.
   Definitely recommend it, just to get your feet wet.



2. I have the same author's book, "Your First 100 Words in Hindi," and found (and still find) it helpful and enjoyable to work through. I give this Urdu book 4 stars because, though I don't have it yet, I will purchase it soon, and I anticipate its being just as good--probably better, in fact, because the audio CD can only make it more helpful by providing the learner a sound link to the printed pages.



3. Very non-intimidating approach to learning your first 100 Urdu words. Don't expect much more than that, but if you pay close attention you will learn the text patterns and it will make it easier for you to move on to more complex learning material. My seven-year-old and I shared this item and both of us found it engaging and not too easy or too challenging.

1 comments about The Little Oxford English-Urdu Dictionary.

1. This dictionary is perfect for classroom use. It provides the most commonly used words, phrases, and their translations. I recommend this product to all teachers who have Urdu-speaking students in the classroom.

3 comments about Urdu-English/English-Urdu Dictionary and Phrasebook: Romanized (Hippocrene Dictionary and Phrasebook) (Urdu Edition).

1. I found this phrase book a very useful tool. It is ideal for someone going abroad or working in a community setting. Also the romanized form is a good starting point for people initially learning the language.
   
   I have purchased two of these books as gifts and both recipients have spoken highly of it.



2. This is a very solid book for people who don't have the time or patience to figure out Urdu script! Covers a lot of essential material. Not sure what is going on with this other reviewer because he seems to have given a positive review but only 1 star? In any case, this probably works better than the lonely planet one if you are just interested in getting by with spoken Urdu and don't have a current need for learning other languages.



3. great book ! its romanized - no need to learn "urdu letters" , really nice for beginners (but not only) , contains: VERY basic grammar, pronunciation, alphabet, DICTIONARY UR-ENG/ENG-UR, phrasebook and little bit about culture (very intersting information!) . Small size, fits in the pocket. Highly recommended!
   for REAL urdu grammar, check here ---> Urdu: An Essential Grammar (Routledge Grammars) - great!

2 comments about Let's Study Urdu: An Introductory Course (Yale Language) (v. 1).

1. This is definitely not a book for beginners unless you are using it in a classroom. I have been studying Urdu for 3 years, and I can read the Urdu script. The book leans heavily on the Urdu script. If you are trying to use this book on your own, GOOD LUCK.
   The publisher did a lousy job putting this book together, sometimes they rely too much on the academia (they best), and turn what could have been a unique book into a not so unique book. The book needs to be restructured in order to be user-friendly.



2. If you already know Hindi then learning Urdu is mostly about learning a new alphabet and some new vocabulary. I've been studying Hindi since five years but noticed that there was a clear difference between my Hindi courses and Bollywood songs. Turns out that many of the songs were written by Muslims who would be speaking Urdu. And Let's Study Urdu includes song lyrics from both classic and rare Bollywood songs. No other language book that I know of does this. Also, this book has fun with the dialogs that are a full mix of Indian and Western reference (for example, Boston & Maharashtra, Shahrukh Kahn and Madonna). But one thing that totally knocked me over was that I'd been mispronouncing "ghazal" all these years (the GH is closer to a French R than an English GH). Now that I've been studying Urdu I feel like I know the Urdu-Hindi language better than I used to. My fondness for it is now much greater.

5 comments about Teach Yourself Urdu Complete Course (Book + 2CD's) (TY: Complete Courses).

1. This book and cd are much too difficult for me as a beginner. Learning a language should be listening and visually see as object or know what a phrase means. Written language doesn't come to children for 5- 6 years after hearing and seeing words and phrase or listening to sentences and commands.
   It would be nice to have a series which teaches in this manner.
   I once bought a children's book in Egypt that had a picture of a shoe, then a picture of a crayon.
   then the word was spelled below Shugron = Thank You. If they would have the pronunciation along with the pictures and spoken slowly for the learner to hear, we wouldn't give up so quickly.
   This series is not as advertised for a beginner. Sorry!
   If anyone knows where I might find children's books here in the States like the one mentioned above, i would greatly appreciate it. Shugron.



2. First of all, this book is not for people who just want to learn some useful phrases for a short trip to Pakistan or India (for that purpose, one should get the LP phrasebook, which will suffice). This book sets out by teaching the nasta'liq script, which apprears in most of publications, and covers most basic grammar and a useful set of everyday vocab. it may well be used for first year level intro to Urdu in an organized language program. In fact many college Hindi programs do use the TY Hindi as first year Hindi textbook.
   
   Up side of this book for a serious learner: it is compact and teaches you the script in a hard way--transliterations disappear in later lessons (I think this is particularly useful, becasue the nastaliq does appear to be harder to read than naskh, which is commonly used in printed Persian, but after getting used to the style one often find it easier to read nastaliq than Naskh, so the course actually give you a head start for reading Urdu); the book is compact, small and with very rich information.
   
   Down side for a serious learner: the texts are almost all covnersations, with very little information on other genres; Little complex grammatical usage is presented; the range of vocab presented is limited to basic day to day interaction. Thus after finish the entire book, one cannot expect to read newspaper headlines, journal articles, let alone simple literature. The reason for me to have this complaint is that there is really no textbook in print to teach students intermediate-advanced Urdu. That said, if you are serious about learning Urdu on yourself, this is probably the cheapest and most effective book you can get.



3. What I like about this book is the continuity of the dialogs. This course follows the vacation of John and Helen, husband and wife doctors from London. They meet a lot of very friendly people who invite them back to their homes and to their villages. Except for when Helen gets sick, they have an ideal vacation. Actually, since I have been studying Hindi for the past five years, I mostly listened to the CDs in the car, using this as an audio course for listening skills (meaning, getting the gist of the conversations and learning new words). I didn't neglect the book, however, because it is quite dog-eared now. In the evenings I reviewed the commentary on language and culture, and practiced decoding the script. Many reviewers have complained about the script in the book. They are right. The Urdu script is too small in the early edition. The font is larger in the updated edition but then the ink is too thick. So despite increasing the size, it still is rather mushy. But for the way I used the book, it was not so much a problem. So I still give this five stars.



4. this is a really good for all kinds of people. this is so amazing anybody can learn urdu perfectly. i love to recommend this book to anybody.



5. I am currently taking university courses in Urdu, and while I have a coursebook written by my teacher, I often am helped by Teach Yourself Urdu, especially when it comes to grammar questions and seeing certain words written in Nastaliq (the variety of the Arabic alphabet most often used with Urdu -- the coursebook is in Naskh script) as well as using the glossary provided (SINGULAR glossary- more on this later).
   
   If anyone has ever used Teach Yourself books to any extent, they will know that the binding quickly falls apart, and my poor TY Urdu book is no exception, espcially since I use it as a reference and flip through it often. While this isn't ideal, it has no reflection on the quality of the contents.
   
   I started to learn the script with this book, but I found Nastaliq to be very difficult when presented this way, and I became frustrated that I had no examples of handwritten Nastaliq but rather had to copy printed forms. So, I switched to learning the script with a few Arabic alphabet learning books, and worked on my handwriting.
   
   On the plus side, I like the general organization of the chapters, which follows Teach Yourself norms, of a dialogue or text followed by a vocab box, then grammar explanations, then exercises, then repeat once or twice with a culture note added in.
   
   The End Material as follows: Urdu-English Vocabulary, Answer Key, Appendix 1 - Numerals, Appendix 2 - Relations, Index. What is there I do appreciate- I use the Urdu-English Vocabulary fairly often, and I'm glad there is an answer key and the numbers 1-100 clearly laid out, but I would add many things.
   
   First: I have a very big problem with the fact that there is no English-Urdu Vocabulary. Second: I would have at least a cursory grammatical sketch, or preferably a usable grammatical reference with descriptions of noun declentions, verb conjugations, etc. Third: This may be pushing it, but I would also have a thematic vocabulary (I think thematic vocabularies are great).
   
   Despite all of these quibbles I still give this book four stars, because a diligent student can overcome any of the book's shortcomings with just a little extra work. The audio is very helpful; I would not suggest getting the books without the CDs. But, I do recommend the book to prospective learners or Urdu; it is a very good companion to a course, or with extra work I imagine it's a good introduction on its own.
   
   A note: I'm not completely sure at this point due to my level, but the language seems to be fairly strongly Pakistani Urdu, probably the Karachi standard. My interest lies in India, closer to the Delhi standard of Urdu, or even southern Indian Urdu (a.k.a. Dakhni, Deccani, Dakhani, etc) but I can't be very picky at this stage, and the Urdu of Pakistan seems to be eclipsing and other dialects of Urdu, so it would be good to know (and I imagine that's what most learners want to know anyways).

2 comments about Let's Study Urdu: An Introduction to the Script (Yale Language).

1. This book is the best available source for learning to read and write the Urdu alphabet. Even learners very familiar with the Arabic alphabet will find plenty that is surprising and difficult in the nastaliq script which is the script of choice for Urdu writing- different forms of some letters, lots of unfamiliar letters, and different ways of joining letters. It's a beautiful form of writing, but it takes a lot of practice, which this book offers. There's a CD too.



2. I've used other books - no complaint again the Teach Yourself Urdu Script - but now it is all clear to me. The different letter groups are taught in an easy to understand manner, the writing practice at the back is helpful, and the audio CD is very good because I can use it to grade myself on how well I cyphered out the practice words. And if you don't know Urdu script already, you will need it for the main Let's Study Urdu text book.