2 comments about Elmer's Day (English-Urdu) (Elmer series).

1. Elmer's day is a wonderful book for toddlers. My son loves this book because he can "read" a word on every page. Elemr looks different from normal elephants with his multi-colored skin, however many ordinary-looking elephant are also depicted. I think that although this book will not be a favorite for a long time, it is great for 1 1/2 years olds because they like the simple drawings, bright colors, and the familiar context.



2. I'm disappointed in the Elmer series in Urdu. I would only recommend it to people who couldn't get a hold of anything else - and that's the only reason I might get a couple of others in the series. The translation is not good. I complained to the publisher but they stood their ground and claimed that the translator was an educationist. I'm sorry but they need to get a better translation. "A shower wakes Elmer up" is translated as "paani ki avaz se Elmer ki aankh khul jaati hai." It's not the sound of water but a SHOWER (nahaana) that wakes him up! It's so basic. The other thing I dislike about it is that it is English-centric. The story is not appropriate for an urdu translation anyway. "Lines" is "lakeerain" in Urdu, not "lineain." How hard is it to find a story with words that are colloquial in Urdu? Despite good production value, I am disappointed in this series and would rather order stuff from Pakistan when my kid is willing to read without ripping a paper-book apart.

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1 comments about The Rough Guide to Hindi & Urdu Phrasebook 2 (Rough Guide Phrasebooks).

1. Except for having studied some classical Sanskrit, I don't know much about Indian subcontinnental languages like Urdu and Hindi, except that Urdu is the main language in Pakistan and Hindi is probably the same for India, despite the many more languages spoken there. I'd never seen a book covering both of the languages before, so I checked it out, and this looks to be an excellent little phrasebook and dictionary.

   You can learn a lot even from a little book like this, and it turns out Hindi and Urdu are mostly mutually intelligible, although written in different alphabets, Urdu using the Permo-Arabic script and Hindi using the old Devenagari alphabet, or more accurately, syllabary.

   The book starts out with a 30-page section giving basic info such as a pronunciation guide and an intro to the grammar. It also includes common phrases, numbers, telling tiem, and so on. Most of the book is taken up by the dictionary and phrasebook, but interspersed throughout there are sidebars that provide extra info. Often these are cultural tips on such things as customs, etiquette, and slang, but occasionally you get some grammar, too.

   Finally, there is a reference section in the back with sections on signs and notices, how to read menus and food items, numbers, place names, road signs, public holidays, and many others, in both the Hindi and Urdu. Also, although as I said they're very similar languages, any words or phrases that are only for on Language are indicated by a "U" or "H."

   The text uses "keyword referencing" for the dictionary, so if you need to find out how to ask for a hotel room, you just go to the "hotel" section in the dictionary and look for that word, and then you can find the phrase from there.

   I also learned some interesting things about the grammar, such as that there are only two genders and two noun cases in Urdu and Hindi, the direct and the oblique. What we call prepositions occur as postpositions, or after the noun, and pronouns lack gender, so there is no "he" or "she." The verb has the same tenses as English and most Indo-European languages, which are strong on time relationships in general (unlike, for example, Arabic and Japanese, which lack a true future tense and are not especially detailed in this regard), and so there are past, present, future, past continuous, past perfect, past imperfect, etc., tenses, as well as the indicative, imperative and subjunctive moods as well.

   Given all the features and at 240 pages, it's a lot of information in one little book. And at six and a half dollars, the price is right. The paper is also higher quality than I've seen in other small, inexpensive phrasebooks. All in all, I think this is a great little dictionary/phrasebook book for the price from the Rough Guide.

4 comments about Elmer's Colours (English-Urdu) (Elmer series).

1. When I picked this book from the shelf I was immediately entranced by the extraordinary illustration of an elephant named Elmer. It wasn't so much that I thought my daughter would enjoy the read, I knew I would. Elmer is a character that I'd never encountered before, but the idea of a patchwork elephant struck me as simple but brilliant. Anyway, last Wednesday evening my daughter became the testing ground for this work. She was delighted the moment the book was opened. On the first page we see our patchwork elephant against the backdrop of rainbow colours. And what is he thinking? You can tell from the gorgeous red hearts which represent his thoughts that he is truly in love with colour. His colourful and amusing journeys, which would delight any child, include seeing a snowman, balancing fruit on his trunk and eating a popsicle at the beach. This book can be enjoyed by a very young child with the attention getting colours and shapes and by the same child when they later reach the reading stage. Having read Elmer's Colours I've now determined to track down the other titles in the series.



2. The Turkish and English are not translated faithfully. I bought this book for my bilingual daughter and was dissapointed that it had errors. She likes the pictures though.



3. The book has a very funny translation. We had to retranslated
   every page and sticked it over-
   
   Diem-Tu



4. I like that this book has both languages, but thought the story and vocabulary were pretty weak. My daughter wasn't very interested. I wish amazon had Boynton or Eric Carle avaliable in Italian.

2 comments about Rama and the Demon King: An Ancient Tale from India (Urdu-English Bilingual Edition).

1. Whether you are familiar with the Ramayana or not, this is a wonderful introduction to the main plot and characters. My 4-yr old daughter likes this story and actually has grown to love it more. It is very difficult to create a kid-friendly version that is nonviolent but also educational. Jessica Souhami does a wonderful job. I hope such a book will come out regarding the Mahabharta.



2. My children have loved this book since I purchased it about 2 years ago (they are now 4 and 6). The illustrations are wonderful and the story beautifully told. I would highly recommend this to any parent for their young children.

1 comments about The Lucky Grain of Corn (English-Urdu) (Veronique Tadjo).

1. I bought the English and Arabic and French versions. I hope to get the Somali and Vietnamese versions too. I love the way the book provides beautiful African stories and makes them accesible to readers of many languages. Thanks!

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