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| AUTHOR: | Alan Yates |
| CATEGORY: | Book |
| MANUFACTURER: | NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company |
| ISBN: | 0844237558 |
| TYPE: | Catalan language, Conversations and phrases, Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books, Grammar, Miscellaneous, Romance Languages, Self-instruction, Spanish, Spanish: Adult Nonfiction |
| MEDIA: | Paperback |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
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Customer Reviews of Catalan (Teach Yourself)
Nice book I have really learned a lot from this book. Sad that it doesn't come with a pronunciation tape or CD. However,it will help you learn basic Catalan. It will also give you and idea of the countries that speak Catalan and the culture of this language.
IF ....
It is a great book if you want to learn some Catalan, specially if you plan on going to Barcelona or Catalunya or know people that speak the language!
A great book even without the cassettes
The main feature of "Teach Yourself Catalan" is that, unlike the rest of the titles in the series, it shies away from focusing on "tourist" language and, instead, assumes that you want to learn Catalan for its own sake. Yates teaches you grammar, not nifty phrases. (After all, why go to the trouble of learning Catalan so you can ask for a hot dog when you can ask for it in Spanish?) Yet instead of cramming the book full of tedious and confusing grammar rules, Yates gets right to the point and illustrates these rules with a mountain of good old-fashioned sentences -- first in Catalan, then in translation right below it (which, if you ask me, is the best way to study any foreign language.) Nor does he clutter up the book with frivolous exercises -- you'll find some exercises at the end of each chapter, but they're very useful. Also, the print is legible.
All the reviewers below mentioned that the book suffered from the lack of audiocassettes. It does, but that's not a reason not to buy it. First of all, there's not much else out there. Second, if you're familiar with the pronunciation of a couple of other Romance languages and know the phonetic alphabet, you shouldn't have any problem with Catalan. (Yates actually transcribes a small section, "Lunch at Montserrat", into the phonetic alphabet). Otherwise, I recommend browsing the internet for some audio clips or, naturally, finding a native speaker.
I recommend this book, but if you're willing to spring for more money (or check at your library), you might want to find the weighty tome (at least in hardback) "Catalan: A Comphrehensive Grammar", also by Alan Yates. Its format is essentially the same "Teach Yourself Catalan", but it's about twice as long, so you can get a lot more out of it. (Beware, though -- it has no introduction AT ALL to pronunciation).
I've been revving up to do some travel in the Pyrenees and the Balearic Islands and have found that while I don't really NEED to know any Catalan, this book has helped me get a much better feel for the fascinating culture of Catalonia.