Barron's Mastering Greek: Book and 12 Cassettes (The Foreign Service Institute Language Series) [Audio Cassette]

Foreign Service Language Institute (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1988

This is the same course developed by the Foreign Service Language Institute to train diplomats and other government personnel. An in-depth course for students, the program stresses development of conversational skill, vocabulary, pronunciation and mastery of grammar. The twelve cassettes emphasize use of the spoken language through intensive drills, and the book uses written exercises to help students master grammar and the written language.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; Book and Cassette edition (February 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812074777
• ISBN-13: 978-0812074772
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9.4 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #184,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Books on Cassette > Languages > Greek
  • #7 in Books > Books on Cassette > Nonfiction > General
  • #25 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Greek > Instruction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but needs to be updated, October 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Barron's Mastering Greek: Book and 12 Cassettes (The Foreign Service Institute Language Series) (Audio Cassette)

The lessons in Mastering Greek provide a good introduction to the modern Greek language, but the material is badly in need of updating.

When I'm studying any foreign language there are three areas that I want to master, pronounciation, vocabulary, and grammer. I also like material that provides some cultural background.

For learning pronounciation, the cassettes are quite useful. The more the better, and this series has a lot. If the series is ever updated, I'd prefer to see the cassettes replaced by CDs.

This is also the only Greek language instruction I could find that provides a systematic introduction to Greek grammer. This is not the usual phrase book with a few pages on grammer at the back of the book. Still the material is not as complete as I would like. And again, this part needs to be updated. There are actually two modern Greek languages, Katheravousa and Demotic. Katheravousa is more formal and conservative, while Demotic is the product of the natural evolution of the language. Mastering Greek has tried to make a compromise between the two languages, even though Demotic has been the official language of the Republic of Greece for more than two decades. To truly master Greek grammer you'll also need an up-to-date Greek grammer reference. You'll have to look long and hard for this though, as most Greek grammers cover Classical Greek rather than the modern language.

My biggest complaint is with the vocabulary and how it is introduced. Each unit has one or more conversations or narratives, and new vocabulary is introduced at the point where it is first used. I would prefer to see all the new vocabulary for a unit consolidated in one location either at the start or end of the unit. This would make it easier to review the vocabulary for that unit. In addition there doesn't seem to be any systematic approach to introduction of new words. I would expect to see the Greek for mother, father, sister, brother all introduced in the same unit. Instead they are spread out over several units. The same is true for other groups of related words. Finally there is an emphasis in the vocabulary on words that would be useful for employees of the American government in Greece, particularly in Athens. It's reasonable to introduce the Greek equivalent of station in the second unit, but not embassy and consulate.

One last comment about the need to update the material. In one unit Chania is said to be the capital of Crete. This hasn't been true since 1971 when the capital was moved to Iraklio.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to learn real Greek, August 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Barron's Mastering Greek: Book and 12 Cassettes (The Foreign Service Institute Language Series) (Audio Cassette)

This has been one of the best books I've ever gotten (though the tapes are good, too). If you want to know why some Greek things are said the way they are or how to say the right thing in Greek, this is the way to go. It tells you what you're actually saying in parenthesis like: for "I will give you a lift" it shows you that you must actually say "I will go you with the car". In the first lessons, everything is written with english letters, then later it changes gradually to Greek so you know how to say everything. One thing to know is that the talking on the tapes is very fast (to be fluent) and the grammar somewhat confusing, but that's to be expected. In each unit the words are said in Greek twice as you read along, then sentences are said. After that, only the sentences are spoken. If you only want to learn a little Greek, this isn't really what you need, but if you want to know how to really speak the language and find out how to conjugate verbs, decline adjectives to the gender of the nouns, and memorize the many different ways to say "the" then this is for you. It's the only book I've found that explains Greek in a way I can understand and isn't just a tiny phrasebook.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars stogolosu, July 18, 2003

By 

brian (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barron's Mastering Greek: Book and 12 Cassettes (The Foreign Service Institute Language Series) (Audio Cassette)

I learned very quickly with this program and my pronunciation is incredible. I worked at a Greek restaurant and they were thoroughly impressed with my accent and for the fact that I did not speak in a vulgar fashion. I have had no prior experience speaking any Greek and due to this book and the audio cassettes I speak wonderfully.
I only have one negative point to make about this program and that is you need to really pay attention to the alphabet. Relatively early in the book it converts completely to Greek with no English to help you out. I had to stop my constant studying because the alphabet gave me serious problems. I simply could not read Greek, but I could say a ton! But...for what I did study I still know like the back of my hand. The repetitive structure drills it into you where you will not forget it. I give it 4 stars:)