Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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:)

I know how frustrating it is to find good material to learn Greek; therefore, I am sorry to say that this book/tape combo has major problems. The first problem, as has been noted in previous reviews, is the print, which looks as if it was photocopied from a typescript circa the 1950s. Hard to read.

But the second, more serious problem, is with the spelling, including the use of accents. This book has not been updated to the new, monotonic system of accents. In addition, old spellings (e.g., the use of [eeta] for -ei in the subjunctive) are used.

If you are using this series primarily for the audio content, these problems will be less apparent.

Totally excellent set. My wife is Greek and this was the best of about 5 books i tried by miles!I am a teacher myself and found the organisation of material excellent and very user friendly. Would recommend it to anyone. Easy to use and i found i learned it very quickly. Wish i could find Hebrew language in this series

I have recently moved to Greece and purchased this book and audio tape set to help me learn Greek.

The main problem is the layout of the book. It looks like each page has been typed on a manual typewriter then photocopied. The print is poor and at times, impossible to read and there are also spelling mistakes.

It is not an easy book to follow and doesn't make learning the language an easy task. The English language used is complex and not in laymans terms for the average indiviual, making learning the language a chore.

The Greek vocabulary lists contain words that are not translated into English alongside and when shown to a native, they weren't even sure of some of the words themselves! The speed of the conversation on the audio tapes is also very fast and difficult to follow with no symbols in the book to advise when the tape should be used

I needed an easy to follow, step by step course in basic Greek, but unfortunatley this package did not suit my needs. Very disappointing.

It looks as though the book I have recieved is a set of photocopies of photocopies of photocopies made over the 20 or so years since this course was developed. The tapes, likewise, seem to be copies of copies of copies.

The material seems to be sound, though...from what I can make out.

As a student of languages I have found the physical print and form of this book very difficult to follow.....the translation from Greek to English did not follow the script......and requires constant review to enable the student to build a vocabulary that is useful and the follow up conversational aspects lacks discipline......The 1988 edition perhaps is good for 1988...but unlike wine that matures in taste.This book is close to turning to a taste of vinegar.

I would like any recommendations that anyone has as an alternative to this course.....Thanks