Beginner's Swedish (Hippocrene Beginner's) [Paperback]

Scott Mellor (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0781809517 | ISBN-13: 978-0781809511 | Publication Date: November 2002

This beginner's course presents the basics of Swedish, spoken in Sweden and some other areas of Finland, in situational lessons and a step-by-step format. 'Beginner's Swedish' includes vocabulary sections, useful expressions, pronunciation tips, comprehensive grammar, sections on comparative etymology with English, and the brief outlines of information about Swedish culture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books (November 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0781809517
• ISBN-13: 978-0781809511
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,398,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Swedish

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid offering, March 22, 2009

By 

Chris A. Christopherson "christcr" (Provo, UT USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beginner's Swedish with 2 Audio CDs (Paperback)

Okay, in light of the last two reviews, let's try to get some balance here:

I have come to the point in my language learning pursuits that I am so very tired of `trained' language professionals touting the benefits of `modern' language learning techniques. If you compare the actual techniques of `modern methods' with techniques used in the past, you will find two things: first, the logical, orderly presentation of concepts that were once found in texts is gone. Second, you will find that the material is `dumbed down.' Sorry... there is really no other way of putting it. Luckily, this book is not written in that fashion.

Beginner's Swedish has audio CD's to attune your ear (and tongue) to the sounds of Swedish, but unlike most `modern style' offerings, it also does a wonderful job of presenting the material in a sequential, orderly, logical, graded fashion. Many books these days are all over the place: they introduce grammar concepts randomly and incompletely (if at all), and they offer little, if any, practice to aid in remembering the material. Not this book. Each chapter has two dialogs, a list of vocabulary, a list of phrases, logically sequenced grammar, an etymological comparison of Swedish and English, cultural notes, and although it could use more, it does have a good number of exercises. The CD has audio for each dialog, the phrases, and the vocabulary lists.

What this book will not do is pamper you. It will not show you silly, Dick and Jane style, time-wasting cartoons. Rather, it will teach you the language in an efficient, comprehensive manner, if you are willing to put in the time and effort. It does not insult your intelligence and treat you as if you have a learning disability. It won't treat you like a parrot or an infant. It will treat you as an intelligent adult who wants to learn the language. If you can handle that, you'll like this book.

Keep in mind though, that a good book like this is only one facet of learning a language. You basically need to barrage yourself with everything that you can find: read websites, listen to internet radio, find dual language books, find someone to practice with, listen to the language constantly; even if you don't understand, you are getting the sounds of the language in your head. Get a grammar book. Study. Study. Study. And above all, do not believe the hype about modern methods taking you to fluency in two weeks. Not gonna happen. In fact, truth be told, learning languages using 'modern techniques' is quite a bit slower than using traditional methods.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I wouldn't call it "Beginner's Swedish", April 5, 2007

By 

E. Campbell "excellentwyldstallyns" (Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginner's Swedish with 2 Audio CDs (Paperback)

While this book and 2 CD set is well laid-out and nicely presented, I feel that the title is very misleading. Although no previous knowledge of the Swedish language is assumed, this book is certainly not for the beginner. Even in the first chapter, a huge vocabulary is introduced to the reader. This includes words which I am fairly sure no beginner would particularly need to know, complex grammar properties and basically far too much material. For the complete beginner like me, it was very overwhelming. I would warn prospective buyers that it would be exceptionally easy to become disheartened with the content of this book.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly surprised, May 23, 2008

By 

MPC (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginner's Swedish with 2 Audio CDs (Paperback)

I'm halfway through this Beginner's Swedish. I've studied other Swedish lesson books with audiocassettes, but this Swedish language book is really enjoyable. It has conversations with clear, easy-to-the-ear voices. After each lesson is either a bit about etymology, history, culture, economy or just everyday life, etc. It has useful phrases, and vocabulary, too. So well done! Love it! If there's the next level by Scott Mellor, I'll buy it.