Beginning Kazakh (Critical Languages Series) [CD-ROM]

Ablahat Ibrahim (Author)

Book Description

Series: Critical Languages Series | Publication Date: January 1, 2000

Despite the fact that they are spoken by millions of people, languages such as Korean or Turkish are not usually offered in schools or colleges. The Critical Languages Program (CLP) at the University of Arizona was created to meet the need for interactive instruction in these less-commonly-taught languages. In order to meet the needs of a wide variety of learners who wish to gain proficiency in some of these languages, CLP has developed a series of CD-ROM courseware beginning with Brazilian Portuguese, Cantonese, Kazakh, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, and Turkish. CD-ROMs for other less-commonly-taught languages are planned for the future. Each package contains two CD-ROMs with a total of twenty lessons for the beginning learner, consisting of video dialogues and readings by native speakers, thousands of audio recordings, graphics, and extensive notes. Handy browser features enable users to go back and review words and pronunciations and to access five types of exercises: multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, audio flashcard, pronunciation, and listening dictation. These exercises enable users to test and improve their knowledge of each lesson. Learners with microphone-equipped computers can record and play back their own voices and then compare their pronunciation with that of the native speaker. With the click of a button, learners can hear native speakers pronounce words or phrases, facilitating quick comprehension of these challenging languages. Each package of two CD-ROMs contains the equivalent of a textbook and workbook with audio and video components, making it practical for either self-instruction or directed educational, governmental, and business purposes.





Works on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7. For more information, visit the UA Critical Languages Web site at http://clp.arizona.edu/cls/

Product Details

• CD-ROM
• Publisher: University of Arizona Critical Languages Program; Cdr edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929986025
• ISBN-13: 978-1929986026
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #694,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Turkish
  • #34 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Turkish
  • #65 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Slavic Languages

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Quantum Leap Forward!, December 6, 2000

By 

John R. Sharp (Monument, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning Kazakh (Critical Languages Series) (CD-ROM)

I have been studying Turkic languages on and off (mostly off) since 1981, have managed language programs for a number of years, and now teach and course direct in a Russian language program. I have also been a regular visitor to Central Asia. So I can say with some authority - these CD's are great! They are so much better than any other Kazakh materials (or those for any of the Turkic languages that I am familiar with), that I am sure the Dr. Ibrahim's course will quickly become a standard for anyone with a fairly serious interest in the language. As a teacher, I am sure this material could, with a bit of work, easily become the primary text for a good basic course in the language. Someone with only a passing interest in Kazakh should probably save their money and buy the Lonely Planet Central Asia phrasebook, but ex-pats, FSO's or students who would like to actually be able to say something in Kazakh should definitely cough up the money for this. On a personal note, I was pleasantly surprised to realize, upon receiving my CD's, that Ablahat Ibrahim was a TA at UW when I was a grad student there in the late 80's. I'm sure he has long forgotten me, but I still fondly remember this kind and patient teacher, and am glad to see he is still in the business of education. Kudos to him, the U. of Arizona, and anyone involved in funding this project.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really helpful piece of software, June 27, 2004

By 

J. E. S. Leake "sailor and scholar" (Offshore, Persian Gulf) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning Kazakh (Critical Languages Series) (CD-ROM)

I'm not sure why the previous reviewer thought "where is the book?" to be an artificial question - it's really rather a practical question. I ask it constantly, and sometimes it's "on the table". It's true the dialogues have the flavour of the language lab. But there are so many good things here - word-for-word or sentence-for-sentence translations at the click of a mouse, recordings played at word, sentence or paragraph level, concise grammatical notes where helpful. For me the best is the word-by-word then whole sentence "listen, repeat and then compare" drills that do help one improve one's pronunciation and fluency. And for a language that otherwise has only textbooks or books like "Learn the Kazakh language in 70 steps using 200 sentence models" (!), this is a fantastic aid.

[Stop press: Sept 2005] I've just been sent notice that intermediate and advanced courses are being released. I've not seen them, though.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All levels released, January 18, 2007

By 

Dogan Karaman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning Kazakh (Critical Languages Series) (CD-ROM)

I bought all three levels of this course in mid of 2006. The second and third levels are on DVD's instead of multiple CDs. The program is just excellent. Only missing thing is that they would add pdf books including the course material.