Colloquial Greek (Colloquial Series) [Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

Niki Watts (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415325129 | ISBN-13: 978-0415325127 | Publication Date: April 19, 2004 | Edition: 2

This second edition of Colloquial Greek has been completely revised and updated to make learning Greek easier and more enjoyable than ever before! These two 60-minute cassettes complement the book. Recorded by native speakers, this material will help you perfect your pronunciation, listening and speaking skills

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The first Greek language course we found that we felt could be handled on your own or with a partner to build on lessons, without the need for a teacher. The language points and grammar are all explained in plain English ... the explanations are clear and the book and tapes include useful examples, dialogues and exercises.' - Greek-o-File --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Language Notes

Text: English, Greek --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD: 384 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (April 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415325129
• ISBN-13: 978-0415325127
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,811,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars really awful, April 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Colloquial Greek: A Complete Language Course (Paperback) (Paperback)

I guess this book would rate one star because the cover is pretty. Otherwise it is so sloppily written and disorganized as to be unusable. Not only do words appear in the exercises that are not in the glossary in back, there are English to Greek exercises where the necessary Greek words have not been provided. More than once an English-to-Greek translation requires a grammatical construction (i.e., different case endings or different tense/mood) that has not been introduced. The tapes devote about four times as much airtime as necessary to the Greek alphabet (which is not at all difficult to learn) before they, too, wander off into the ozone. Many important questions of usage and grammar are dismissed as being "beyond the scope of this book." Almost anything beyond the Greek alphabet seems to be beyond the scope of this book.

I know this is harsh, but this book could be a real confidence-destroyer for some who hasn't had much experience with languages.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs a teacher, January 18, 2000

By 

D. P. Birkett (Suffern, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Colloquial Greek (Colloquial Series) (Audio Cassette)

I was baffled by the way the vocabulary for the reading pasaages was arranged. A list at the beginning and list at the end in no particular order. Not all the words are glossed, even in the vocabulary at the back of the book. The book gives no indication which passages are on the cassette. The cassette contains too much irrelevant English filler.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Look for updated version, November 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Colloquial Greek (Colloquial Series) (Audio Cassette)

There is a later edition of this fine book/audio combination that came out in January of 1995. Ms. Watts has been around the Greek language and its instruction for quite awhile under different publishing houses and has consistenly produced fine instructional material. The Colloquial series by Routledge and the Greek in Three Months by Hugo series are both done by Ms. Watts. If you can, go to your local bookstore and compare the Colloquial, the Greek in Three Months and the Teach Yourself Series. While each is fairly comprehensive, one may be more suited to your liking. The Hugo series was updated in 1998, so at the time of this writing, Nov. '99, it is Ms. Watts' most recent offering. Whatever you do, always get the audio companion to the book.