26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best available even if not the best imaginable, April 26, 2003
This review is from: Colloquial Slovak: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series) (Paperback)
I learned Slovak with this book and now read at an intermediate level and speak at a beginning level. I've been to Slovakia several times and successfully used what I learned. The cassettes provided pronunciation guides and speaking practice that work in Bratislava (I can't vouch for other dialects). What more do you want from a language book?
Some of the other reviewers criticize this book for not being a systematic grammar. That's fair, since it's not a systematic grammar (though it does have grammar tables in the appendix). By introducing some major grammar points gradually over several chapters, it can be frustrating as a reference source.
As a learning tool, however, there's a lot to be said for introducing things slowly. If you work systematically through this book and its exercises, and repeat (or memorize) dialogues, you'll learn Slovak. Some of the material is boring ("Zuzka hears a train crossing the bridge") though Naughton occasionally livens things up ("Don't be afraid! Kiss me!"). I'm not sure that any language-book texts can really be exciting. However, if I were giving Naughton advice, I'd add more paragraph-length texts about Slovakia and its people, along the lines of the Bratislava texts late in the book.
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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, November 24, 1999
I've been looking for such a book for a very long time. My grandfather is from Slovakia and the only word I coud tell him were in Czech or Polish. The book shows clearly how the language works. Good tapes also. Slovak language deserved such a good book.
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just a phrase book - Finally some real help., October 25, 1998
By A Customer
This set of tapes and the book was just what I was looking for. I wasn't just looking for another phrase book telling me how to say, "Where is the train station?" This set actually teaches you the basics of how to speak the language. Finally some real help. I highly recommend it.
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