Estonian Textbook: Grammar Exercises Conversation (Indiana University Uralic and Altaic, Vol 159) [Hardcover]

Juhan Tuldava (Author), Ain Haas (Author, Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Estonian (translation)
Original Language: Swedish, Estonian

Product Details

• Hardcover: 379 pages
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Research (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0933070349
• ISBN-13: 978-0933070349
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,253,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple, practical, and logical, October 24, 2001

By 

C. Wang "reader" (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Estonian Textbook: Grammar Exercises Conversation (Indiana University Uralic and Altaic, Vol 159) (Hardcover)

Juhan Tuldava did a excellent job when compiling this Estonian Grammar Textbook. Many textbooks fail to have the methodical and logical methods that this textbook possesses. This book is good for both beginners and American-Estonian readers, as well as being a useful grammatical and educational tool for those who immigrated to the states as children and need some grammatical structure to their oral competence. Containing both colloquial expressions and language, pronunciation guides, Estonian-english dictionary, as well as guide to idiomatic and more formal language, this will give the reader a very firm understanding of the Estonian language. In every chapter this textbook includes grammatical concepts, a text to sharpen reading abilities, vocabulary lists of and average length of 50-100 words, expressions, and excercises to increase competence. The texts are often written in humorous terms and are enjoyable to read. Even for those with no interest in a thorough study of Estonian grammar will find they can expand their repertoire of conversational phrases and common sayings conveniently indexed. If you have any interest in learning more about the Estonian language indepedently or in a classroom setting, this is the ideal book to buy.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best course in Estonian - and in any language, February 11, 2005

By 

Language learner (Aberystwyth - Wales / Cymru) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Estonian Textbook: Grammar Exercises Conversation (Indiana University Uralic and Altaic, Vol 159) (Hardcover)

I can only agree with the other reviewers, this course is exceptionally good. Due to both a personal interest in languages and a work that include language coverage, I've gone through well over 300 language courses in my days. Even though it's a though race, I would say this is best language course ever written. The amount of vocabulary introduced to the learner exceeds most other course; after finishing this course you will know about twice as many words as after finishing the average Colloquial course and three times as many as after an average Teach Yourself course. The Estonian language, being one of the few languages in Europe not belonging to the Indo-European language family, has got a grammatical system that might seem daunting for English speakers - and for most other Europeans. Tuldava succesfully manages to introduce all of the Estonian grammar in this course, and he has split it up into the right portions of new grammar in each lesson. You constantly feel that you are progressing while never feeling overwhelmed. The lay-out is clear and userfriendly, the vocabulary lists of each lesson are put into two nice tables. And finally, there are many exercises AND answers to all the exercises (surprisingly enough, many authors of language courses ignore giving the answers to the exercises).

If there was a Nobel Prize for writing language courses, I believe it should go to Tuldava. Prospective authors of a language course would do well to use this course as their model.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jah, ma räägin natuke eesti keelt nüüd!, December 9, 2007

By 

Satu (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Estonian Textbook: Grammar - Exercises - Conversation (Paperback)

After hearing good reviews from friends while studying in Tallinn, I finally found a copy of 'Estonian Textbook' on Amazon - it was sold out in all the bookstores I checked, including Raava Raamat (equivalent of Borders).

I'm impressed by the 'bite sized' lessons which don't take a lot of time or energy to complete, but contain a very detailed outline of grammar and a decent amount of vocabulary. The satisfaction of being able to understand the short reading passage at the end of a lesson without looking at the vocabulary alone is well worth the book's price tag.

Väga hea!