Customer Reviews

Intensive Bulgarian, Vol. 1: A Textbook & Reference Grammar

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is an excellent aid to learn Bulgarian. However, unless you have a linguistic and/or Russian background, it will be difficult to teach yourself from this book. This book really requires a classroom environment for those not linguistically gifted. Also, the book needs tapes so that one could hear the pronunciation. Answer keys to the exercises also would help. Overall though, the grammar is well presented. The cultural notes are also very interesting and useful.

Outstanding book for those who want to improve their knowledge of Bulgarian (not recommended for beginners).
Each lesson features a Dialog, Basic Grammar with lots of examples, Exercises, and Additional Grammar Notes.
The Additional Grammar Notes contain a wealth of great information.

Each lesson concludes with Sample Sentences, Sentences for Translation, Reading Selection(s), and a Glossary.
The glossary entries point out irregular endings. All Bulgarian words are written in Cyrillic and the accent is clearly marked.
Most lessons have interesting Cultural Commentaries which provide great insight into Bulgarian culture and customs.

I didn't like the fact that there are no answers to the Exercises, but the book is so good, that this is just a minor oversight.

Great book. Highly recommended.

This book is definetly the most comprehensive and clear grammar available for the Bulgarian Grammar. It clearly delineates all the major rules and even has notes on many of the minor rules. Some of the rules I was even unaware of(I lived in Bulgaria for two years) This is a two volume set, so make sure you get both volumes. It is a tad expensive bying tswo volumes but it is a much better deal than buying any of those other books. THere is some techincal terms to learn but nothing out of the ordinary for one embarking on serious language study. If you just want a phrasebook to learn some quick words for your three days in Bulgaria then this is probably not what you are looking for. However, if you are serious about learning Bulgarian well then this is the only place to start.

Ronelle Alexander's "Intensive Bulgarian" is the finest language textbook I have ever used. Chapter by chapter, vocabulary and grammatical concepts are introduced in a logical sequence, with extraordinarily lucid explanations, examples and dialogues. Each chapter has two grammar sections: The first gives the basic usage of the new constructs, and the second goes into greater linguistic detail. The second section could be skipped by the casual learner, but is very useful to the more dedicated student or anyone interested in the more technical aspects of Bulgarian grammar. Insightful cultural notes in each chapter give the student a better understanding of contemporary Bulgarian culture and help to put the language into context, something often lacking in foreign language textbooks.

I would highly recommend "Intensive Bulgarian, Vol. 1" for any instructor teaching an intensive course or any motivated student who wants to learn Bulgarian on her own, particularly if she wants a deeper linguistic appreciation of the language.

this is one of the best introductory books ever written on such a topic.clearly written, superbly arranged in chapters, a step-by-step introduction to a superb language.for those who have access to other Slavic languages or to PIE background this book is a blessing.one can finally learn Bulgarian by him/herself.a final remark: I would say that some linguistic background(a 101 class) might be necessary, but I do think that even w/o it one can easily learn Bulgarian from this superb textbook.
congratulations to the author.

I received the book quickly and at a great price since I purchased it in combination with Vol. 2. The book has been very useful in my study of the Bulgarian language. It is a college level study, so keep in mind that you'll need a good understanding of English to learn Bulgarian with this book.

Unfortunately, it seems that materials for learning Bulgarian are far and few between. I have found limited (adequate) sources online for learning Bulgarian (on both English and German websites), and this book seems to be the best of its kind. Although I am only on chapter 2 of the book, I find the grammar explanations to be simple, and for the most part, easy to follow. I also find the format of the book to be very user-friendly. Each chapter begins with a short dialogue, which introduces the new grammatical concepts and vocabulary for the chapter. I find it useful to read through this dialogue a few times before reading through the chapter, and then reading it again before moving to the next chapter, to make sure that I understand its contents. In addition, a nice glossary of vocabulary words and phrases is included with the conclusion of each chapter. The inclusion of verb conjugations for numerous persons (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc) is nice as well.

This book also seems to be great, from a cultural standpoint. I am fortunate enough to have the help of a Bulgarian woman, who works through the book with me. She helps me correct my pronunciation (though I think that audio Cds may be available for purchase as well), and also points out the significance of the inclusion of certain words in the book. To learn how to say "There's a draft" in chapter 1 is not as strange as it seems for an American, she told me, as culturally, this comes up a lot in Bulgaria. The only downside is that my tutor has found a few mistakes so far in the book (or so she believes), but this sort of thing occurs with 99% of language books on the market.

Overall, one gets what he or she pays for, and in terms of Bulgarian textbooks, this one seems to be the best on the market for the serious student. For those people who just want to learn a few phrases for a vacation, the Teach Yourself Bulgarian book might be a better match. However, for someone who does not just want to learn how to put together a limited number of set phrases on "survival" topics, and for someone who wants to get his or her hands dirty and gain an understanding of the grammar behind the language, then this is definitely the better book.

Since there is nothing as good, this is the way to go. But, it could have been organized a bit better. You definitely need someone to help explain things and other resources from time to time.
However, if you have studied other languages in depth before, you can make this work.

This is a very good book to study the bulgarian language. Step by step you can adcquire a basic knowledge of this language with exercises and well explained grammar.