Customer Reviews

Introduction to the Croatian and Serbian Language

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'd instruct readers not to get discouraged or confused by certain opinions. The title of the book says "Intro to Croatian AND Serbian..." not Serbo-Croatian language. The author clearly states that these lanuages differ like American English and British English, and treats them like that. The book is excellent starting point for anyone who wants to learn how to speak Serbian or Croatian. It has an excellent pronunciation guide. I even know people of that origin who learn from this excellent book. For these and other reasons I highly recommend it.

This book is not at all useful if you are trying to teach yourself the language; it may be useful in a classroom or as a reference. It is not organized for the person who is trying to learn conversational Croatian or Serbian. The dialogues are not immediately applicable to travel situations, and the audio cassettes are terrible; speakers speak at full speed and leave no time for the listener to try to repeat the phrases. The stilted dialogues are reminiscent of the old Chinese government texts for learning Mandarin.

Magner's book is one of several I have used for language instruction and reference in the last months, and I find it more complete and easier to use that any other self-study book in print. A close second is the Routledge book, but Magner's index and dictionary are far superior. The book is good as both a reference and as a beginning textbook. Excercises are given in both the latin and cyrillic variants, and represent the two major standard dialects (ijekavian/ekavian) they are associated with, so that the student has a choice or may become familiar with both. Overall, this is the most compact and useful book of its kind on the market. Highly recommended for students and linguists. The grammatical explanations are not very elaborate, but the examples given for the individual topics under discussion are among the more useful that i have seen.

In preparation for a visit to Serbia, I have been learning Serbian. The first book I purchased did such a terrible job of distinguishing Serbian from Croatian, that I felt I needed a text which made the distinctions more transparent. Magner's book has some flaws, but at the very least, he clearly indicates where Serbian varies from Croatian, and he provides very direct parrallel texts to illustrate the differences. Magner's failure is in the grammar which is separated from the narrative text and quite dense. I have studied many languages, and even so, sometimes find the style and presentation of the grammar lacking clarity. In his defense, Magner did not intend this book for the casual tourist/learner and I imagine that with a teacher the combination of excellent original source texts, grammar and glossary would be unsurpassed. A very good book for the serious student, but tourists should look elsewhere.

Yes, indeed, this must have been one of the best books on Croatian and Serbian languages in the 70s and 80s, but not any more. The author needs to be aware of more recent changes in the two languages, and include them in the new edition. He needs to include examples from current literature (newspapers, etc), and keep his beliefs on politics and linguistics to himself. Only the Serbs and Croats can decide how they will speak and write. The author should actually write two books: An Introduction to Serbian Language and An Introduction to Croatian Language; he is a good writer and he is capable of achieving this quite easily.

I've searched for a reference text to use to learn Serb/Croat while living here in the Balkans. Once I showed two local friends of mine this text, they both encouraged me to use it to continue my education here. Tonight, I'm purchasing a second copy for yet another expat for her use too!

This book is full of information, and is for those who seriously want to speak the language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. It addresses grammatical, vocabulary, and alphbetical differences of the two main dialectical variations - Eastern and Western (though I wish they would refrain from using the labels "Croatian" and "Serbian").

The book covers vocabulary and expains the language in detail. It includes an extensive glossary and a number of essays for reading practice. It goes way beyond the basic tourist phrases.

Though it can be a bit dry and doesn't take the snappy, fun approach of some other language instruction books, it is very useful, clear, and compete. A rarity for books on this language.

PROS:
- Succint and clear notes on grammar. Indeed the book is useful long after you have completed the exercises as the explanations are excellent for future reference.
- Plenty of exercises (30 chapters - 3 to 5 sets of exercises per chapter. Each set has between 5 and 10 questions)
- Balanced treatment of Croatian and Serbian standards. The dialogues are presented in both versions and differing tendencies in usage by Croats and Serbs are noted in the grammatical notes and vocabulary lists where applicable. All of these still show that the similarities between the speech of educated Croats and Serbs still outweigh the differences.
- Interesting but dated notes on culture (useful as a way of comparing the situation in the 1970s and 1980s with that of 2007)
- Tapes are available for the dialogues (may need to do a little searching through Audio-Forum in order to find them)

CONS:
- A little dry and dialogues in certain parts may seem a bit stilted.
- Some of my friends in Croatia have pointed out that a few of the words presented as Croatian in the book are instead Serbian (is this a political judgement by them, perhaps?).
- No answer key to the exercises thus you'll need a native speaker to correct your answers to the exercises and get feedback on your progress.

When used in conjunction with a native speaker of Croatian or Serbian and comparable courses such as "Teach Yourself Croatian" or "Teach Yourself Serbian", Magner's course is an excellent resource for learning Croatian or Serbian and I highly recommend it if you will use it in this way.

I teach Bosnian at FSI (Foreign Service Institute)and I have extensive experience in teaching this language. From what I have seen, currently available, this is the best guide to learning the predominant language of the former Yugoslavia with concise examples of both the eastern and western variant of the language, a good grammar reference, index and lessons tailored to speakers of the English language. I highly recommend it to anyone studying or teaching this language. Excelently done.

I have studied several languages in the past, and have never been able to rely on a single book for all my needs in that language. This text provides just that. It is a self-explanatory textbook that was a welcome companion as I learned the Serbian and Croatian languages, and is an excellent reference material when I need to review.