Customer Reviews

Nepali for Trekkers: 90 Minutes of Phrases and Vocabulary

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

 

 

I am using the tape in my car to learn vocabulary and find the pronunciacion clear, and definitely useful as Nepali sounds are different enough from English that it is difficult to know how to read a word correctly. I like to learn many words, then phrases at the beginning of my study of a language, and this tape has been helpful, even in it's limited nature. 4 Stars because it is good - and accurate to it's title

I put the casette on my car stereo and listened to it about 100 times before my trip. When I got to Nepal, I had developed an "ear" for the sound of the language (the tape has a Nepali native speaker pronouncing the words) but not much vocabulary or grammar. The phrases in this book are, as promised, oriented towards trekking (asking directions, hiring porters etc..) so they are not quite what you need for social chit-chat. However, in conjunction with the vocabulary in the back of "The Nepal Handbook" by Kerry Moran, I had a good foundation for basic communication. I spent six weeks in Nepal and learning a little bit of language really made the trip a whole lot more fun even though you could get along fairly well there speaking only English. I was definitely glad that I took the time to use this language tape since it helped me pick up the language a lot faster once I got to Nepal, but don't expect it to stand alone as your only source for learning Nepali language.

This out-of-print book is advertised as "Language Tape and Phrase Book". When it arrived from a used book seller there was ONLY THE PHRASE BOOK, which is next to useless WITHOUT THE TAPES that allow you to hear the correct pronunciation. I immediately returned the book to the seller. Hopefully my next credit card will show the refund. The phrase book itself is OK, but it's dishonest to advertise it as coming with the language tapes when it does not.

I put this tape in my car stereo and listened to it about 100 times before my trip. When I got to Nepal I found that I had developed an "ear" for the sound of the language (a Nepali native speaker reads the words)but was pretty weak in vocabualry and grammar. As advertised, the phrases are oriented towards trekking-- hiring porters, asking directions, buying supplies, things like that-- so it's not quite the same vocabulary you need for social chit chat. However, in conjuntction with the vocabulary and grammar in the back of "Nepal Handbook" by Kerry Moran, I had a good foundation for very basic converstaions. Learning a little Nepali truly enhanced my trip since it made me stand out from the thousands of other tourists. I was glad I had taken the time to listen to this tape since it definitely helped me be able to pick up vocabulary faster once I was in Nepal, however, it's not quite sufficient to stand alone as the only source for learning the language.