6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not the best learning tool, November 4, 2003
This review is from: Panjabi (Teach Yourself (McGraw-Hill)) (Paperback)
There are two things I most dislike in this course. It does not teach you enough of the vocabulary and structures you need to communicate. It lacks in practical and social language. The other main problem is the grammar. It is rather confusing and difficult to relate to the examples. I hope something better will be published soon.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
There is better, August 1, 2003
This review is from: Panjabi (Teach Yourself (McGraw-Hill)) (Paperback)
The text and the tapes do not go well together. Worse, there is no progression in the teaching of the language. It is all disconnected chunks and there may be some mistakes. It is not good for communication either; too unpractical in approach. I felt I wasted my money and have bought another one since. I would recommend Punjabi Made Easy by Nagra instead.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not great, August 15, 2003
This review is from: Panjabi (Teach Yourself (McGraw-Hill)) (Paperback)
The book gives you a fair start at some of the basics of Punjabi. But there is a LOT of room for improvemnent. Some of the things that I thought were obvious to put in such a book, but which I did not find in this one were: I want to learn Punjabi. Could you please teach me Punjabi? Could you please speak more slowly? and the like.
The cassette tapes that came with the book did not have nearly enough content, and I feel that the speakers on the tapes spoke perhaps a bit too quickly for me. But then again, the way they spoke was pretty much what you will have to get used to if you want to speak Punjabi. I don't know if CDs are an option, instead of tapes, for this book. But I probably would get a CD version, if you can.
The book's physical quality is very poor. My copy has literally fallen apart. The binding is not good at all.
Also: the book does cover Gurmuki (Punjabi writing), so if you consider learning the language's writing system important, there is a bit of a primer on it. There is also ONE page in the book with a sample of Punjabi handwriting. I was glad to see this, as it greatly aided me in achieving more natural handwriting.
The book should be revised an expanded, but I am not really disappointed with what I got, other that with the crappy quality of the book's construction.
But I don't want to get too down on this book. I feel the money I paid for my copy was money well spent. I will eventually buy more books from the Teach Yourself series.
The Kimchiman has spoken!
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