Customer Reviews

Quechua (Lonely Planet Phrasebooks)

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If you want to learn the language of the Incas, you won't find yourself well served by the book publishing industry. Even if you were to ask for a grammar on Quechua in one of the little bookshops in Cuzco, you'd likely receive a Quechua/Spanish pamphlet used to teach Andean children Spanish, and written by priest with grammatical terminology more appropriate to Latin.

We English speakers, however, are fortunate to have this little phrasebook. Although I would have preferred something with much greater depth, I have to admit that as an absolute beginner, I'm best off starting here. The words chosen are those of use to the tourist and trekker. It's more than a phrasebook in that it gives the reader some insight into and practice with Quechua's suffixes, which are critical for mastery of the language. My one complaint is the pronunciation guide, which describes as 'plosives' sounds which are properly called 'ejectives'. I grant you these are arcane linguistic terms, but they are meaningful to a few of us....

This easy-to-use reference shows how the words are built, with things like verb endings, infixes, suffixes. It's small, but it has a lot of useful material; for the price it's OUTSTANDING.

The SECOND edition is completely revised, by a different author (excellent teaching credentials), vastly more material -- both more gramatical info, and a wealth of additional vocabulary, plus there is also a Quechua-English section as well as English-Quechua, making it an even more valuable reference.

Some things are perhaps because Lonely Planet has standardized them -- I doubt you'll be asking anyone for a date in Quechua -- but it's still material to practice breaking apart the pieces.

I love the illustrations!

Teaches the phrases a tourist would use to travel in the Andes. You won't be able to carry on much of a conversation, But the natives will warm up to you for trying.

This book is an absolute must-have if going to the highlands of Peru where Spanish is not the primary language, but Quechua is. Quechua was the language of the Incas and is still spoken by approximately 10 million people in the mountains of South America, many of them in Peru. Quechua has only three vowels: a, i, and u. Additionally, the languages' large number of suffixes changes the actual meaning and implication of words, hence the need for something other than a Spanish phrasebook.

And because there are very few written materials in terms of newspapers, books, or magazines in the Quechua language, Quechua remains largely an oral language, making this book all the more valuable a resource.

If you will be trekking or going off the beaten path, this phrase book is a must have to gain a better understanding of the local people, their customs, and ways. While a Spanish phrase book will help to some extent, it's usability will diminish the farther off the beaten path one goes, as Quechua is the lingua franca of the Andes.

If there is any downside to this book, I guess it would be the fact that Lonely Planet did not make this one color coded by subject (Social, Food etc.) as they do with their Latin American Spanish phrase book. But that is a very minor detail.

Again, this is probably not necessary if you will be simply going to the cities of Lima or Cuzco, but if you plan on going off the beaten path in the highlands of Peru, this little book will come in very handy. It should be noted that because of the esoteric nature of the book (it can take several weeks to fill an order and virtually no bookstores carry this), it may take some time to arrive, so if you have a trip planned and want to take this book with you, it would be advised to order this well in advance of your leaving.

People who want to learn the language of the Incas don't have an extensive menu to choose from- at least not in English. So I got this little book and was truly impressed by it. Lonely Planet Phrasebooks (I have several others and this review actually pretty much says it all for all of their offerings, at least the ones I've seen) are prepared by professional linguists and actually give good introductions to the grammar of their languages and have a lot to offer about the culture of native speakers, so those who are interested can actually get a surprisingly good handle on how the language really works. And of course it's nice to learn useful tourist phrases as well. My only criticism is that some background on how Quechua varies in different parts of the Andes would be welcome (since it is spoken over a very wide area) but limitations of space are obviously the issue here. So pack a copy when you head off to the Andes- the price is right and it weighs hardly anything at all. As a value for the money it's hard to beat- just be sure to get this edition and not the previous edition (which was by a different author)-Version 2 is far superior.

I found the booklet difficult to use. It may be a good start, but clearer instruction needs to be presented up front. For example, it needs to be plainly stated that pronunciation is as in Spanish. Also, instead of dribbling out the suffixes throughout the book, a simple suffix conjugation table that hit the main suffix uses would be much more helpful. I can use the book, but I'll be looking for better one.

I admit, I have never been anywhere where Quechua is spoken. I purchased this booklet because I am interested in exotic languages and Lonely Planet provides a good introduction to a tongue which is very different from English, or for that matter, any Indo-European language. This guide does a good job covering the extremely complex Quchua grammer, as well as, the decidedly foreign pronunciation. As far as I can tell, the Quechua phrases given would probably be usefull for the traveller arriving in areas where Quechua is the lingua franca.

This book is very helpful in trying to learn Quechua. I am using it for a research paper for school, and it provides a lot of additional cultural and social information about the language as well, instead of just plain grammar, which makes the language seem dry when nothing interesting is added to it. Very good book!

Are you planning to adventure alone into the highlands of Peru? If not, and I wouldn't really recommend it anyway, then this book isn't for you. I recently spent three weeks in Peru visiting the Cusco, Ollyantaytambo, Sacred Valley, and Lake Titicaca areas and never needed it. Quechua is the language still used by the porters and residents of the highlands, but everyone else speaks Spanish. I was mislead by some travel guides to believe that Quechua was spoken in the main cities and that I'd need it to do pretty much anything. The reality is that you'll just need to speak Spanish or have a good Spanish phrasebook and on the off occasion that you have need to speak to someone who only speaks Quechua, you're more than likely to have a guide with you that can do just that.

That said, it is always interesting to be exposed to new languages and the historical culture of an area. Quechua is a language better understood through direct instruction with a guide rather than attempting to learn it from a text.