Romanian: A Complete Course for Beginners (Teach Yourself) (Romany Edition) [Paperback]

Dennis Deletant (Author), Yvonne Alexandrescu (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Teach Yourself (March 1998)
• Language: Romany
• ISBN-10: 0844200395
• ISBN-13: 978-0844200392
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Romanian

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A complete, easy to use language course, March 18, 2000

By 

K. Hansen (Columbia, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Romanian: A Complete Course for Beginners (Teach Yourself) (Romany Edition) (Paperback)

I decided to learn Romanian because my grandmother was from Romania. She tried to teach me the language before she died, so the learning process has been a personal experience for me. This book has been great because it is very well organized and has really helped me along.

The pronunciation guide was very detailed, and the tapes are even better for learning pronunciation. It's not very hard, anyway -- similar to Italian. Each chapter is organized around a central theme or question, with the vocabulary derived from the theme. The grammar sections are pretty good. They don't try to give you too much grammar in the beginning, and build on what you've learned gradually.

Overall the book is geared a more to the tourist than to the student who wants to learn the language for knowledge's sake, but that's pardonable. Not many people attempt Romanian unless they are going to go there! The book is a valuable first course in Romanian, whether you're a veteran of foreign language study or this is your first attempt at a second language.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book was extremely helpful in my attempt to learn., January 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Romanian: A Complete Course for Beginners (Teach Yourself) (Romany Edition) (Paperback)

I lived in Romanina for almost 1 year and the book was a terrific addition to my studies of the language. It provided practical things to practice as I walked the streets daily and shopped in the piatas. I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to learn this language. The only thing that I wish it would have had, was a more complete and extensive verb conjugation list at the end of the book. The book had little self-quizes at the end of each chapter that were very helpful. The chapters were organized very well, containing connected information that was not too much to take in for 1 chapter. If you are determined to learn, this book is a great tool. For a language that is not commonly attempted, this book was more than I expected. Of course it is grammatically correct and the people are not, so the language on the streets varies from the book in areas of numbers and some verbs. All around it was great.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Helpful, but too many errors, December 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Romanian: A Complete Course for Beginners (Teach Yourself) (Romany Edition) (Paperback)

As others have noted, this book is fairly helpful, but it does contain many errors that could throw you off if you are not careful.
Although it is better than some of the other cassette and phrase books, it is too confusing to learn from on your own. The tape skips some of the key words and phrases listed, and then uses unexplained vocabulary in the dialogues. In one chapter, half the dialogue is missing.
Thankfully, my boyfriend is Romanian, and helped me, or else I would have never made it through the book.