Tagalog (Teach Yourself) [Paperback]

Cora Castle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0340871016 | ISBN-13: 978-0340871010 | Edition: Revised

Intended to supply the beginner with a well-selected stock of words, this book includes lessons on how to speak, understand, read and write Tagalog. The 20 units are graded in complexity and arranged thematically. Each contains a dialogue, vocabulary list, exercises and cultural tips.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Teach Yourself; Revised edition (December 26, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340871016
• ISBN-13: 978-0340871010
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,968,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very readable., February 6, 2002

By 

Party of Five - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Yourself Tagalog (Paperback)

This book has a story which starts from their arrival at the airport. You will see dialogs of conversation. I am a local who is very familiar with Tagalog. I bought this for my European wife who wishes to learn. One thing we found is that the translations is around 98% correct. But the format is enough for one to learn the language. The approach is practical. We don't have the accompanying tape and I didn't know it had one as an option. So I would do the talking for my wife to get the proper pronunciation. I don't know how foreigners would read this book but I assume they are likely to get the wrong pronunciation without help. The phrases have no indication how you would pronouce them but I think it might be a distraction.

I found that the best way for a foreigner to learn is to be exposed to it by speaking it and being spoken to in Tagalog, or listening to an actual conversation. If this isn't available to you, then this book is close enough. I assume the tape would be a bonus if you can get it.

You can also join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tagalog-e/ Here you can learn with others how to speak it or write it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far and away the best Tagalog book available, November 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Teach Yourself Tagalog (Paperback)

At last! A Tagalog course I can use! And tapes to go with it!

The Tagalog language has been long-neglected by publishers of language materials. This fine course helps make up for the deficiency. The lessons are very well-designed, the explanations of a grammar very different from our own are not difficult to follow, and there is a lot of interesting material about Filipino culture. Also, the tape I purchased with the book is excellent and an invaluable help in picking up the pronunciation.

Much has been made of the lack of accent marking in the text. I for one don't see why accents are not marked in the vocabulary lists for each lesson- that is the usual practice in texts on other languages with unpredictable accentuation- Russian, for instance- so that if the reader forgets the stress in the main body of the text, she can always refer back to the vocabulary. The book does have all entries in the back marked with accents, however it is a nuisance to have to consult the glossary to learn the stress of each new word, if you don't have the tape right at hand. That's a minor fault, however.

And I'm so happy to have a usable Tagalog course at last that I don't even mind.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book is not for a self-instruction, April 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Teach Yourself Tagalog (Paperback)

I was pleasantly surprised to see a Teach Yourself Tagalog book was finally offered to the public. Upon opening the book, however, it was clear that the book would not do its job. The authors, for one thing, neglected to write stress marking on the Tagalog words so whoever uses this book and tries to pronounce will end up sounding like a blundering idiot. They had a lot of Tagalog literature at their disposal to help them with their explanations that it appears they didn't use. Whoever buys this book will have to ask a native to write the stress marking on each word so they can really learn to speak the Tagalog language. What a shame they published it in its current state!