Teach Yourself Finnish Complete Course [Paperback]

Terttu Leney (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071420088 | ISBN-13: 978-0071420082 | Publication Date: April 22, 2003 | Edition: 1

Bestselling language courses!

From Danish to Spanish, Swahili to Brazilian Portuguese, the languages of the world are brought within the reach of any beginning student. Learners can use the Teach Yourself Language Courses at their own pace or as a supplement to formal courses. These complete courses are based on the very latest learning methods and designed to be enjoyable and user-friendly.

Prepared by experts in the language, each course begins with the basics and gradually promotes the student to a level of smooth and confident communication, including:

• Up-to-date, graded interactive dialogues
• Graded units of culture notes, grammar, and exercises
• Step-by-step guide to pronunciation
• Practical vocabulary
• Regular and irregular verb tables
• Plenty of practice exercises and answers
• Bilingual glossary

The new editions also feature:

• Clear, uncluttered, and user-friendly layout
• Self-assessment quizzes to test progress
• Website suggestions to take language study further

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Terttu Leney is an experienced teacher, teacher trainer, translator and broadcaster of Finnish. She has taught Finnish in various firms and language schools, at Chelsea & Westminster Adult Education Institute, the University of Surrey and has been teaching Finnish at the Foreign Office in London for over twenty years. She has taught several generations of UK diplomats to Helsinki. She has also been a freelance broadcaster for the Finnish section of the BBC World Service and Examinations Administrator for Language Testing Associates, London. In 1996 she gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Current Developments in Language Training from the University of Westminster. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (April 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071420088
• ISBN-13: 978-0071420082
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,394,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Finnish

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't confuse Arthur Whitney with Terttu Leney, June 5, 2000

By 

M. S. Green (Anchorage, AK United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finnish Complete Course with Book (Teach Yourself) (Audio Cassette)

Both Whitney and Leney have written books in the Teach YourselfSeries called _Teach Yourself Finnish_. ............ The edition other reviewers here have reviewed is the one by Terttu Leney; and that's the one I also recommend. It's more recent, and also geared more towards a beginning audience. Whitney's can be useful, but he introduces grammatical minutae far in advance of their use to the learner and gives an extensive vocabulary for each chapter even when most of it is irrelevant to what is being learned in the chapter. Leney, on the other hand, introduces vocabulary and grammar as it's used, and offers a wealth of information about contemporary Finnish culture for people planning to visit.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Small and insufficient., August 1, 2000

By 

Lee V. Douglas (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself Finnish: A Complete Course for Beginners (Book only) (Paperback)

This book presents a small amount of elementary Finnish, and it suffers the ills of small courses: not enough explanation of grammar, not enough exercises, not enough reading, not enough sound recording. It is visually attractive--but is that enough?

Finnish is a complex language with exacting pronunciation, complex grammar, and an extensive network of internal sound changes that must be explained clearly and completely. The student cannot assimilate these structures without reinforcement from exercises and readings. None of these elements are sufficiently provided in this book.

Compare this poverty of resources with the very fine course by Meri Lehtinen (books and recordings published by Indiana University) and with the two second-best runners up, the Foreign Service Institute's Finnish course, also with book and recordings, and "Finnish for Foreigners," (books and recordings) published in Finland but widely available in the English-speaking world.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good beginners guide for the traveler or the new student., December 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Teach Yourself Finnish: A Complete Course for Beginners (Book only) (Paperback)

Terttu Leney's "Finnish: a complete course for beginners" is a good resource for the beginning student or for the traveler who is planning a trip to Finland and wants to know a little bit about the Finnish language and Finnish customs before they get there.

Finnish is a difficult language with complicated grammar and special rules of syntax. At times the reader might get a little confused by Leney's presentation of some of these rules. But a patient and persistent reader can either muddle through the grammar or pass it by and instead focus upon learning Finnish expressions.

The book's strength is its organization into logical sections (greetings, travel, phone conversations, eating out, the weather etc.) Both a traveler or a student can use the dialogues and vocabulary to gain insight into everyday phrases and events. Likewise the book is packed full of information about Finnish customs and culture. These explanations are integrated into dialogues and vocabularies suited to both student and traveler.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning the Finnish language in its practical day to day form, or to the sophisticated traveler who likes to learn about the country and its culture and customs before their trip.