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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Teach Yourself Afrikaans, book/CD combo., June 11, 2007
This review is from: Teach Yourself Afrikaans Complete Course Package (Book+ 2CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)
This course definitely isn't lacking in content -- in vocabulary alone it provides more than most other Afrikaans self-study courses. (Note : a good number of the words used in the course aren't found in the short dictionary at the back of the book, be it either because they're loan words or because the meaning should be obvious to English speakers. Consulting an online dictionary should suffice.) Much of the grammar and word order is taught through example sentences alone for the first few units of the book, mainly to give learners a "feel" for the language. As the course progresses, grammar is steadily introduced, much of it already linking back to something already taught. The audio accompanying the course is a must. Conversations, reading passages, and even a number of the word lists -- most of which aren't listed as being on the CDs at all -- can be found on the recorded material. The pronunciation of the language can be tricky at certain points; to provide an example, several of the nouns in the language undergo a vowel shift when they become diminutives (like turning "dog" into "doggy" : hond > hondjie), something which is reflected on the CDs but which is not covered in the text ("hond" is pronounced something like "hund", while "hondjie" is straight out "hoin-key"). The native speakers on the recordings throughout the course speak more slowly than everyday speech allows, and there are only a few passages where the rhythm is picked up to sound more authentic. This might hinder some learners, but on the other hand it can just as well be a blessing in disguise -- knowing to pronounce words correctly and enunciate clearly is the very first step to being understood. This course is sufficient and well worth the money put toward it. If I were to give my own personal advice to a perspective buyer, though, it'd be to purchase the "Colloquial Afrikaans" course prior to moving on to this one. "Teach Yourself Afrikaans" in some respects is more exhaustive in terms of vocabulary, but the "Colloquial Afrikaans" course is easier to follow and is overall a better starting point for people just beginning studies in the language.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The book is great but the CD's could be improved, June 11, 2008
This review is from: Teach Yourself Afrikaans Complete Course Package (Book+ 2CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)
This is mostly a good course and I would, on the whole recommend it to anyone interested in learning Afrikaans. Afrikaans is a relatively easy language to pick up for English speakers. I already speak reasonable Dutch so I found the language insanely easy to absorb (notwithstanding the fact that, from the Dutch perspective, Afrikaans really does look like "baby talk" or "Tarzan speak"!) I was happy with the book but I didn't feel as good about the audio CDs. The opportunity to hear correct pronunciation is, of course, welcome and the speech is all very clear. It is however, frustratingly stilted and unnatural. The book warns that the first chapters are unnaturally slow, the problem is, the pace never picks up! By the end of the course, the dialogues are still being read with the speed and intonation that patronising people use when they assume they're speaking with someone deaf or feeble-minded! Some people may be happy at this word-by-word delivery as it does indeed, give a very clear view of pronunciation. The problem is that real Afrikaans is spoken much more quickly and it does no one any favours to get them too used to snail-speak when, in real life, they will be faced with the rapid, almost breakneck delivery most Afrikaners and Afrikaanses use when they speak. For a successful audio course, delivery must be clear but close to natural speed, otherwise learners are never going to be able to deal with authentic speech.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
really works!, October 6, 2009
This review is from: Teach Yourself Afrikaans Complete Course Package (Book+ 2CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)
Considering that there aren't many products out there for learning Afrikaans on your own, Teach Yourself does pretty well. The book is full of vocabulary and interesting cultural tidbits, and the CDs are essential for getting the pronunciation down. Only thing I dislike is that I think there's too much spoken English on the CD tracks, and it's more like learning in school rather than conversation practice. I've used the Pimsleur method too for languages, and I think it's the best method (although I haven't used Rosetta Stone and friends rave about that). I'd feel comfortable walking out into Italy after using Pimsleur Italian, and speaking with people. TY, not so much--you really need a native speaker to practice with for the best results. Also this isn't a method for tourists, it's for actually learning Afrikaans, so if tourism is your plan, this isn't the book for you. Good luck and geniet dit!
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