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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
For Conversational Bulgarian, September 12, 2005
This review is from: Teach Yourself Bulgarian Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)
Teaching any foreign language by book and recording has got to be an awesomely difficult task. Kudoes to the authors for attempting to teach this complex language in this format -- the attempt itself is noteworthy.
However, if you're like me and prefer more of a grammarian's approach to learning new languages, this book is not the best one to choose. It contains a great deal of conversational Bulgarian, and just enough grammatical structure to keep you from getting completely frustrated. If you can find a book/CD set that delivers the lessons based on grammatical structure it will probably be a better choice.
The book is arranged in chapters that cover "conversational areas." Chapter 1 begins with how to ask for names, and it goes on from there. You don't find out how to ask if someone speaks English until Chapter 6. Concepts are introduced pages (or even chapters) before they are explained, which is confusing and frustrating. One helpful feature is that the answers to the exercises are in the back of the book. Another is that the appendix contains lots of useful and well-organized information about the grammatical structure of the language itself.
The two CDs were disappointing. They contain only one dialogue from each lesson which is followed by a question and answer section, and only one or two exercises from the book itself. It would have been much more helpful if they contained both dialogues in each chapter and LOTS of pronunciation tips. If you're looking for CDs that will "immerse" you in the language, these aren't it.
All that said, there aren't that many books that teach Bulgarian available on the market, and if you do buy this one it will do as it promises and teach you how to converse in Bulgarian -- at least well enough to get around in-country.
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33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
For serious students of Bulgarian only, July 9, 2005
This review is from: Teach Yourself Bulgarian Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)
If you are a serious student of Bulgarian, this book and CD set will undoubtedly teach you some Bulgarian. If you want to casually pick up some Bulgarian phrases while listening during your daily commute, if you are nervous about learning another alphabet, if you just want a lot of hand-holding, look elsewhere.
The book starts by going through the Cyrillic alphabet. From this point on, all Bulgarian words are written only in Cyrillic. The only transliterations are of English names transliterated into Cyrillic. To progress through the lessons, you must read Cyrillic.
Each lesson is a conversation in Bulgarian followed by questions for you to answer concerning your comprehension of the conversation. The book has a translation of each phrase or sentence in the conversation. The book also expands more on the subjects and situations introduced in each lesson. The lessons progress logically through many situations that business travellers and tourists are likely to encounter.
The CD's start with pronouncing the Cyrillic alphabet with sample words. It then jumps into the conversations, speaking at close-to full speed. There are no phrase-by-phrase translations, so for the first few times (at least) of listening to the CD's, you must follow along with the book. If you want to listen casually without the book, your learning will be minimal. If you want a recording that slowly and repetitively pronounces words and phrases, look elsewhere.
This is more of an immersion into the language, requiring you to work at it. If you only want to pick up a few polite phrases without working very hard, this is not the book or recording for you.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good Course!, December 16, 2007
This review is from: Teach Yourself Bulgarian Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)
"TYB" is a very good course. In summer 2005 I lived in Blagoevgrad and found the course to be the best preparation for a lesser-studied Slavic language. It provides dialogues that you will actually find useful everyday when in Bulgaria. Learning to read the Cyrillic is facilitated by the orientation at the beginning and then the gradual exposure to it throughout the 20 lessons. My advice is to work at a steady pace, i.e., a dialogue and grammar exercise each day. All essential grammar is covered admirably without reaching that eyes-glazed-over point. I was in Bulgaria for 8 weeks and only completed up to Lesson 12, but it provided me with the skills needed to converse on all essentials and even some more abstract conversations. In summary, if you work seriously with this book and the 2 CD's, then you'll be at an intermediate level in about 3 months -- what better praise can you give for a course?
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