Teach Yourself Croatian Complete Course Audiopack [Paperback]

David Norris (Author), Vladislava Ribnikar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071418806 | ISBN-13: 978-0071418805 | Publication Date: November 21, 2003 | Edition: 1

Learning Croatian as easy as 1-2-3

With this book, Croatian is attainable for any beginning student. You can use Teach Yourself Croatian Complete Course at your own pace or as a supplement to formal courses. This complete course is based on the very latest learning methods and designed to be enjoyable and user-friendly.

Prepared by experts in the language, Teach Yourself Croatian begins with the basics and gradually promotes you 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

Package includes two 60-minute CDs and a book.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Norris has taught Serbian and Croatian studies at the university level since 1980.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (November 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071418806
• ISBN-13: 978-0071418805
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #870,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best Croatian Course I Have Found!, May 1, 2005

By 

Kristin A. Choate "kristinannie" (WV, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Teach Yourself Croatian Complete Course Audiopack (Paperback)

My husband and I are planning a trip to Croatia this fall so I bought three different courses to learn the language. This course is BY FAR the best of the three. Of course, there are a few things that you need to remember. Croatian is a difficult language to learn because it is very different from English. Also, there are not a lot of good Croatian courses out there since Croatia is just starting to get tourists to visit.

Each chapter has a dialogue, some key phrases to learn, some grammar information, practice exercises (generally not on the tape, but written) and a comprehension passage. The tapes/CD's are of minimal use because they do not leave a pause for you to repeat. However, I just pause my recorder. It is necessary to use the tapes because it is important to hear the correct pronunciation. Speaking the language out loud (not just hearing it) is of utmost importance. The answers to the exercises are all in the back of the book and there is a comprehesive glossary at the back of the book. I know this doesn't sound like much, but one of the other courses does not provide this luxury!!!

I have a couple of negative things to report about the program as well. As I mentioned, there are not pauses on the recordings. Also, there are not translations of the dialogues. There are definitions of new words and phrases below the dialogues, but previously learned words are not listed. Therefore, if you have forgotten anything it is frustrating. I have written the translations in my book. A needless headache!

Although there are some less-than-perfect aspects to this course, it is definitely the best bet if you want to buy an inexpensive complete course for learning Croatian. Give yourself some time to master each chapter before moving on to the next one and be patient with yourself! Learning a language is rewarding, but never easy!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well designed if breathless approach to Croatian, August 7, 2005

By 

David Starr-Glass (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself Croatian Complete Course Audiopack (Paperback)

This review refers to the book with accompanying two CDs. These CDs, which contain short dialogues, are essential for accurate pronunciation. The dialogues are short, realistic, and contain the sort of vocabulary that is helpful for the new speaker.

Prior to studying Croatian, I learned Czech. This was helpful because anything is probably easier after Czech ;-)

The Czech (a western Slavic language) also prepared me for issues such as case endings and declensions in Croatian (a southern Slav language).

The book provided enough depth to make be comfortable in generalizing beyond the dialogues presented in the textbook. I found the spoken dialogues helpful and clear. In general, this was a well-packaged and helpful book that provided a good way of starting to speak Croatian. I enjoyed working through the exercises and found the textbook clear, uncluttered, and helpful.

There are two points that might be helpful for potential purchasers. First, this audio presentation moves (to me at least) at a very fast rate -- breathless at times. The best strategy is to carefully review all of the grammar and "how it works" sections in the text before moving on to another chapter.

Second, I was disappointed with the meager coverage of Croatian culture and customs.

However, all in all I consider this to be a very helpful language program.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, basic book, November 5, 2005

By 

Readz Alot (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself Croatian Complete Course Audiopack (Paperback)

Why do I get the feeling that Mr. Eyster is reviewing a totally different book? He claims that lesson 2 (out of 40) is impossibly difficult for a beginner. Well, MY copy of the book has only 18 lessons, not 40, and lesson two has a simple dialogue about where people live and what they like to drink, and some fairly basic grammar.

Croatian is a difficult language, no doubt about it. Stuff like noun cases and verbal aspect is difficult for an English speaker to understand. But of all the books I've looked at, this one treats the grammar with about the most clarity, and takes things as slowly as possible.