55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book..., December 6, 2007
This review is from: Teach Yourself Norwegian Complete Course Package (Book + 2 CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)
I'm about half way through this book (it's taken about a month, but I'm putting lots and lots of time into it) and so far I've been very impressed with the clarity and organization throughout. I have a number of Teach Yourself language books... and some of them are horribly disorganized and illogically sequenced--especially those published from around 10 to 15 years ago. It seems that the TY people have finally come to their senses with the newer offerings (especially the "Beginner's Series" French and Italian--those are wonderful).
This book is very well presented. The vocabulary is introduced mostly at the word level with nice lists and definitions side by side (not predominately at the phrase level, which is a weakness for many TY language books, IMO). You actually learn to use words and put them together into sentences, rather than learning a bunch of semi-useless static "canned" phrases.
The voice actors present dialog very well/clearly in an ongoing story format--it's quite entertaining at times (reminds me of a Spanish telenovela). The grammar is introduced in very digestible chunks (in fact, personally I could take that part way faster). On the vocabulary side, I find it to be quite intense, almost overwhelming at times. There are around 1500 words introduced and several hundred phrases. For me personally, the vocabulary comes too quickly. I find myself getting bogged down with memorizing new words after I've long since done the grammar from the section. But that is just personal learning strengths/weaknesses. I pick up grammar very fast... and memorize vocabulary quite slowly. It may be different for you. I know many people shudder at the mention of grammar--trust me, in this book it's presented very understandably.
Finally, as is the problem with nearly EVERY language book I've seen, there are just not nearly enough exercises/practice problems. I won't fault this book for it, since it's a common condition. About ten times more practice would be nice. I find myself trying to come up with my own exercises to help me remember all of this vocabulary. I also use other books (Janus' Verbs & Essentials of Grammar, Colloquial Norwegian, Hippocrene's Beginner's Norwegian) for extra practice. Of course, if your memory is sharp, you might not need so much practice/study.
All in all, this is my favorite of the Norwegian books I have. I'm already able to understand some of what I hear on Norwegian (internet) radio. There is quite a lot of vocabulary similarity with English, which is nice. And Norwegian grammar is very refreshing compared to other languages--it's relatively simple. I wouldn't say Norwegian is "easy" for an English speaker, but it's not nearly as hard as is a language such as Gaelic or Finnish. Not even close.
A helpful hint: The Norwegian Conversation CDs by Teach Yourself are a great supplement to this course. They roughly follow this book's sequence and are great for additional practice with vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
First-rate instruction in Norwegian, July 11, 2006
This review is from: Teach Yourself Norwegian Complete Course Package (Book + 2 CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)
This is a top-notch treatment of the subject, but one must have both the disk and the book, as in this package, to benefit. It is addressed to adults-The heroine rides a motorcycle and likes to guzzle beer! The grammer is presented in bits that are easy to digest. it is the best introduction to the subject I have seen since the old Einar Haugen SPOKEN NORWEGIAN of many years ago. Once you have digested the book you might try the Norwegian novelist Per Petterson getting both the Norwegian and English versions of UT OG STJAELE HESTER and OUT STEALING HORSES respectively. It is superb writing in a relatively simple Norwegian. Working back and forth between the two can improve your reading of Norwegian suhstantially. And of course the Norwegian newspapers are on line for some very current practice.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More than Pleasantly Surprised, March 4, 2008
This review is from: Teach Yourself Norwegian Complete Course Package (Book + 2 CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)
I have wanted to learn Norwegian for some time, but as an American student living on the East Coast, my resources have been someone limited. On a whim, I picked up a copy of this book from my college bookstore, hoping to cruise through it over time and perhaps pick up at least some introductory knowledge of the language. I got a lot more than I thought I would. The chapters are organized and helpful, the vocabulary lists build on each other, and the subject matter is interesting. I use it everyday.
To give you an idea of what this book has done for me, let me say that I have taken five years of German at both the high school and university level. Though I can read and write German better, my Norwegian speaking skills are inexplicably stronger. For having only worked on learning the language a few months, I can easily hold various conversations. The book is excellent for building conversational skills as well as skills in both reading and writing.
If you're looking to get started in Norwegian, look no further than this book. It's simply awesome.
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