Teach Yourself Panjabi Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself: Language) [Paperback]

Surjit Kalram (Author), Navtej Kaur Purewal (Author), Sue Tyson-Ward (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 21, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0071431632 | ISBN-13: 978-0071431637 | Edition: 2

Speak with a Sikh. Teach yourself Panjabi!

With Teach Yourself it's possible for virtually anyone to learn and experience the languages of the world, from Afrikaans to Zulu; Ancient Greek to Modern Persian; Beginner's Latin to Biblical Hebrew. Follow any of the Teach Yourself Language Courses Audiopackages at your own pace or use them as a supplement to formal courses. These complete courses are professionally designed for self-guided study, making them one of the most enjoyable and easy to use language courses you can find. Audiopackages include an instructional paperback book and two companion 60-minute audio CDs.

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:

• Step-by-step guide to pronunciation and grammar
• Regular and irregular verb tables
• Plenty of practice exercises and answers
• Practical vocabulary and a bilingual glossary
• Clear, uncluttered, and user-friendly layout
• An exploration of the culture
• And much more

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kalra S. Surjit

is the author of many books and short stories in Panjabi and English.

Navtej K. Purewal

teaches Panjabi at the university level.

Sue Tyson - Ward

is a language consultant and teacher and writer.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 2 edition (April 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071431632
• ISBN-13: 978-0071431637
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,861,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not organized enough and incomplete., August 29, 2004

By 

senior fuschnickens (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Yourself Panjabi Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself: Language) (Paperback)

I was able to use this book because the language so closely resembles Hindi, which I know. If I were a completely new learner, I would have found the book very difficult to learn from. All of the main aspects of grammar are presented, but the order is very random and the book contains no summary of the grammar (i.e. an appendix with a summary of verb tenses and noun forms). Everytime a question arises I am forced to flip through the entire book to find the answer. Perhaps this design to a language book (light on grammatical terminology and methodological presentation) is better for students that have never learned a foreign language, but if you have, the format tends to be frustrating. I have given the book 3 stars for its lack of organization, but I still haven't mentioned its most serious drawbacks which are: it ignores the tonal aspect of the Panjabi language, nowhere does it give a full list of the forms of "hona" (to be), it does not give the full conjugation of most irregular verbs: jaana and rahina are represented but "laina", "dena", and "karna" are not. The meanings of these words (which ought to illustrate their importance and the gravity of their absence in the book) are respectively, "to go," "to remain," "to take," "to give," and "to do." The book gives a skeleton of the language, but its full form still eludes the reader.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Please don't buy this if you're a beginner, March 10, 2006

By 

Tricia Ann Singh - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself Panjabi Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself: Language) (Paperback)

This book is extremely difficult to follow if you are an absolute beginner. If you have prior knowledge of the punjabi language, then it's useful. But, if you're like me, then this book will be a complete waste of time and money. The dictionary is written in Gurmukhi, so you can't even look up a word in english to find the phonetic pronunciation in punjabi. I regret making this purchase.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not very good, February 16, 2006

By 

jana hanson (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Yourself Panjabi Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself: Language) (Paperback)

It looks like this course was initially written by someone who knows the language and then reworked by someone who does not. It is not consistent, there are overlaps, and contradictions. It is very difficult to follow and has left me with too many unanswered questions. I am now using another book, actually two other courses. I would not recommend this course to anyone.