Product Description

Now learning non-Roman-alphabet languages is as easy as A-B-C!

Readers wanting to learn the basics of reading and writing a new language that employs script will find all they need in the Teach Yourself Beginner's Script series. Each book includes a step-by-step introduction to reading and writing in a new language as well as tips and practice exercises to build learners' skills. Thanks to the experts at Teach Yourself, script will no longer be all "Greek" to language learners--unless of course, it is Greek script! Teach Yourself Beginner's Script series books feature:

• Origins of the language
• A systematic approach to mastering the script
• Lots of "hands-on" exercises and activities
• Practical examples from real-life situations

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55208 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-06
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

About the Author

Allen Frewin Jones has worked in the British Council, in the Diplomatic Service, in the oil sector and as European Commission Delegate in Arab countries.

Customer Reviews

Good but not enough writing instruction
I am in the process of learning a bit of Arabic so I picked this up. I read through once tracing characters with my fingers and got through it in a few hours. I decided to go back with a pen and actually follow the directions (e.g. "read and write" followed by 12 or so vocabulary words), actually do the exercises, and actually do the tests at the end of each unit. I'm finding it takes about an hour per unit and I'm learning a lot more by actually doing this.

Once I'm done with that, I intend to do it all over again with the handwritten versions of the letters.

However, I wish the writing were a bit larger and there were more hints for how to write the characters and get them right. For example, I still don't the proper way to make a mim that is connected to the letters on either side and there is no information on the order to write letters in. Do I make all the toothed character lines and fill in the dots later? Or make the dots on each tooth? Since my goal is just to read (probably the real goal of the book anyway), it's not too important to me, but I still feel it's a bit of a deficiency.

Still, I am very happy with my choice to pick this book up. I'm spending hours upon hours with it, and my hand is getting sore. I can see my progress, and actually completing each exercise with a pen (not just tracing with my finger) is proving to really drive the writing system home.

Very good beginners book
Very good and informative content. I wish it was more "user friendly" in terms of layout.

Good for a Start
This book is pretty good for starting out. It was a little confusing but over all broke down the language learning process and made it quite simple to understand and learn.