Product Description

Colloquial Slovak is a practical course in everyday written and spoken Slovak requiring no prior knowledge of the language. This book is ideal for study independently or with a teacher. Cassettes recorded by native Slovak speakers are also available.

This paperback in the Colloquial Language Learning Series is available individually here or as part of a cassette pack. To purchase the book and the cassettes, please refer to the cassette pack listing for this language.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #535171 in Books
• Published on: 1997-01-30
• Original language: Slovak, English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780415115407
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Great book
I've been looking for such a book for a very long time. My grandfather is from Slovakia and the only word I coud tell him were in Czech or Polish. The book shows clearly how the language works. Good tapes also. Slovak language deserved such a good book.

Best available even if not the best imaginable
I learned Slovak with this book and now read at an intermediate level and speak at a beginning level. I've been to Slovakia several times and successfully used what I learned. The cassettes provided pronunciation guides and speaking practice that work in Bratislava (I can't vouch for other dialects). What more do you want from a language book?

Some of the other reviewers criticize this book for not being a systematic grammar. That's fair, since it's not a systematic grammar (though it does have grammar tables in the appendix). By introducing some major grammar points gradually over several chapters, it can be frustrating as a reference source.

As a learning tool, however, there's a lot to be said for introducing things slowly. If you work systematically through this book and its exercises, and repeat (or memorize) dialogues, you'll learn Slovak. Some of the material is boring ("Zuzka hears a train crossing the bridge") though Naughton occasionally livens things up ("Don't be afraid! Kiss me!"). I'm not sure that any language-book texts can really be exciting. However, if I were giving Naughton advice, I'd add more paragraph-length texts about Slovakia and its people, along the lines of the Bratislava texts late in the book.

Not just a phrase book - Finally some real help.
This set of tapes and the book was just what I was looking for. I wasn't just looking for another phrase book telling me how to say, "Where is the train station?" This set actually teaches you the basics of how to speak the language. Finally some real help. I highly recommend it.