Features

• Audiobook

Reviews (21)

The only method that works
I've always wanted to learn French and have tried a couple of other audio programs (Living Language and Barron's).I found them tedious and boring and quit after the first few lessons.A friend recommended Pimsleur, so I gave their program a try and am happy that I did.
for beginners
The program begins with REALLY basic material, such as introductions/greeting, etc. I found it frustrating, only because I have taken three levels in college and two in high school. If you have a good foundation of the language, skip the first (French I) and just order the second and third. It's definately a waste of $ and there are other books out there that are a fraction of the cost and will help you build vocabulary.
By far the best
Pimsleur are absolutely the best.
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Subjects:  1. Audio - Language    2. Audio Adult: Language    3. Foreign Language Study    4. French    5. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    6. Foreign Language Study / French   

Reviews (10)

Good Beginning Study Guide for the Dedicated Learner
"Norwegian in 10 Minutes a day" is designed for the person who is self-motivated enough to devote at least ten minutes a day to the lessons and who is familar enough with the study of foreign languages to pick one up without outside coaching.The study guide is highly portable and can be used anytime the student has the opportunity.
stickers are great, but the book a little out-dated.
This book was one of several purchased in order to get my hubby speaking Norwegian. The book itself is good, but I did find it to be quite outdated and to have an "old" feel to it. Which can be explained so simply as to the fact that it is an old book!
learning basics with no audio.
I was looking for Norwegian books that would help me improve my knowledge of the language as I've been studying it for over a year, so I went through all the available ones over there.
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Subjects:  1. Conversation and phrase books    2. English    3. Europe - General    4. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    5. Foreign Language Study    6. General    7. Language    8. Norwegian Language    9. Scandinavian Languages    10. Self-instruction    11. Textbooks for foreign speakers    12. Europe    13. Language self-study & phrasebooks    14. Norwegian   

Reviews (2)

Too flashy
There is nothing that ruins a good reference book so much as over-attention to graphics. This book is very busy in both its design and implementation. Compared to other writing handbooks (particularly Diana Hacker's A Writer's Reference), this book is very hard to use. For example, the ToC for the MLA documentation section is not listed on the tab for MLA, but is buried several pages in. There are nearly 200 pages that start this book that are a mixed and confusing grab-bag of the greatest hits of rhetoric and writing, but do little to engage students in the act of crafting a written artifact. Also, after using this book for a semester, the tabs began to fray. As a teacher of first-year composition, I strongly recommend A Writer's Reference if you are looking for a user-friendly and comprehensive handbook for writing courses. This Harbrace book, which is the "Brief" version at 592 pages, is difficult to use as a teacher and as a student, and some information is nearly impossible to find (e.g. block quotation style guidelines).

Comprehensive and Convenient
Here is a terrific reference resource for anyone who frequently composes letters, e-mails, reports, etc. That is, for just about everyone. Even with various aids provided within software (eg to correct spelling), basic mistakes of grammar go undetected...and "send the wrong message" (both literally and symbolically) to recipients ofwhat you write. Inside the front cover, the authors provide an especially handy detailed index (for questions concerning writing, grammar, effective sentences, diction, punctuation, and mechanics as well as glossaries of usage and terms) which directs their reader to the appropriate page or pages in the Handbook; on the back inside cover of the book, they then provide an equally handy list of checklists (also with page references) followed by a list of revision symbols. There are several such reference resources which will serve you well. In my opinion, this is the most comprehensive...and the easiest to use on a regular basis. I also urge you to check out Strunk & White's The Elements of Style and Stephen King's On Writing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. English Grammar    4. Grammar    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Rhetoric    9. English    10. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    11. Language Teaching & Learning (Other Than ELT)   

Subjects:  1. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    2. Foreign Language Study    3. Spanish    4. Spanish: Adult Nonfiction    5. Foreign Language Study / Spanish   

Reviews (7)

Indespensible, easy to use and comprehensive.
This dictionary is an indispensable dictionary for anyone who has any need for a Chinese-English dictionary.It is organized alphabetically by pinyin.Looking up a compound term is very easy.I know of no other Chinese-English dictionary that has so many compound entries or is so easy to use once the pinyin is known.
Good dictionary but...
I'm very happy about the sheer number of entries, I don't think there are many others like this one. The problem is (and for me it is a main issue) that you cannot roam the entries by characters. That's a big drawback, so unless you know the pyinin it will take ages to find what you're looking for. So I am now returning this dictionary and still looking for another one, where once you found the radical, you can find the word by character first.

Great Dictionary, though not best solution for classroom
I bought this dictionary based on the rave reviews here. I was not disappointed. My biggest problem with other dictionaries has been that I invariably come across a word that isn't in the dictionary. I haven't looked something up in this one yet that I haven't found. The drawbacks mentioned in other reviews apply (can't roam the entries by character, and you have to know what you're looking for) but they aren't show stoppers. I find that for organized study this is an excellent dictionary to keep on the shelf.
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Subjects:  1. Chinese    2. Chinese language    3. Dictionaries    4. English    5. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    6. Language    7. Language Arts & Disciplines    8. Polyglot Dictionaries    9. Study & Teaching    10. American English    11. Bilingual dictionaries   

Features

• Audiobook

Subjects:  1. Foreign Language Study    2. Japanese    3. Language    4. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    5. Foreign Language Study / Japanese   

Reviews (15)

Do Not Buy This Dictionary
This is a terrible dictionary. Many of the words are spelled incorrectly and many of the definitions, while technically correct, are absolutely nonsensical.

Shell out a little more for a lot more quality
i'm very sorry i bought this book.It may be concise, and it may be cheaper, but one shouldn't sacrifice spelling for saving a few dollars!The concise edition drops the dots off many of the letters, thus either misspelling the word or creating letters that don't exist.i borrowed the full-sized edition and found it to be fine.Don't waste your money and your sanity on this version!

The best one I have found
This is the best Arabic dictionary I have found so far, but I still have a couple complaints about it. There are a few things missing, like the names of countries, and sometimes the print is small and hard to read. The Al-Mawrid dictionary is more complete, but can be overwhelming, especially for new students, becuase when you look up an English word, it lists a whole bunch of Arabic words and it is hard to figure out which on is the right word. This dictionary, however, has very clear explaination on when to use what word. I would give it five stars if it were a little bit more comprehensive. For the serious Arabic student, this is the best English-Arabic dictionary out there.
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Subjects:  1. Arabic    2. Arabic Language    3. Dictionaries    4. English language    5. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    6. Foreign Language Study / Arabic    7. Reference | Bilingual Dictionaries | Other    8. Usage guides   

Reviews (5)

THE Sanskrit Beginner's Book!
In my opinion as a Sanskrit teacher there is simply no better text ever written. As other reviewers have noted the content, the high quality of the Devanagari font etc. make this a sine qua non for the beginning student. To Prof. Mauer I say: "Uttamam!"

Very engrossing
Though I have read only the first 50-60 pages till now, I find this book very engrossing.
Superbly writtten.
I love this book for its organization, its exercises, and its explanations. It makes learning Sanskrit easy, and is evidently a labor of love by it author. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ethnic Studies - General    2. Grammar    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Sociology    6. Grammar & vocabulary    7. Sanskrit    8. Social Science / Ethnic Studies   

Features

• Audiobook

Reviews (7)

Excellent learning program!
I purchased the Pimsleur I, II and III series because I wanted to learn Spanish by audio while walking my dogs.
Skip #3, but 1 and 2 are good
As others have said, Pimsleur is great for developing correct pronunciation and for getting comfortable speaking. In that regard, volumes 1 and 2 are excellent and gradually introduce more complex or idiomatic phrases as well as verb tenses gradually and in a natural way. Also, as others have said, you will not even remotely be able to say much (or understand much) if you ONLY do the Pimsleur lessons. You have to get a good vocabulary book (children's picture books are highly recommended), listen to Univision, etc., but getting grounded solidly in pronunciation and just the initial step of being able to put together sentences confidently is something Pimsleur 1 and 2 will definitely help in greatly. Course number 3, however, is a huge disappointment---it's not just "not good enough", it's actually extremely poorly done. Anyone who gets number 3 presumably has done 1 and 2 and is comfortable with pretty much any basic phrases (Muchas Gracias), how to do introductions (Mucho gusto in concerlo), filler phrases (No importa), etc. but in course 3, you will spend a significant amount of time simply repeating these same phrases over and over. There is also a completely mysterious enormous emphasis on certain phrases that end up taking up in total nearly an entire lesson apiece---for example, "un plato de la especialidad de la casa" (one plate of the specialty of the house). First of all, this is a phrase any reasonably knowledgeable person who has done lessons 1 and 2 could figure out without outside help---you don't need lesson time that you paid for wasted being introduced to something you can figure out yourself. But this phrase took up nearly an entire lesson. Other similar unimportant or phrases easily decipherable without help took up entire lessons. Very little in the way of additional verb tenses were introduced in the entire course number 3, and a very specific set of vocabulary was introduced entirely geared towards foreign engineers making business trips or going to conferences in Latin America (I'm not kidding---that's the vocab you get repeated endlessly and not all that useful outside of very narrow situations). So all in all, number 3 is really terrible and should be avoided even if you get it for free---it simply isn't worth the time. But number 1 and 2 are strongly recommended as good tools for getting to a basic "comfort level" from which you can really develop on your own.

Good for the Traveling Hobbyist, FSI Programmatic Spanish Better for the Serious Learner Seeking Fluency
It's obvious that I am a learner that swears by the FSI method. All of the FSI methods, including FSI Programmatic Spanish,
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Subjects:  1. Audio - Language    2. Foreign Language Study    3. Spanish    4. Spanish: Adult Nonfiction    5. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    6. Foreign Language Study / Spanish   

Reviews (24)

Snell's Other Books are Better
Rupert Snell is the author of other Teach Yourself Books, which I have found to be quite excellent. If this Complete Course is not to your liking, definitely try Beginner's Hindi and the 3 CD set: Hindi Conversation (which I loaded onto my iPod). He also wrote a bilingual dictionary and a Hindi Script book. One should certainly not consider the "for beginner's" series as a way to "dumb down" language study. Not at all. They are thoughtfully written and Snell has a subtle sense of humor throughout. The cd set walks you through the pronunciation and vocabulary, with ample time to repeat well-written dialogs. This is not a bunch of unconnected travel phrases, but "real" adult conversation.
Good book (if you have patience)
I may be jaded because I have studied several other languages and have probably seen every method that is used for teaching them.That being said, I could only say that this book is "adequate" for anyone wanting to learn Hindi.Some of the good points about this book are;
On its way back as quickly as it came in
I opened the package, and popped in the CD - I could not
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Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Language    2. Dictionaries - General    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Indic & South Asian Languages - Hindi    5. Indo-Iranian Languages    6. Language    7. Miscellaneous    8. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    9. Foreign Language Study / General   

Reviews (17)

A valuable asset
Wall Street Words is the most valuable and most frequently used book in my library.I recommend it to my friends and to Amazon users.

THIS BOOK GIVES YOU AN EDGE WHEN STUDYING FOR THE SERIES 7
I am currently studying for the Series 7 stockbroker exam.The study manual often introduces terms with little or no explanation.The glossary in the study manual only covers a small fraction of the terms used.Before buying this book, I would have to list the terms, stop studying, and find explanations.Sometimes, I would have to waste precious study time calling into my trainer to discuss these terms. A good word for Wall Street Words
It has all the words, it has all the definitions...it's all here. I work for a Wall Street firm and this is one of the few investment reference guides I keep at my office. Buy it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Dictionaries    2. Investment Finance    3. Investments    4. Investments & Securities - General    5. Reference    6. Securities    7. Stock exchanges    8. Word Lists    9. Bilingual dictionaries    10. Reference / Word Lists   

Reviews (9)

Good work book.
I bought this work book three years after my last Spanish course because I was going to retake Spanish and wanted to refresh my memory. Practice is definitely the best way to learn and remember a language, and this work book was sufficient and helpful. I actually enjoyed the exercises, although some are ovelry simplified. I'm not sure how good this book would be for someone without previous courses in Spanish, but it worked well for me. The explanatory sections are short and clear, and are followed by exercises pertaining to the lessons. The book builds upon previous chapters. I also tried the Barron's Spanish series, which are much thicker and somewhat clumsy. I liked both the "Practice Makes Perfect" and "Barron's" series, but I think that the former is more comprehensive and probably best for someone who is reviewing Spanish.

Practice Makes Perfect Does it Again!
As the editor of the Learning Spanish Products Reviews (LearningSpanishProductsReviews) site, one of my responsibilities is to review learning Spanish resources that are listed on Amazon. I am also a native Spanish speaker from Argentina and a professional private Spanish instructor.
Better Than Barron's
Whether you've already used up the previous two Spanish guides in the Practice Makes Perfect Series (Spanish Verb Tenses, and Spanish Pronouns and Pronouns), or this is your introduction, this workbook is as good as it gets for the intermediate to advanced student of Spanish who wants to keep learning beyond the classroom. Complete Spanish Grammar has it all--friendly, down-to-earth language, exercises that could have been taken right out of Hispanic shops and streets and living rooms, and explanations of grammar components that actually make sense.
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Subjects:  1. English    2. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Grammar    5. Language    6. Linguistics    7. Spanish    8. Spanish Language    9. Spanish as a second language    10. Textbooks for foreign speakers    11. Foreign Language Study / Spanish    12. Language teaching & learning material & coursework   

Reviews (48)

Essential Spanish guide
Madrigal is the essential Spanish guide for all students of Spanish. You will refer to this book often in your studies.

Magic - it is!
I saw this book at a friend's house in Spain and was captivated by it. It gives a whole new (to me) approach to learning Spanish.When I got home to the UK, I just had to track a copy down and buy one.Thanks to Amazon, I did!

Excellent book for beginners and beyond
I am a Spanish teacher and use this book with my beginner students as well as more advanced ones.It makes Spanish comprehensible and really highlights the patterns in the language.My students have been able to internalize basic structures with ease.Anyone could use this book even without a teacher.I just wish I could find it in French!The only thing not so good about it is that since it was written back in the 1950s, some of it is a little dated, like mentioning cables (as in telegrams), but you can always update it yourself with current vocabulary like "correo electrónico."It's a great book and easy to use! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. English    2. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Language    5. Reference    6. Spanish    7. Spanish language    8. Study and teaching    9. Textbooks for foreign speakers    10. Ancient (Classical) Greek    11. Language Arts & Disciplines / Reference    12. Language self-study & phrasebooks   

Reviews (25)

AWESOME
This book is great if you want to seriously study Japanese - and it's so cheap! This gives you all the basics and more - I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to study Japanese. All that can be said is -- this is an awesome book.

A spectacular book
When I first thought about learning Japanese, I was worried it would be too difficult.
Disapointing, perhaps useful as a referrence after the fact.
This book will not by itself have you speaking or reading Japanese.As a reference, especially for the verbal idioms, it is quite useful, but only after the fact, I fear.There are no drills, no exercises, and vocabulary is simply listed at the beginning of each major section.Here are 100 verbs, now go learn them.Here are 100 nouns, do likewise.His insistence that Japanes "adjectives" are "words to modify a noun" just as in English, can only confuse."You mean adjectives conjugate just like verbs rather than decline like nouns?"
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Subjects:  1. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    2. Foreign Language Study    3. Japanese    4. Japanese language    5. Language    6. Self-instruction    7. Textbooks for English speakers    8. Foreign Language Study / Japanese    9. Language self-study & phrasebooks   

Subjects:  1. English as a Second Language    2. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Language    5. ELT dictionaries & reference    6. English    7. Foreign Language Study / English as a Second Language   

Reviews (4)

foggy on grammar
I'm agreeing with one of the reviews posted previously here.While FOG does give an in depth view into the grammar aspects of English, it does not do so in a concise manner, and I am surprised that no one has written this before.The presentation of the grammar aspects is done so in a confusing setting that, while it does present the material at least, does not do so in a manner beneficial to someone learning the language.There are tremendous amounts of errors in the book itself as well; this includes not only the editing itself but also the answer keys.I find I am often forced to skip exercises because they present contradictory material to the presentation given in the beginning of a chapter.Students who have studied English grammar intensively previous to using this book will find that they have a lot of questions that are difficult at best to answer.If you are stuck using only this series of books, good luck to you; you will be pulling your hair out time and time again if you, as well as your students, are paying attention to what is actually in the book and not just writing what "feels" right as a native speaker.There is a lot of confusing and almost false material presented.It seems as though the language was manipulated for publishing purposes, as opposed to using realistic language for organizing a lesson.And as far as communicative grammar goes, I find this is by far a "workbook" type of grammar book; though there are opportunities presented for communicative work, it is often not done so in a realistic setting.

Good overall but more than a few errors
I am writing about the 2000 edition: This series and text is good overall but considering this is the 2nd or 3rd edition, I am disappointed that there are so many mistakes between the questions, correct answers and answer key.It's hard enough for people to learn English as it is without them beating their heads trying to find why an answer is such-and-such only to learn that the given answer is wrong or that the question itself doesn't give all needed information.

Impressed
Well, what more can I say.I teach English in Mexico and bought this book here.It�s a bit more expensive here, but it was well worth the wait.Inaddition to the book, I bought the workbook, the teacher�s manual and thecassettes.The level of the book itself is about 4th to 7th grade.It isa very impressive book and intend on buying the newest series, when or ifthey become available.I would recommend this series to anyone who wouldbe interested in teaching ESL or EFL. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. English As A Second Language    2. English Grammar    3. English language    4. Grammar    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Linguistics    9. Problems, exercises, etc    10. Textbooks for foreign speakers    11. ELT grammars & grammar practice    12. English    13. Foreign Language Study / English as a Second Language   

Reviews (4)

designed for the student's backpack and other violent locations
I have worn out more than one copy of the LANGENSCHEIDT GERMAN COMPACT DICTIONARY, but that's no criticism: these sturdy little guys are designed for mistreatment and mobility.
not too bad
This is a nice compact dictionary with most of everything you need.One size above this would be better because it has more words and is in an easier print to read.If I had to choose again, though, I would choose the bigger one.

Excellent small dictionary
I bought this book, because I came to the United States one year as an exchange student from Germany.
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Subjects:  1. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    2. Foreign Language Study    3. General    4. German    5. Language    6. Bilingual dictionaries    7. English   

Subjects:  1. English    2. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    3. General    4. Spanish language    5. Textbooks for foreign speakers   

Reviews (3)

A Helpful Resource
This book is packed full of useful grammar activities.They are easily classified according to grammar point and can be easily searched for use.I've used the activities numerous times, and there are a lot of great ideas in this book.The only thing that isn't so great is that the pictures have a late 70's or early 80's look, but it's not such a big problem since you can easily get pictures out of magazines or other such resources.Also, the English featured here is British English, so if you're teaching American English, you have to adjust some of the phrases or vocabulary.Other than that, it's great.Check it out.

A Must for Your ESL Library!
I borrowed a copy from my ESL instructor while student-teaching. It is FANTASTIC. I have found that the activities proposed in the book can also be modified to fit another activity -- or to even get my own creativejuices flowing. There have been times when I felt overwhelmed by all thegood examples and couldn't pick just one. It's easy to carry and pack --don't leave home without it!

One of the most valuable ESL resources I have seen.
Imaginative, interesting, engaging and well organized this book is one ofthe most valuable resources I have seen in nearly three years of full timeESL teaching.The book is divided into two parts.Part One provides a clearand concise introduction to grammar teaching in the foreign languageclassroom, a very useful guide to designing and presenting grammar-practiceactivities and some tips for getting the most out of coursebook exercises. The heart of the book, however, is Part Two which consists of nearly 200game-like grammar practice activities. The activities are grouped intosections according to grammatical categories. The categories are orderedalphabetically and cross-referenced in the text. The descriptions of theactivities are accompanied, where appropriate, by reproducable sample textsand visuals.The activities are not classified by proficiency level or ageand the author encourages teachers to adapt them to suit their ownstudents. I have found that most of the activities are readily adaptable todifferent levels, and although most as presented in the book seemorientated toward adult students I have successfully adapted many for usewith teenagers and younger children. Likewise the activities are notclassified by skill practiced as many are designed or can be adapted topractise any or all of the four skills.This book is also exceptional inthat it doesn't fall foul of that ill which inexplicably plagues manysimilar books - a cumbersome and unwieldy index. The index in this book,although perhaps not quite as complete as it could be, is among the verybest I have seen in this type of publication. A single alphabetical listidentifies activities by term, topic and title. In addition there is aclear list of contents at the front of the book.The book's easy-to-useformat, comprehensive coverage, sturdy paperback construction and handysize make it an indispensable addition to any ESL teacher's tool-kit. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. English as a Second Language    2. English language    3. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    4. Foreign Language Study    5. Foreign speakers    6. Grammar    7. Language    8. Problems, exercises, etc    9. Study and teaching    10. Teaching Methods & Materials - Foreign Language    11. ELT: teaching theory & methods    12. English    13. English language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers    14. Foreign Language Study / English as a Second Language   

Reviews (2)

Just as Good as Promised
When I want to buy a product I research it a great deal and that I did with the American Heritage Spanish Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Hardcover). I've had it for 3 days and it is indispensible if you want to learn Latin American Spanish, which most so-called good dictionaries do not concentrate on at all! It even had mofongo, a dish from the Dominican Republic, listed! All the other dictionaries I've had didn't even list foods, much less specialities from various Latin American countries.
Best value in Spanish<>English dictionaries
As a professional Spanish translator, I do not find myself referring to this dictionary much, preferring instead the world's current best Spanish<>English dictionary, The HarperCollins Spanish Unabridged Dictionary, which is twice as heavy, twice as comprehensive, and often twice the price of this one. Still, for anyone who is not a professional translator, who does not want to cart around a dictionary weighing well over six pounds (this one weighs just under three), or who just wants the best dictionary possible on a budget, the American Heritage Spanish Dictionary is the best value out there.*