Lacking some essentials
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The major deficiency of this book is the lack of help with pronunciation. Catalan is not phonetically written and the pronunciation is distinctly more complex than Spanish. 5 vowels are used to denote 8 vowel sounds and certain consonants are silent. If the vocabularies, either in each chapter or at least at the end of the book, were to give the phonetics of each word, this book would be a far more useful tool for acquiring the language. Even using the CD in conjuction with the book, you will need to employ a vast amount of detective work to try to sort out correct pronunciation.
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Give it a go!
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This course, as with the other Teach Yourself courses that I know, is well designed, clear and user friendly. It assumes no knowledge of the Catalan language and guides you through a logical course, concentrating on the typical communicative aspects of the language (introductions, buying food, directions, booking a hotel room etc). The CD that accompanies the course is ideal for listening and pronunciation practice. In fact, I wouldnt recommend the book on its own. Catalan is a fascinating language, a mix of Spanish and French, and well worth the challenge!
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Good enough for most people
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This book is good to an extent. I don't really think it covers an awful lot and there certainly seems to be more of an emphasis on grammar than practical vocabulary. Saying that, there are some fairly useful dialogues that aren't simply translated word for word.
The book is quite small in comparison with other Teach Yourself language publications, although I don't think this matters.
I would imagine that the vast majority of people learning Catalan will already be familiar with Spanish or another Romance language, so perhaps some points are a bit simplistic.
Overall, it is probably the best English book you will find on Catalan and it will undoubtedly allow Spanish speakers to understand the language around them when in Catalunya or Valencia.
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need the cd!!
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there's nothing wrong with this teaching tool per se, but without the audio CD, you have little chance of success as the pronunciation of catalan is much more complex than spanish. you can buy the CD and book together as a package, so go for that one! (also available from Amazon, i have seen) i had to buy the CD seperately which meant the total cost was higher.
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