The book is clearly written with an impressive coverage for an introductory textbook, and is structured around dialogues, grammar sections, and brief exercises. The marriage of the traditional and the conversational approach is a happy one: all too many textbooks follow one path to the detriment of the other, and the learner is left with either a thorough grammatical knowledge which lets him/her down in everyday situations, or no more than a collection of phrases learnt by heart but not understood. This coursebook provides a thorough and useful grounding in the spoken language which can form the basis for further study of the trickier aspects of the language.

The 12 lessons are brief and do not overwhelm the learner, as in some non-English language courses, like the otherwise excellent Bakarka series by J.A.Mujika (Spanish or French versions available from Elkarlanean). The overall level is quite basic, but gives the learner a good toe-hold for more advanced study. The lessons are preceded by an introduction to Basque life, history and culture, and followed by useful appendices and English-Basque, Basque-English glossaries.

Only one criticism is warranted: the lack of a cassette is a slight drawback. Routledge’s good but far from excellent Colloquial Basque has two, and some volumes of Bakarka have an accompanying tape. Surely this could be easily and cheaply remedied?

On balance this is an excellent (and very reasonably priced) introduction to Basque, superior in many respects to its English language counterparts (The Basque Language, Alan R. King, University of Nevada Press; Colloquial Basque). I sincerely hope it will be followed by further volumes. If you want to learn Basque, go and buy this book!