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Title: Afrikaans (Teach Yourself) by Teach Yourself Publishing, Helena Van Schalkwyk ISBN: 0-8442-3750-7 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books Pub. Date: August, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.3 (10 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Not Yet There
Comment: The entire Teach Yourself series can be very hit or miss, and TY Afrikaans is more of a miss. The book presents grammar and vocabulary in reasonable amounts, and is generally pretty good about introducing them in situations the reader can realistically expect to find him-/herself in.
However, there are no culture notes (a great feature found in newer editions in this series), and some of the language presented can be bizarre ("Ek gaan saans eiers uithaal vir tant Dora" - "In the evening I'll collect eggs for Aunt Dora" - how often would you even say this in English?). The main drawback is the fact that there are no tapes to model prounciation. Unlike languages like Spanish, where there is a strong correspondence between written and spoken language, Afrikaans is much less predictable. There is a pronunication guide at the start of the book which is utterly useless. The only remedy I could suggest would be to see if you can track down some old Language/30 Afrikaans tapes. While there won't be much overlap with the book, it will still help you acquire an ear for the sounds of the language. Should the publisher ever include tapes with it, it would be a great set.
In other words, if you're really fired up about Afrikaans, give it a shot, but if you want to learn speak it with any degree of certainty and confidence, then you should either hope they put out an edition with cassettes or find other Afrikaans tapes yourself.
Rating: 4
Summary: on "Teach Yourself Afrikaans"
Comment: Afrikaans, the author writes, is a phonetic language. This book has a pronounciation guide at the beginning, but there are inconsistencies. So, I think it would have been useful to dispel all doubt with an english phonetic symbol equivalent (ala 'Berlitz', others.)
Rating: 3
Summary: Good for vocabulary, but not the best for conversation
Comment: The main differences bewteen this book (TYA) and Donaldson's Colloquial Afrikaans (CA), is that TYA (a) doesn't have cassettes available, (b) TYA introduces a much broader vocabulary (almost too much at times), and (c) CA is more modern, both in terms of vocabulary presented and dialogs. If I wanted to learn to speak Afrikaans, I would go with CA.
I think a good combination is to get both CA (first) and then TYA as a reinforcement/vocabulary builder. Even given that there aren't many books on learning Afrikaans out there, TYA isn't bad.
One thing that some (esp. female) readers might find amusing or insulting (depending) is that many of the dialogs cast characters in very traditional gender roles : men play/watch sports, women shop and worry about their hair and makeup. Sentences like : "As 'n dame mooi wil lyk, moet sy grimmer" (If a woman wants to look nice, she has to wear makeup) on pg. 103 might not make the author (a woman!) many friends in some circles.
Still, not a bad book, especially if you're interested only in reading, but otherwise I would only use it as a supplement to TYA.
(Incidentally, the (much) older edition of TYA is a very good book for the more linguistically-oriented learner who's not overly concerned with speaking Afrikaans, especially one that already knows Dutch or German. Unfortunately, it's also hard to find).
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Title: Afrikaans-English/English-Afrikaans Dictionary by Jan Kromhout ISBN: 0781808464 Publisher: Hippocrene Books Pub. Date: April, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Colloquial Afrikaans : The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series) by Bruce Donaldson ISBN: 0415206723 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: 15 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title:Talk Now! Afrikaans ASIN: B0000899LT Publisher: EuroTalk Pub. Date: 31 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.99 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $16.99 |
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Title:World Talk Afrikaans ASIN: B0000899S5 Publisher: EuroTalk Pub. Date: 31 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.99 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $17.99 |
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Title: A History of South Africa, Third Edition by Leonard Monteath Thompson, Leonard L. Thompson ISBN: 0300087764 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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