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Product Description
Product Description
Colloquial Lithuanian is easy to use and completely accomplishable. Specially written by experienced teachers for self-study or class use, the course offers you a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Lithuanian.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I sometimes think Lithuanian is deliberately designed to make it impossible for foreigners to learn but this well structured, accessible book eases the pain admirably.
I started using the book before a visit to the country and what I'd picked up even in the first chapter was well received.
The book emphasizes the importance of pronunciation in its early stages, and rightly so; stress patterns in particular are hard to get to grips with in this language. Students will not be bombarded with the phenomenally complex grammar (even Lithuanians don't always get it right!)but a little is built up at a time.
The recordings are good,and aspects of the national temperament and psyche are neatly incorporated, even if you don't realise this at the time. There is an extensive pronunciation guide at the beginning of the CD for reference.
English transcriptions of the recordings are provided in the earlier chapters, but these are rightly ditched later on as comprehension increases.
Naturally Lithuanian instruction books in English are thin on the ground, but this course provides all you need.
I started using the book before a visit to the country and what I'd picked up even in the first chapter was well received.
The book emphasizes the importance of pronunciation in its early stages, and rightly so; stress patterns in particular are hard to get to grips with in this language. Students will not be bombarded with the phenomenally complex grammar (even Lithuanians don't always get it right!)but a little is built up at a time.
The recordings are good,and aspects of the national temperament and psyche are neatly incorporated, even if you don't realise this at the time. There is an extensive pronunciation guide at the beginning of the CD for reference.
English transcriptions of the recordings are provided in the earlier chapters, but these are rightly ditched later on as comprehension increases.
Naturally Lithuanian instruction books in English are thin on the ground, but this course provides all you need.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio Cassette
This is the best guide (book plus tape) currently available for learning Lithuanian. My brother, who studied at Vilno Universiteto in 1994 - 1995 strongly recommended it to me, and wished he had had it available then. I had previously tried to learn using the Easy Way to Lithuanian book and tapes, and found this much better.
Of course, learning Lithuanian without living there or with a Lithuanian family member is basically impossible, but such is life.
Su Diev!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
When I first ordered the Colloquial Lithuanian self study course I had my doubts about it. I had just about completed a self study course in German which was completely audio and reading based and was relatively easy which took me about a year to complete and then thought, well, I'll have a go at Colloquial Lithuanian after all I now live in the country. I listened to the introduction and pronunciations at the beginning of the book and then started the first Unit. Then I thought this is way far to much studying and too much work compared to the German course I had just completed, so I promptly stored the book away and looked for alternative way to learn Lithuanian.
Since self study Lithuanian courses are very thin on the ground there is not much alternative so I also ordered the newer version of Teach Yourself Lithuanian to compare with the Colloquial version. The reality is, both are very good learning tools and if followed should bring you to a decent standard of fluency and you should be able to communicate effectively. What Colloquial Lithuanian makes you do is study the language and study the grammar and vocabulary between the dialogue and exercise sections, but after all, Lithuanian is quite a grammatically challenging language. Perseverance and practice is definitely the name of the game here.
I must admit that I do have a big advantage living here in Lithuania and having a wife that is a native speaker and being surrounded by Lithuanian speakers. But that still does not change the fact that Lithuanian is completely different from any other European languages and takes that bit more effort to learn. If you are thinking about buying this book to learn a few phrases before going on holiday then don't. This book is aimed at the serious language learner who is aiming for fluency. I am about three quarters of the way through this book and my fluency is coming along fine but I have been putting a lot of time and effort into it. So as one other reviewer said this language is not for the faint hearted.
If you are looking for a comparison to Teach Yourself Lithuanian I would say Colloquial Lithuanian has the edge over TYS. The grammar points are easy to follow and the dialogue is spoken at a normal speed. Where as the Teach Yourself is spoken at a very slow pace but does give you good pronunciation. But the mind does tend to wander away because it is so slow.
For an absolute beginner that knows nothing at all about the language, not even a single word, it may be worth going through the TYS book first and then read and listen to the Colloquial series. I am using the dialogue from TYS along with Colloquial and has been effective. But for someone with no knowledge at all it worth trying to find or contact a native speaker at the start.
This book is like anything else in this world, you will get back what you put into it. If you put in the time and effort the rewards of speaking a new difficult language will be rewarding. If you don't put in the time ten you will get very little back.
Good luck with your learning. Viso gero!
Since self study Lithuanian courses are very thin on the ground there is not much alternative so I also ordered the newer version of Teach Yourself Lithuanian to compare with the Colloquial version. The reality is, both are very good learning tools and if followed should bring you to a decent standard of fluency and you should be able to communicate effectively. What Colloquial Lithuanian makes you do is study the language and study the grammar and vocabulary between the dialogue and exercise sections, but after all, Lithuanian is quite a grammatically challenging language. Perseverance and practice is definitely the name of the game here.
I must admit that I do have a big advantage living here in Lithuania and having a wife that is a native speaker and being surrounded by Lithuanian speakers. But that still does not change the fact that Lithuanian is completely different from any other European languages and takes that bit more effort to learn. If you are thinking about buying this book to learn a few phrases before going on holiday then don't. This book is aimed at the serious language learner who is aiming for fluency. I am about three quarters of the way through this book and my fluency is coming along fine but I have been putting a lot of time and effort into it. So as one other reviewer said this language is not for the faint hearted.
If you are looking for a comparison to Teach Yourself Lithuanian I would say Colloquial Lithuanian has the edge over TYS. The grammar points are easy to follow and the dialogue is spoken at a normal speed. Where as the Teach Yourself is spoken at a very slow pace but does give you good pronunciation. But the mind does tend to wander away because it is so slow.
For an absolute beginner that knows nothing at all about the language, not even a single word, it may be worth going through the TYS book first and then read and listen to the Colloquial series. I am using the dialogue from TYS along with Colloquial and has been effective. But for someone with no knowledge at all it worth trying to find or contact a native speaker at the start.
This book is like anything else in this world, you will get back what you put into it. If you put in the time and effort the rewards of speaking a new difficult language will be rewarding. If you don't put in the time ten you will get very little back.
Good luck with your learning. Viso gero!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not the Greatest Learning Tool
I bought Colloquial Lithuanian hoping to be able to progress fairly easy and effortlessly on my own to at least be able to converse the basics. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mitten
Good and traditional text book
This is a good course for learning Lithuanian. It starts with basic Phonetics, which is always interesting, and it follows with traditional Grammar Exercises. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Marta Palomares
Amazing book - recommended
Hi
After some month of trying to expand my knowledge in Lithuanian, i found this book very detailed and very clear for the pronounciation aspect. Read more
After some month of trying to expand my knowledge in Lithuanian, i found this book very detailed and very clear for the pronounciation aspect. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2010 by Mr. A. Segond
Not for the faint hearted
I usually don't find it too hard to pick up a language, but I'm afraid to a large extent I was defeated by Lithuanian. Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2009 by Les G
The best Lithuanian language course currently available
This is the best guide (book plus tape) currently available for learning Lithuanian. My brother, who studied at Vilno Universiteto in 1994 - 1995 strongly recommended it to me,... Read more
Published on 15 July 1998
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