- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Teach Yourself Books; 2nd Revised edition edition (10 July 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340858362
- ISBN-13: 978-0340858363
- Product Dimensions: 22.2 x 16.2 x 5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,888,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
This course in Swahili is designed for anyone who wants to progress quickly from the basics to understanding, speaking and writing Swahili with confidence. Aimed at those with no previous knowledge, it can also be used by anyone wanting to brush up existing knowledge or refresh rusty language skills for a holiday or business trip. Key structures and vocabulary are introduced in 18 thematic units, progressing from basic greetings and introductions yourself and dealing with everyday situations to writing a formal letter and business communications. The emphasis is on communication throughout with important language structures introduced through dialogues on the accompanying recording. There are plenty of exercises to practise the language as it is introduced and tips throughout to help with pronunciation and grammar. Cultural information boxes give advice and information for anyone planning a trip. There is also an English-Swahili vocabulary and a Swahili-English vocabulary. Two cassettes are included which give pronunciation guidance and listening material.
About the Author
Joan Russell was born in London and taught there for a few years before leaving for Tanzania, where she taught in various institutions over the next seven years, at the same time acquiring the basics of Swahili. Her interest in the language continued during a two-year attachment to the Curriculum Development and Research Centre in Nairobi. On her return from Kenya she completed a degree in Language and Linguistics at the University of York and stayed on there to carry out sociolinguistic research on Swahili and its functions. This entailed regular extended visits to eastern Africa. She became Senior Lecturer in linguistics and African studies at the University of York.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Overall, this is a very good book. It does give pretty comprehensive coverage of the language, and by the time you have completed it, you will have a real grounding in it. I do however partially agree with the previous reviewer that it could be better arranged - more elementary material could be included at the beginning of the book. The latest edition has attempted to address this problem by including a kind of 'phrase book' chapter at the end of the book, thus giving a potted guide to everyday phrases. But really, the book should be slightly reworked to introduce this kind of material earlier on - then the 'phrase book' section would not be necessary.
But it's still a very useful book for learning about Swahili. I started as a beginner, and its given me a real appetite to take the language further.
38 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book before going to Tanzania to do 9 months' voluntary work. This is going to sound harsh, but having previously studied four foreign languages I have to say that this is the worst textbook for a foreign language I have ever used.
Swahili is one of the easiest languages in the world to learn, but I found this book was set out in an illogical fashion with relatively uncommon grammar points at the front and everyday useful stuff hidden in the depths. In terms of developing communicative competence for common situations you might meet on first arrival in Tanzania, which is likely to be a priority for many people who start studying Swahili, this book is a very poor choice. I would instead recommend Peter Wilson's "Simplified Swahili" as an excellent, well set out and easy-to-learn from beginner's book.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book to try and learn Swahili more as a hobby than anything else and found it to be very useful. It is easy to follow and has exercises at the end of the chapters to help you see if you have understood the material covered. The only small thing I would point out is that the vocabulary in the converstions is often not included in the vocabulary boxes until the end, so it would perhaps help to read the vocabulary boxes first before attempting the conversations as you may feel a bit lost otherwise. If you seriously need to learn Swahili, I would think you would be better off using the tape as well, as it is difficult to learn pronuniation from a book. And the obvious disadvantage to learning a language from a book is that you might teach yourself bad habits. However I think this is unavoidable in teaching yourself a language. If you don't already speak more than one language and aren't used to learning another one, the book might seem daunting at first, but I think with perseverence it would provide a very reasonable basis to learning a language if nothing else.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great introduction, compact and good value
This book does not assume extensive knowledge of grammar and makes great use of dialogues to introduce new words and to put them in context. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2009 by J. Swanson
Don't be fooled...
When it says "audiobook" don't be fooled into thinking a cassette and a book are going to arrive on your doorstep. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2004 by "jc19limited"
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