Tom Ward

I would be interested in hearing your recommendations on Language Lessons. Do you have a Favorite Series of Books and/or Tapes? Any Suggestions? I am interested in learning Greek at this time, but I am sure others might find this Imformation useful.

Christina

I tried to learn Czech last year (emphasis on "tried") and bought something called Czech in Three Months by Hugo publishers. I liked it a lot and picked it based on price and the book which I perused among several at the store. It comes with four cassette tapes with native speakers who sound pretty good and was only about $25 on Amazon.com for the book plus tapes (be sure to get the tapes with it). It seemed like the best deal available (and they do have Greek). I have heard praise for the Pimsleur series (which has a web site, some obvious URL) but I think that costs a lot more. Aside from those, I studied Greek once also and liked the book by Cortina (something about Beginning Greek in 20 lessons), it has a good grammar summary section.

Sheila

I have been trying to learn Greek from a book and tape configuration which is commonplace in the UK. The series is "Teach yourself". I am starting to make a tiny amount of progress onthe third attempt. I've used Teach Yourself Itaiian qnd Teach Yourself Gaelic in the past, and there is no common style. they obviously go with whatever the editor feels OK about. <BR> <BR>Two things however:- 1. Greek is the most difficult language I've ever tried to learn. <BR> <BR>2. You need a tape as well as a book based course. There are too many sounds to do it phonetically from the spelling.

Beth

Pimsleur language tapes - totally audial - can do when your commuting - they're expensive but worth it

Al

You learned to speak your native language by listening and mimicking. Your ears and your eyes tell you far more than any book can. I believe in immersion as the best way to learn a new tongue. You must live in a society where your native language is useless. You must be forced to use the new tongue, mistakes and all. Language classes, where you leave your native tongue at the door, are the second-best way to learn a new language. Third, tapes are good up to a point. I have found the Berlitz tapes to be a practical compromise. Listen, repeat, listen, repeat, listen, repeat.

Randall Smith

Bonjour, <BR> <BR>I've spent quite a bit of time over the last 10 years or so trying to become fluent in French. The best and most comprehensive course that I've used has been the Foriegn Service Institute tapes used by the US Dept of State for diplomates. The tapes are extensive and expensive. They comprise over 100 hours of dialogues and verbal drills. You can find the biginning tapes Unit A and I believe the first part of Advanced French Part B at Borders Books in the foriegn language section. If your interested you might also check the Audio Forum who origionally published the series. <BR> <BR>These tapes are available I believe in almost any language that our diplimatic corp has dealings. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps. <BR> <BR>Ciao, <BR> <BR>Randall Smith