Comments on: DIY phrasebooks http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2007/03/30/diy-phrasebooks/ language-related musings - one language is never enough / egy nyelv sosem elég Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:33:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 by: Ronald Kyrmse http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2007/03/30/diy-phrasebooks/#comment-40641 Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:56:20 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2007/03/30/diy-phrasebooks/#comment-40641 Maybe this is a bit off-topic... Do any of you know whether the pocket books "[Name-of-Language] Through Pictures" are still published? They were excellent, at least if you wanted to learn the grammatical structure of a given language. I have seen several, but own only "Hebrew Through Pictures" ("Ivrit biTmunot"). I do not have one such book at hand, but do remember they start with the phrase "I am here", then "You are there", "We are here" and so on, all the way to complex sentences such as (say, e.g.) "John's house is not larger than mine" and "I wrote a letter yesterday, when it was cold"... all without a single word of English, only (very clear and univocal) pictures and text in the language to be learned. Hints welcome! ;-) Maybe this is a bit off-topic…
Do any of you know whether the pocket books “[Name-of-Language] Through Pictures” are still published? They were excellent, at least if you wanted to learn the grammatical structure of a given language. I have seen several, but own only “Hebrew Through Pictures” (”Ivrit biTmunot”).
I do not have one such book at hand, but do remember they start with the phrase “I am here”, then “You are there”, “We are here” and so on, all the way to complex sentences such as (say, e.g.) “John’s house is not larger than mine” and “I wrote a letter yesterday, when it was cold”… all without a single word of English, only (very clear and univocal) pictures and text in the language to be learned.
Hints welcome! ;-)

]]> by: renato http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2007/03/30/diy-phrasebooks/#comment-40562 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 16:22:48 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2007/03/30/diy-phrasebooks/#comment-40562 I used the second suggestion, "use several textbooks" to study Italian, French, Esperanto and Swedish, but as I already mentioned before, I failed on German and Russian. Anyway, I Think is the best way, for people who study alone. I used the second suggestion, “use several textbooks” to study Italian, French, Esperanto and Swedish, but as I already mentioned before, I failed on German and Russian. Anyway, I Think is the best way, for people who study alone.

]]> by: Jeksi http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2007/03/30/diy-phrasebooks/#comment-40443 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:23:00 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2007/03/30/diy-phrasebooks/#comment-40443 Yeah, I think that is a pretty good idea. The Omniglot phrasebook is good but it really has a lot more than one needs (it's still a good one though). I like the new design, but the photo seems to need less opacity in order for one to be able to see the text better. When it says "By Simon on (Date)" the font isn't that great, but overall it works out. Yeah, I think that is a pretty good idea. The Omniglot phrasebook is good but it really has a lot more than one needs (it’s still a good one though).
I like the new design, but the photo seems to need less opacity in order for one to be able to see the text better. When it says “By Simon on (Date)” the font isn’t that great, but overall it works out.

]]> by: Polly http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2007/03/30/diy-phrasebooks/#comment-40437 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 21:36:31 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2007/03/30/diy-phrasebooks/#comment-40437 I've learned a lot from your sight and use it as a quick reference for many languages and writing systems. I like the notebook of personal phrases idea. I've become wary of grammar books more and more, though they are a necessity. More often I find out how people REALLY talk by writing down actual phrases. So, the notebook idea makes all the more sense. Also, grammar books tend to focus on only one dialect or region. In real life it's a crap shoot whether you're going to run into those particular speakers. BTW - I purchased J.C. Catford's, "Intro. to Phonetics" from the bookstore link to Amazon. Though not specifically for the purpose of "learning any language fast" I do hope, and halfway expect, that it will help. I recently got a PDA. I think this may be a good place to keep such a language notebook. It offers the advantage of being compact and easy to organize. I can add my notes anytime and anywhere. The drawback is that everything has to be romanized. I’ve learned a lot from your sight and use it as a quick reference for many languages and writing systems.

I like the notebook of personal phrases idea. I’ve become wary of grammar books more and more, though they are a necessity.

More often I find out how people REALLY talk by writing down actual phrases. So, the notebook idea makes all the more sense.
Also, grammar books tend to focus on only one dialect or region. In real life it’s a crap shoot whether you’re going to run into those particular speakers.

BTW - I purchased J.C. Catford’s, “Intro. to Phonetics” from the bookstore link to Amazon. Though not specifically for the purpose of “learning any language fast” I do hope, and halfway expect, that it will help.

I recently got a PDA. I think this may be a good place to keep such a language notebook. It offers the advantage of being compact and easy to organize. I can add my notes anytime and anywhere. The drawback is that everything has to be romanized.

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