Product Description
This title contains a book and 2 audio CDs. Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of Finns and by ethnic Finns in other countries. It is also the official minority language in some parts of Sweden and Norway. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

It seems like a good start, if you CAN get it started
This seems like a very well thought-out and organized book. I have already gone through the first few chapters, but am kind of disappointed with one aspect. Of the two disks it comes with, the first one seems to be corrupt in some way and does not play! Five stars otherwise

A solid start--get this book first
The first reaction I had to this book was excitement at being able to understand a dialogue right off the bat. Some language textbooks take a long time to build up to a real text (starting instead with conversations such as: "Hi, how are you?" "I'm well. You?" "I'm well. Goodbye." "Goodbye."). This process can be tedious, and one feels for a long time as if they really know nothing. After the first lesson of Beginner's Finnish, though, you'll be able to read a two-and-a-half page dialogue and make sense of all the grammar. For me, this was a big confidence booster, and I got that "I can read Finnish!" feeling right away.

The format is solid and effective: a dialogue accompanied by a vocabulary list, a list of common expressions, and an explanation of new grammar points used. The grammar explanations are essential to making sense of Finnish, whose plentiful suffixes and consonant gradation make certain words almost unrecognizable ("to read" is "lukea" but "we read" is "me luemme"). There are also three pages of exercises in each lesson, which are doable but sometimes challenge you to bring together the grammar minutiae you've accumulated. At the end of the book is a Finnish-English and English-Finnish glossary for all words used in the dialogues, as well as two essential appendices. In my opinion, an auditory component is vital in the beginning stages of learning a language, so make sure to get a copy with the two audio CDs.

As might be expected, the dialogues use a few grammar points before they are explained (you can't explain the whole grammar at once), so you might find yourself wondering why there's an extra "a" on "ravintolaa" or what "siitä" means. Patience is key with this language. Most of these things will be explained in later lessons.

Overall, this book brings together vocabulary, grammar, and idiom smoothly for a strong start in Finnish. Because of the complex grammar, books that try to teach you by flashcard or common phrases alone will leave you frustrated and incompetent. This book both teaches and explains why things are. If you don't speak Finnish and want to, pick this book up first.

Very Helpful!
The best help I've had yet in learning Finnish, excluding my Finnish native mother.Nevertheless, there are some faults with the answers to exercises, which are not always correct.This is not common though.

The layout is great -- Finnish on one page, English on the opposite page.The English is a non-literal translation.

Great Book!
I'm moving to Finland for school, and intend on living there for a while.. Beginner's Finnish has been an AWESOME tool for the crazy grammatical rules and conjugations that Finnish requires you to learn.Lots of dialogues you can read, with phrases and useful sayings as well.The vocabulary is not extremely extensive, but has plenty to learn for beginners.I would dare say almost all the grammatical rules are in this book.. but I could be wrong.. there's enough to keep you busy for a real long time.I would suggest buying a finnish-english dictionary along with this book to keep up the vocabulary.

I got this book and "Finnish An Essential Grammar" by Fred Karlsson, and this is the better book in my opinion, but using both together has been very beneficial.. like I said, I've used Beginner's Finnish way more than Fred Karlsson's book.

Great Book!
I wouldn't say learning Finnish is hard, but it requires a lot of memorization. This book helps you not only learn Finnish, but gives you a wide range of commonly used phrases in Finnish. Don't expect however to just breeze through the book and know your basic Finnish, be prepared to spend a lot of time on each chapter, and go back every now and again. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

WOW! This one has everyword W/HOW to pronounce them !!!
Nothing short of a saving grace when it has come for me to have to speak and be able to easily find not only the translation BUT also the pronunciation of them all -- you will be delighted -- it goes way beyond any other "little pocket book" I have used before. Finnish is hard enough (I've had years of proper lessons and STILL feel I'll never be fluent... this little book has helped me even help others!!Don't pass it up. Seriously!

SWAHILI!?
Joo, this Phrase book was great!

EXCEPT

that the first 30 pages where "say it in Swahili".
Maybe it was just my copy that had the error. *shrugs*

but the rest of the pages were very helpfull.

Too little
I bought this book and I thought it would e a bit better. there's pronunciation, but i really got frustrated

Perfect for the pocket!
If I get into a bind, all I have to do is pull out this little gem and no misunderstandings due to language.A great little book to take along when you visit Finland:-)

Excellent compact guide
I kept this book in the pocket of my cargo pants throughout my stay in Finland. This book is by no means intended to teach you Finnish, but if you're looking for the bare essentials, this is the best you'll find. All the phrases have a pronunciation guide, however, I found this more confusing than helpful. Pronunciation in Finnish is very difficult. You're better off studying the pronuciation section at the beginning of the book and then apply it to the phrases. The best part of this book though is that the price can't be beat! ... Read more

Product Description
From its cultured capital, Helsinki, to its myriad of sapphire lakes, Finland is a land of endless beauty.This dictionary and phrasebook offers travelers a comprehensive bilingual dictionary and travel-oriented phrasebook that will ensure effective communication wherever one ends up in Finland.

• 5,000 total entries
• Basic Finnish grammar
• Easy-to-use pronunciation guide
• Practical cultural information
• Perfect for travelers, businesspersons, and students

Customer Reviews (4)

The PERFECT companion while learning Finnish WOW!
I didn't expect for this book to be as amazing as it is. I have studied Finnish as a second language for a couple years now living in a very, very, small town where the Finns came to mine copper.my grandparents came from there and so being Finnish I've dreamed of going there and being able to speak properly. Even with proper classes and many books I have bought this one stands out the most. It has everything including a background of Finland and also the precise ways of adding the beginnings and endings which are VERY MANY for one word (the word Divine .. as "he is divine") has about 20 different ways to use it and when you become frustrated there is ALWAYS an incredible way they have of making it easier to understand. I can't say enough about it. You woin't be disappointed and as a longer book instead of making it very wide - it fits quite perfectly anywhere I place it. Purse, Laptop bad, Jacket pocket... everything. I'm delighted with the design of the book as well as the contents. You will not at ALL be disappointed I can assure you.

Suukkoja ja haleja xo Kiipis!
(kisses and hugs xo Cheers!)

** ENOY!**
~~ Holli

Great Phrasebook
This is a great book.I took it with me to Finland and also did some studying before traveling to Helsinki and Oulu and Kemijarvii.

If you can get your hands on this book it is well-written and has many useful phrases.The people I met were able to understand what I was saying...which goes a long way.

Good information.
I love this book. It has an easy to use dictionary full of general, everyday words and useful phrases. It also has a grammar lesson in the begining.
For someone studying on their one in spare time or just starting out, it's awesome. Lots of words you use everyday and phrases as well.

I do agree with the other reviewer, if you are in a college class or advance and need to use words like, it's not the greatest.

not too terrible
if you intend to use this dictionary to visit finland, you would be well off. however, if you intend to use this dictionary to learn the language (for instance, in a college class) this is far from being the best dictionary out there. i'd recommend the hippocrene concise dictionary. ... Read more

Product Description

This second edition of Finnish: An Essential Grammar has undergone profound revisions. The chapter on basic sentence structure has been rewritten and syntax has been given more space. Sections have been added on phrase types, simple clause types, and types of complex sentences. A section on discourse particles has been added. The vocabulary of the copious example sentences has been updated to give it a touch of the twenty-first century.

The section on modern colloquial Finnish has been considerably expanded. Internet addresses helpful for any learner of Finnish are provided which make is possible to automatically analyse the grammatical structure of any Finnish words and sentences.

It gives not only a systematic account of the structures of the written language, but also features the characteristics of colloquial Finnish. No prior knowledge is assumed on the part of the reader and grammatical rules are clearly explained without jargon.

Features include:

• pronunciation guide, including the tendencies in present-day colloquial Finnish
• thorough descriptions of morphology (word structure) and syntax (sentence structure)
• clear rules and an abundance of concrete examples
• inflection tables
• subject index
• internet addresses to online software for grammatical analysis of Finnish.

This is the ideal reference source both for those studying Finnish independently and for students in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.

Customer Reviews (18)

Complete Finnish Grammar
Best book on Finnish I've yet to see. I purchased two other books on Finnish prior to this particular book and they were both structured for people who are new to learning languages. If you're new to learning languages, start with Spanish, certainly not Finnish. Finnish has an insanely difficult case system and since it's a member of the Finno-Ugric branch of languages, it has very few words derived from Indo-European. Thus you'll never find an English cognate unless the word was borrowed into Finnish. This book does an outstanding job of explaining how each case works, how it's inflected and goes into detail about consonant gradation. If you know linguistics and you want to learn Finnish grammer, this is the book for you!

Note: Finland is NOT part of Scandinavia. Looking at their languages should be clear enough to understand this.

Excellent Learning Resource!
This book is more than just a grammar reference; it is an excellent resource for learning Finnish. The language's many complex endings and cases are set forth with clarity and abundant examples. The book also provides a lot of vocabulary-building opportunities along the way. I'm very impressed, and would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning Finnish.

This book is AMAZING!!
I bought this book a few months ago when I decided that I wanted to learn Finnish and had difficulty getting beyond the pronunciations.So, I switched to Terttu Leney's "Teach Yourself Finnish" to get into the language a little and then after a few chapters in that book, have picked Karlsson's book back up.Although I have no prior experience in the language and am teaching myself, I have gone from complete confusion to being able to write in Finnish fairly fluently in about 1 month as a result of what I have learned from this book.

As a complete beginner in the language, I would say that this book is a must have.While some of the cases, tenses, and word forms are confusing initially because they don't have any direct correlation to English, when you begin working with the language, the explanations by Karlsson make perfect sense.

I started e-mailing an acquaintance who is a Finn, and he was more than a little surprised that I was able to write that well in Finnish.His comment was: "I didn't know that you could write that well."This was confirmation to me that Karlsson's book was well worth its cost.

This book does not have any exercises in it, which was my initial frustration.So if you are a beginner like I was, you will need to purchase another resource that gives you exercises to practice with.However, once you begin learning, if you read the chapters in Karlsson's book that correspond with what you are learning, I think that you will find that his explanations are much more comprehensive. Hyva osaa.

A fantastic reference, beautifully organized, with copious examples
Well, the ground isn't exactly thick with Finnish textbooks, so I figured I'd give this one a go and see what happened.As it turns out, I was delighted - no, ecstatic - at the quality of this book.

The first couple of Finnish books I'd used were of the "teach yourself" variety.These were good for learning useful phrases - almost like a Berlitz book, but with more cartoons and some practice exercises - but were absolutely horrible for learning the nuts and bolts of the language.I learn languages in much the same way as I do logical or mathematical structures, and am lost without thorough explanations of grammar and syntax from the get-go, so I needed something better than (or at least something to go along with) these books.

This book is the one.It starts out with amazingly precise guides to pronunciation and word structure, and the first few chapters contain detailed explanations of phenomena that ABSOLUTELY NEED to be understood to make sense of word formation (i.e., consonant gradation and pre-"i" vowel changes).These first chapters immediately cleared up many of the word changes that had previously mystified me.

The rest of the chapters are just as good as the beginning ones.

What really stands out about this book, though, is the enormous wealth of examples - sometimes between ten and twenty for each grammatical point.(These examples are the main reason the book is 200-odd pages long instead of 100-odd pages.)There are so many examples that, after looking at the first few, I can cover up the Finnish text and translate the rest of them as "exercises."

Even more astoundingly, this book wasn't originally written in English.The quality of the translation is so good that this book appears to have been written äidinkieleksi in English.

If you get this book, some sort of "teach yourself" book (mostly for the conversational usage), and a bunch of flash cards for vocabulary (

Best Finnish grammar available
This book is amazing. There is a definite lack of Finnish language books available in English, and this is by far the most comprehensive grammar around. My only complaint is it could go a lot farther with more examples and more exceptions to rules listed, but with a language like Finnish, they could write volumes and still not get everything. The outline of the rules of the language is pretty complete. ... Read more

Product Description
Part of a series that offers mainly linguistic and anthropological research and teaching/learning material on a region of great cultural and strategic interest and importance in the post-Soviet era. ... Read more

Product Description
First published in 1994, Mastering Finnish, the reliable, reasonably priced language guide, is now available in a revised, updated edition. The Mastering Series' method of instruction combines a full-length text with lively dialogues, essential vocabulary, and important grammar exercises. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Great learning tool for a language where there isn't a great variety of course material !
Well worth hunting down as it's nice to have a range of course materials for Finnish as there isn't an awful lot out there. Very comprehensive enabling the student to have quite a mastery of this quite difficult, but beautiful language.

very professional
The price is sound, and the package is very good.
You have to buy the cd together in order to get the best result.
Perhaps you should use it together with teach yourself finnish ( the old edition is the best, with a soap opera in many episodes, even if it's a little hard to cope ).

A great tool to learn the language.
This is a great tool to help with pronunciation of the language. The conversations are all possible situations you may find yourself in (going to a party, purchasing train tickets, getting directions, visiting a doctor, shopping, etc.) and the pace of the spoken word is very true to life. This also makes a great addition to your favorite MP3 player and you can take the language anywhere. I find it helpful to just listen without the written words in front of me. Then follow along in the book (additional purchase), look up the translations in the back and listen again without the book. In no time you'll recognize words and even learn some of the funny songs that are included within the conversations. IHANA!

misleading
this cd does not actualy teach you how to speak finnish its just has convosations and you just listen to them. not much help

A much needed material
This is a very good introductory work in attaining proficiency in Finnish.Since Finnish is practically a minority language, there are very few course materials available in it and this is a valuable work.The one weakness I would say this text seems to have is that it doesn't seem very directed towards students in terms of the situations of the dialogues and the vocabulary worked on.A few chapters with more high frequency phrases and vocabulary useful for students laid out clearly (and voiced on the CDs) would be very useful. ... Read more

Product Description
Compact and comprehensive, the Berlitz Pocket Dictionary is suitable for travellers, students or professionals. Blue headwords make entries acessible while its size makes the book handy and portable. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

k
This product is very useful for anyone who is interested in learning Finnish. I would recommend anyone to buy a dictionary before going to Finland. ... Read more

Product Description
BERLITZ FINNISH IN 60 MINUTES

Start speaking Finnish in just one hour!


Get a quick start to learning basic everyday Finnish words with an all-audio course including more than 250 essential words and phrases needed to start communicating no textbook needed and no grammar rules to learn! Repetition helps learners retain what they ve heard and a 16-page booklet with audio script is provided for those who want to follow along as they listen.


Start Speaking Today:

*1 audio CD (1 hour)

*Completely portable--compatible with your iPod® or other MP3 player

*Learn by listening to native speakers

*Essential everyday language

*Reference booklet included
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Start
This is good if you want to get some basic vocab before diving deeper.Standard listen and repeat, which I like. ... Read more

Product Description
Langenscheidt expands its popular bilingual dictionary series with the addition of five new languages: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish.The trusted Universal Dictionary ensures quick and accurate reference with thousands of clearly arranged entries and modern vocabulary.Each dictionary is concise, compact work for use at home, in the office, at school or while traveling. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Ok, but not far from that.
It's a dictionary, it's always good to have one, but I thought this was bigger and had more words. It isn't bad, but LOTS of words aren't included in it, and it doesen't help much if you're studying because finnish is an agglutinating language and words change very much. But if what you're looking for is a pocketbook, for emergencies, it fits.

Nein nicht so gut
I have a dictionary for German that looks similar, however, pictures are not what they appear, it is HALF the size and content, does not contain enough words, totaly my fault for not doing my homework, all in all, it is okay for basic conversationns.

great travel dictionary
Although there are many words you may wish to know that aren't in here, it's great for the size and value, especially if you're beginning to learn Finnish or need a compact, ACTUAL pocket dictionary, unlike Oxford's "pocket" dictionaries, which require pockets the size of a fanny pack. The blue headwords are very nice as well, and make for a quicker search for words.

Pocket dictionary with information for travelers
This pocket dictionary really will fit in your pocket!It has a flexible plastic cover which should wipe off easily if need be.It also has blue headwords.It appears to be as comprehensive as one would expect for this size.It includes both American and British usage (the American usage is indicated by Am).The introduction and guide to pronunciation are in both languages.There are also 21 pages at the back with information for travelers (in both English and Finnish):basic (travel) phrases, abbreviations, numerals, how to tell time, and metric conversions including a thermometer showing both Fahrenheit Centrigrade/Celcius.English irregular verbs are also included.(The pocket dictionaries for some other languages have a mini-grammar with irregular verbs for both languages; Langenscheidt apparently left most of that information out of the Finnish edition so the total page count would be the same as for the other dictionaries (a cost-saving move on their part).) ... Read more

Product Description
More than 6,000 entries
Concise, easy-to-use format
For travelers and students
Handy glossary of menu terms
Completely modern and up-to-date ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Helpful.
This dictionary is great as reference, especially when learning finnish.
No complaints except that the font is TINY.

Cookie or boat hook?
If someone asks you for a cookie, you're going to think they want a boat hook...

If someone happens to give you this dictionary for free, your best bet is to use it for starting fires.Buy a Gummerus.

Alternative
By the way, I highly recommend "the little yellow dictionaries by gummerus" Finnish dictionary as it is excellent, contains many useful phrases as well as useful words and though it is enormous in content (60,000 entries compared to the Hippocrene Consise's 6000) it is no larger in physical size. It is meant more for Finns trying to use English, but I have found it more than servicable for English speakers trying to use finnish. Indispensable, in fact. (This was the dictionary provided by my class THIS year. A great improvement.)

Ludicrous
Although this book has a good number of Finnish words and is not unuseful if it's the only option you can find, it's greatest value for me is its entertainment value. Along with amusing misprints that will have you wondering what the word "lizarp" means in either language, the lack of specificity about word meanings in both sections causes the reader to constantly flip back and forth to try to construct an educated guess about which word he or she is looking for when under "knot" it gives only a list of five finnish nouns and one verb with no further explanation (other than the differentiation between commas and semicolons). This dictionary's egregiousness (and perhaps it's humorous uses as well) are most obvious when one tries to use it in communicating with native Finnish speakers, as I did in my first year class last year (this was the dictionary which they made available). With alarming frequency my teacher had no idea what I was trying to say and when I explained, she had to correct the dictionary on many occasions. So I wouldn't really recommend the purchase of this book unless you're looking for a few laughs and bad finnish.

A vague idea of the language
Hippocrene has published a large number of cheap editions of bilingual dictionaries.They are cheap to produce but this one takes the cake.Sure, it has 6000 entries but at the same time it will completely frustrate the beginning language learner.Why?The editors have completely misunderstood the agglutinive nature of thelanguage.Instead of listing a header with various combinations derived therefrom, they insist that all words are basically incapable of being linked together.Earlier versions of Finnish-English dictionaries by W. Soy in Finland are worth looking into. ... Read more

Product Description
Colloquial Finnish is a practical course in everyday written and spoken Finnish requiring no prior knowledge of the language. This book is ideal for study independently or with a teacher. Cassettes recorded by native Finnish speakers are also available.

This paperback in the Colloquial Language Learning Series is available individually here or as part of a cassette pack. To purchase the book and the cassettes, please refer to the cassette pack listing for this language. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Colloquial Finnish
My Husband is Finnish so this looks to be a great start in the lessons
of the language and country for me. RITA

Not very useful for students
Take the title of this book seriously: it really _only_ teaches colloquial Finnish, and the colloquial Finnish of only one region at that!

While this might be of use to someone interested in learning to converse ONLY, it is of no help to anyone who actually wants to learn to write and read Finnish. The problem is that the written form of Finnish is not spoken in any particular part of Finland. The usual approach is to learn to speak this written form (which everyone does understand, even though no native speaker uses it in daily life) while learning grammar rules. Once a student has done that he/she goes on to learn the colloquial Finnish of a specific area. A student who uses this book is going backwards...and will be hurt by that approach. Not only does the book contain almost no clear explanations of some of the most complex grammatical systems in the world, it also offers no introduction to standard written forms of some very common words.

A student who completes this book will be able to chat in a Helsinki bar (maybe?), but won't be able to read a newspaper or understand a radio DJ...nor will he or she have the basis to continue on to other books, which presuppose an understanding of Finnish grammar.The books recommended by other reviewers are better choices, as is Suomen Kielen Alkeisoppikirja by Anna-Liisa Lepasmaa and Leena Silfverberg.

It's hard but it's worth it!
Is Finnish the most difficult language in Europe? Quite possibly, yes. Is it one of the most interesting? Definitely!

Unlike almost every other language in Europe (English, French, Russian, Welsh, Swedish etc etc) Finnish is not an Indo-European language. This means that it is unrelated to most other European languages except Estonian and Hungarian. Thus it is not surprising to find that the language is very different indeed, what about 14 cases for nouns?! The vocabulary is also very different from most other European languages. Given this, trying to learn Finnish is a real challenge.

So why do it? One reason is that Europe's largest collection of folk-tales is in Finnish since old stories lived on here for a very long time. The national epic of Finland, Kalevala, has rightly been considered equal to the Celtic and Greek Epics. Finnish is also a very beautiful languages, and the linguist J.R.R Tolkien (author of The Lord of the Rings) based his alven-speech upon Finnish, considering Finnish to be the most beautiful language in the world. Then there is also the joy of visiting Finland - one of the richest, cleanest and most developed countries in Europe Most people under 40 speak as good as fluent English but you don't get to know the culture in the same way without some knowledge of Finnish.

Colloquial Finnish is definitely your best guide to natural, spoken Finnish. It presents the grammar in a somewhat unconventional way, but it does manage to give a very thorough guide to all aspects of the Finnish grammar. The lessons are not too long, and are packed with conversations to help you learn the spoken language. In all, the book is a very good mix of grammar explanations, exercises, dialouges and miscs. Learning to pronounce Finnish is not too hard, but the audio-version is very helpful.

As can be seen from my review, I have fallen in love with both the country and the language, and this book has done more than any other to help me learn Finnish.

Comments from a native speaker
Although interesting, I find Panu's review way out of line. Saying that the language in this book is that of Helsinki Skinheads is absurd altogether. The Finnish in this book is simply the Finnish used in Helsinki (and most major cities), I can't see how on earth this has anything to do with skinheads.. This is the language used by youngsters in Disco's, clubs, on the streests, in the schools and universities etc. One could only hope that the visitor to this site will take Panu's comments for what they're worth.

For the book itself, it is quite good even if the way of describing Finnish grammar is highly un-orthodox. The vocabulary is quite comprehensive and most dialouges are well wuited for the learner.When completing this course, the reader will be able to converse with nativr Finnish speakers and take part in normal life.

The best!
I own a few other Finnish language books. Actually, all of the books that the local bookstore I visit had, which was like 5 or 6. Routledge's language courses are the best you can buy, I know because I've bought an array of books for an array of languages. But this one takes the cake; Author Daniel Abondolo delicately blends the professionalism or language books with the speech or normal people to create a very conducive environment for learning, especially with such a diffucult language. Abondolo teaches you the essentials of the language, as no single volume book could teach you an entire language. By the end of the book, you will be speaking the language seemingly as if you've known the language all your life, without the accent though. The authors credentials are confirmed by his other books, namely the Uralic Languages(editor+author), a highly technical book dealing with the language group with which Finnish is part of. The tapes provide a very useful tool, that is, hearing the spoken language through native speakers. ... Read more

Product Description
For the beginning or intermediate language learners. Over 12,000 terms in each language. Wide range of contemporary vocabulary. Easy to understand definitions.Basic conversational phrases. Mini-grammar section with irregular verbs. Unique menu reader. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Non Fiction
Berlitz Finnish-English Pocket Dictionary by the Berlitz Publishing Company is a handy little reference guide when you need to look up a word in Finnish and find its English equivalent. Occasionally useful for checking out a book title on Librarything too, for combining.

Finnish is one of those languages where guessing is pretty much impossible for anybody, to start with.

Anyway, not too bad.

Great size, good English/Finnish version
This is a good size for travel and seems to contain lots of useful travel words.

Great no matter what language you speak!
Now matter how you say it, this small pocket dictionary easily makes the transition between Suomi and Englanti (Finnish and English for you non-bi-lingualites) so easy.It's a nice partnership with the "Say it in Finnish" book.

Good for the traveller
This book may be good for the traveller. Looking at old Finnish books and trying to figure out the captions under the pictures is a challenge with this dictionary.Also, translating internet Finnish writings is verydifficult. ... Read more

Product Description
Colloquial Estonian is a practical course in everyday written and spoken Estonian requiring no prior knowledge of the language. This book is ideal for study independently or with a teacher. Two 60-minute cassettes are also available, separately or with this paperback as a pack. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Does Moseley Actually Know Estonian?
The author shows every sign of being a student of Finnish who has dabbled in Estonian on the side. He certainly does not understand the language enough to be writing a book about it.

1. It has already been noted that he does not understand certain consonant changes ("gradation") that are critical to speaking and reading Estonian. I would say it is worse: He thinks Estonian's three-level gradation is the same as Finnish's two-level system. When his model quickly falls apart even in his own examples, he lamely mumbles something about "exceptions" and hurries off the topic, leaving the student no wiser.

2. Learning verbs from this book means the student will struggle to use an Estonian dictionary. Moseley is either unaware of the dictionary form of Estonian verbs, or he consciously refuses to accept it. I can see a case why the -da infinitive should be the default form, as its Finnish counterpart is. But it isn't, it never has been, and a book for beginners is not the place to challenge reality. As it happens, I don't think Moseley is a linguistic bomb-thrower. I think he simply doesn't realize that Estonian uses a different convention than Finnish.

3. Estonian's fourteen noun cases can be introduced in any of several perfectly logical approaches. Moseley uses none of them. Oblique cases appear willy-nilly from the very first dialogue, with very poor explanations and sometimes no explanation at all. I don't see how any student could not be frustrated by that. One never gets the sense that the author understands how to teach and present a foreign language.

4. On the plus side, the appendix includes a very useful paradigm list.

But that's not enough to make it worth buying the course. You might as well flush your money down the toilet. It'll be faster and you'll learn nearly as much Estonian.

Terrible
PROS:
- None

CONS:
- Use of a non-native speaker (his voice sounds suspiciously similar to that of the author's) on the recordings. He reads and speaks Estonian as if he were telling a story to young children since he seems to enjoy using exaggerated intonation, length and volume. None of the other speakers are as bad or patronising as he. I cringe when hearing his shouting or mangling of Estonian.
- Inconsistencies between dialogues' scripts and recordings
- The sequence of recorded sections (especially for pronunciation) doesn't match the sequence printed in the book.
- Inadequate English-Estonian glossary. The Estonian-English glossary is a little better in comparison.
- Insufficient amount of exercises.

"Colloquial Estonian" competes with "Colloquial Slovene" and "Teach Yourself Slovene" as the worst self-instructional language course that I've used. It also is a warning when using courses that are designed by teachers or authors who are not native speakers of the target language. I'm thankful that "Teach Yourself Estonian" (it was designed by teachers who are native speakers of Estonian) is now available and it is a marked improvement over Mr. Moseley's creation. (Incidentally, Mr. Moseley is now a teaching fellow of Latvian at SSEES (School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies). As far as I could tell his main links to Estonian were that he had earned a master's degree in Balto-Finnic linguistics and focused on reporting/analyzing Baltic affairs while working at the BBC. There's no mention if he had ever gained substantial and meaningful experience in teaching Estonian anywhere)

Unfortunately Colloquial Estonian is still the only self-instructional Estonian course that is widely available for many people. The competition isn't very comparable to begin with. Aside from the newly-published "Teach Yourself Estonian", Juhan Tuldava's "Estonian Textbook: Grammar - Exercises - Conversation" has a much better presentation of grammar but was never designed with audio and has a pitiful amount of exercises. Felix Oinas' course "Basic Estonian" is dated and modelled on a course used at the Defense Language Institute. Its cost (approximately $300) and comprehensiveness (the textbook has 393 pages and comes with 32 tapes/CDs) also make comparisons with the shorter "Teach Yourself Estonian" and "Colloquial Estonian" unsuitable.

they should be ashamed
Just read an article in an Estonian newspaper about this. I've heard complaints before as well.
They re-printed this for the 7th time with the same mistakes they've had in it for years (since 1994 I suppose!). And on the CD the person doing the reading isn't a native speaker at all.
Would definitely not recommend.

Good, but only in conjunction with a real grammar
This series has some problems, including the occasional typo, lack of grammatical explanations and generally loose editing, but as a companion to more antiquated but grammatically rich texts available for English speakers (such as Tuldava's Estonian Textbook), this series provides a nice set of colloquial updates for those tackling Estonian.

My Estonian Teacher Says This Is Not Worth Your Money
My Estonian Language teacher hates this book, I would follow her advice.Your first clue should be the Russian domes on the cover.No native Estonian would dare put this on their cover.Think about it.Try E Nagu Eesti. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

I will marry the author
I'm the biggest Finnish for Foreigners fanboy there is. The choice of vocab and the lessons are all broken up very wonderfully and evenly, as well as in the order of usage, as in: you learn more common words before less common ones. It doesn't have any exercises, so if exercises are important to you, purchase the workbook (it's expensive, but just keep an eye on it, cheap used versions pop up periodically, buy them quick, because they go fast.) The other complaint I saw was about how it presented regular processes as irregular.

This is mostly just a problem of terminology. It presents them in a nice methodical way, but you can see at certain points, that the author is not a native English speaker. This is one of those points, but it really doesn't impede your learning, it's just a skosh odd.

Still an amazing resource. I recommend it to absolutely everyone I meet.

Adequate but not ideal
This is a classic introductory text to the Finnish language.After a few pages of basic pronunciation instructions, it starts students off with simple sentences like "What is this?".By the end of the 40th lesson, students are able to read and discuss extended dialogs about daily life.Each chapter starts with a dialog, presented simultaneously in Finnish and English in bilingual columns.The dialog is followed by a short pronunciation section, then some grammar explanations, and then a list of new vocabulary presented in alphabetical order.Each chapter is quite short, usually consisting of only 4-6 pages.

The choice of vocabulary is rather good.The beginning chapters introduce the most commonly used words in the language, as well as words that might be needed by students or new arrivals to Finland.Cultural details are also inserted in the readings, such as asking directions in downtown Helsinki, shopping on market squares, and Jean Sibelius.

My main complaint with the text is that it presents some perfectly predictable phonological processes as irregular.That really rubs me the wrong way because Finnish has to be just about the most regular language in the world, as long as you learn how to apply the rules correctly.Personally, and as a linguist, I much prefer mastering the regular phonological rules of a language rather than memorizing different forms of individual words as Aaltio has her learners do.Aaltio does explain the rules eventually, in chapter 23, but I would think these rules would help even new beginners.This textbook may work well for some students, but it's not my personal favorite.

not worth the price
I bought this book and was sorely disappointed.There are two problems... 1) the book has no practice excercises and 2) the book is very small for the price!...Considering that there are no exercizes, I would recommend a cheaper, one book course (I'm using Colloquial Finnish).Those kind (including Colloquial Finnish) aren't ideal either, but are a much better deal for the money.Buy a dictionary, a Finnish grammar book, and a one-book course and that is probably your best bet.

Finnish for Foreigners a good start for the beginner
Instructional books on the Finnish language are hard to come by. Aaltio's "Finnish for Foreigners" provides a good introduction for the struggling beginner who is trying to make sense of the Finnish language'sdifficult grammar and syntax.

Although its organization is a bit uneven,"Finnish for Foreigners" does a good job of introducing thestudent to new words and of building a Finnish vocabulary. At the same timeone learns the basics of Finnish grammar. Aaltio slowly introduces thenuances of Finnish grammar so that one can build their skills andconfidence with Finnish.

"Finnish for Foreigners" was my firstinstructional book in the Finnish language. It provided me the basis Irequired to expand my Finnish skills and I highly reccomend it to anyonewho is seeking an introduction to Finnish.

This book introduces a practical Finnish vocabulary.
Finnish for Foreigners provides a good basis for anyone learning to speak Finnish.Its vocabulary is that of common words and its examples are those that are commonly encountered (buying in the marketplace, using publictransportation.)It also provides a grammatical foundation which you canbuild from.

The downside of this book is its confusing order. Thechapters do not seem to flow, but rather subject matter is broken into 2 or3 separate chapters located far apart in the book.The book also has noglossary, which I found annoying.

I bought this book to learn thespoken language of Finnish.When coupled with a dictionary and Finnish forForeigners 2, it was very adequate for the year I spent in Finland.Thebook also has a Finnish author, who adds an enjoyable flavor of the typicalFinnish personality to the book. ... Read more

Product Description
Comparative contact phenomena have excited growing interest among linguistic scholars in recent decades. Yet there have been very few detailed case studies, particularly in the area of syntactic interference. The present study approaches contact-induced syntactic change from the viewpoint of a single Russian-modeled syntactic construction which is used to express necessity in Karelian. The processes by which Russian features are entering Karelian through this construction are embedded in a broader context of codeswitching and other kinds of language mixing phenomena in bilingual speech communities in general. The study employs current theories and models of bilingual language alternation, particularly those produced by investigations concerned with syntax and grammar of codeswitched speech. The Karelian-Russian data are also discussed in relation of two recent models that have sought to explain the evolution of stable mixed languages in terms of gradual fossilisation of codeswitching patterns, namely the Matrix Language Turnover moden introduced by Carol Myers-Scotton, and the 'Pragmatic codeswitching continuum' introduced by Peter Auer. ... Read more

Product Description
Finnish Language The Book on CD-ROM Advantage. Print only the pages, passages or paragraphs you want, search for key words or terms, read from your laptop, home computer or mini when it pleases you. Share it electronically with friends and relatives. Re-sell it. Supply your children with books on their computers instead of video games. Share with 1 or 100 students at the same time for educational purposes. No need to buy a separate electronic device to read a book. Save a Tree. Pay one low price and have as many books of this title that you want to print.*****Excerpt: "En," vastasi Andreas. "En minä tahdo olla valapatto Jumalan edessä, en sinun enkä itseni puolesta. Viimeistä turvaas en sinulta tahdo ryöstää."Andreas auttoi häntä päällysvaatetta yllensä asettaessa."Sinä menet kait äitis luo?""Niin; kun otan sukset, niin tunniss' olen siellä.""Huomenna lähetän tavaras sinne."Poikanen nousi sängyss' istualleen ja ihmetellen katseli heitä."Meneekö äiti ulos?" kysyi tämä."Niin -- äiti menee ulos," vastas isä.Aina silmäs ympäri huonetta, katsahti lasta, käännähti kiireesti poispäin. Olipa jotakin petomaista hänen silmissänsä, samalla kun hän ahmaisi kaikki yhdell' ainoall' arastavalla silmäyksellä.Thorsen otti kynttilän ja saattoi häntä ulos etehisen avoimelle ovelle. ... Read more

Product Description
Educated speech of Finns in urban centers of Finland. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Worth the money if you can find a native speaker to help.
I purchased this book because I was impressed by other books in the series. However, don't be fooled into thinking that all books in the same series are going to be of the same quality. Although the basis of these books is the material taken from US forces instruction manuals not all authors follow the guidelines so closely. Some will include phonetic transcription of the dialogues some won't. Also, not all courses come with adequate audio material. Some of the courses I have used have had really bad audio material come with them, so much so that it renders the pronunciation practice and listening exercises impossible. Some of them, as this does, only come with a limited number of cassettes. Most courses come with six cassettes which is enough to cover the first twelve units of each course sufficiently. This course had only three cassettes which I assumed meant there were relatively few listening exercises and only a small chapter for pronunciation. Unfortunately I was dead wrong. The course contains the same number of exercises as the others but does not have the audio to cover it rendering it pointless. If I had known this I would not have bothered buying only three cassettes. I would return this to be honest except for the fact it would cost more money to return it from England. In all the book would be quite useful if a native speaker were to hand throughout the course as the instruction book suggests. However, for most people buying this (like myself) I doubt there will be any native speakers for miles around. ... Read more