Dine Bizaad: Speak, Read, Write Navajo

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Summary: Diné Bizaad is a first-year Navajo language textbook
Review: Diné Bizaad: Speak, Read, Write Navajo emphasizes the skills essential for a communicative approach to language learning. Each of the 30 chapters has a cultural or practical theme. Vocabulary and grammar are introduced and practiced within this context. Diné Bizaad was written with students in mind to give them the opportunity to use and enjoy the Navajo language. Irvy W. Goossen, a teacher and student of the Navajo language for many years is the author of Navajo Made Easier: A Course in Conversational Navajo. Clay Slate writes: " Irvy Goossen's newest contribution to the growing field of Navajo language curriculum will be valuable to many students and teachers of Navajo. It retains the strengths of Navajo Made Easier with dialogues and grammatical and cultural explanations. In addition, this new text includes student exercises and expanded grammatical material."

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Useful - To accompany Class Training
Review: Goossen's text & tape are welcome supplamental materials to a 2-yr study of Navajo. He provides sound examples on "how Navajo is spoken", vitally important in Navajo. He provides many good examples on how nouns, and verbs, and positional markers are used. I spent 2 years @ 65 hours a week training in Navajo to gain a 'basic' ability to speak to weavers. Gossen's work served as a useful platform in our student search for additional reference material. Both tape & text must be used in conjunction with a grounded study of Navajo - which means "lots of spoken training". Gossen provides good reference material on Navajo dialogue/conversation. Best used in sessions with native speakers. Would recommend it to students who are studying Navajo.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Useful - To accompany Class Training
Review: Goossen's text & tape are welcome supplamental materials to a 2-yr study of Navajo. He provides sound examples on "how Navajo is spoken", vitally important in Navajo. He provides many good examples on how nouns, and verbs, and positional markers are used. I spent 2 years @ 65 hours a week training in Navajo to gain a 'basic' ability to speak to weavers. Gossen's work served as a useful platform in our student search for additional reference material. Both tape & text must be used in conjunction with a grounded study of Navajo - which means "lots of spoken training". Gossen provides good reference material on Navajo dialogue/conversation. Best used in sessions with native speakers. Would recommend it to students who are studying Navajo.

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Summary: Good on grammar, but limitted vocabulary
Review: I bought this book at El Morro National Park for about the same price. I am enjoying it and it is a very good resource, except for the fact that there isn't a whole lot of vocabulary.

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Summary: This book is excellent!
Review: I cannot praise this book too highly. For years I have been searching for a good Dine (Navajo) course and this is by far the best one I have seen. It is clear, concise and user-friendly while also being thorough and grammatically accurate. The lessons are structured around useful, every-day language in the form of dialogues, stories, grammmatical explanations and exercises. The book includes an appendix of Dine verb structure and a two-way vocabulary, Dine/English and English/Dine. I haven't got the tapes yet, but the book is wonderful and definitely a valuable acquisition for anyone interested in learning to speak the Dine language.

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Summary: What on earth do you expect?
Review: I seriously wonder what the other review-writers imagine language-learning is like; do you actually figure you can simply buy a tape, listen to it a couple of times and then start talking like a living dictionary? No, this book deserves better. Of course you need both the book and the tapes! I'm not done with my studies yet, but so far the book seems well-structured and if you actually want to learn this language (which means "work"), buy this book and get started!

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Summary: Best There is
Review: The Navajo Language is a fairly difficult language to learn, and there are few books out there that can teach you the Language. In general, cultural practices of the Navajo are seldomly documented and packaged for sale--it's a cultural thing. But this book is the most extensive book out there. Unlike what a previous reviwer claimed, THERE ARE english translations for the Navajo words in the book, including a glossary in the back. YOU WILL NEED THE TAPES to accompany this book!! You just can't read the book and learn the language---the tapes are required. Navajo is a very "throaty" language and it takes a lot of prctice to learn it. Furthermore, I would suggest buying the Navajo-English Dictionary after you have mastered the book.

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Summary: This tape must be accompanied by the text book.
Review: This tape must be accompanied by the text book. No English translations for the Navajo words spoken are provided.

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Summary: Need the book as well as the tape
Review: When ordering the tape you will need the book. The navajo is not translated and without the book the tape is useless.