Teach Yourself Panjabi Complete Course Audiopackage (Teach Yourself . . . Complete Courses)

Rating:
Summary: Not organized enough and incomplete.
Review: I was able to use this book because the language so closely resembles Hindi, which I know. If I were a completely new learner, I would have found the book very difficult to learn from. All of the main aspects of grammar are presented, but the order is very random and the book contains no summary of the grammar (i.e. an appendix with a summary of verb tenses and noun forms). Everytime a question arises I am forced to flip through the entire book to find the answer. Perhaps this design to a language book (light on grammatical terminology and methodological presentation) is better for students that have never learned a foreign language, but if you have, the format tends to be frustrating. I have given the book 3 stars for its lack of organization, but I still haven't mentioned its most serious drawbacks which are: it ignores the tonal aspect of the Panjabi language, nowhere does it give a full list of the forms of "hona" (to be), it does not give the full conjugation of most irregular verbs: jaana and rahina are represented but "laina", "dena", and "karna" are not. The meanings of these words (which ought to illustrate their importance and the gravity of their absence in the book) are respectively, "to go," "to remain," "to take," "to give," and "to do." The book gives a skeleton of the language, but its full form still eludes the reader.

Rating:
Summary: It could be much better
Review: This course starts with the Panjabi script and sound system which good and bad. It prepares beginners but it may also be intimidating. It is a lot to learn at the beginning, not an easy introduction at all. But that is not the worst. What is really negative in this course is its poor organisation and there are also some mistakes here and there. Unit 1 starts with How are you? which makes sense. Then unit 3 deals with food, What does it taste like?, unit 6 moves on to Did you study in Jalandhar?, but unit 7 goes back to the basics of food with What will you have to drink? On the positive side there is good input of native speakers in this course. What this course needs is good advice from a good consultant who really knows the language.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad but...
Review: This is not a bad course and is good for beginners. Some parts are better than others and I wonder whether there are not some mistakes in some words. One feels that it would be better if the course could be written only by people who know the language. An European interference may be a good idea but only if it does not affect the course. Perhaps the next edition will be a genuine native speakers course.