Hungarian Verbs And Essentials of Grammar

Rating:
Summary: Excellent as far as it goes
Review: As a reference grammar for someone with either a grammar background or a decent linguistics background this book really cannot be beat. I don't know of any clearer explanations of the formal aspects of Hungarian morphology and elementary syntax,

On the other hand the subtitle "A practical guide to the mastery of Hungarian" is somewhat misleading. The book is primarily useful if you, (a) already speak Hungarian and just need some clarification on grammar points you may not know or have forgotten, or, (b) are one of those people who like to approach a language through a grammar-based approach.

This book would be somewhat difficult to use for those not used to grammar-based approaches. Inasmuch as grammar-based approaches have become less popular in language-training circles (possibly because they demand more of the students and teachers than do "sit-around-the-circle-and-sing-folk-songs" approaches) most language students looking for an introduction would be better off with _Teach Yourself Hungarian_ or some such book. Get this book after you have some basics under your belt.

Based on this I give the book three stars because I feel its actual usability for many is limited, even though for my own use I find it hard to imagine a better reference book of its sort.

Rating:
Summary: Great book on hungarian grammar
Review: Everything is included in this book, from conjugations to participles this book is marvelous. Some things may take awhile to understand and the book could use a couple more examples. Other than that this book is a must have for anyone learning Hungarian.

Rating:
Summary: Overview of points only scattered about in textbooks.
Review: For this most complicated of languages, it is often frustrating to seek explanations of matters such as the definite and the indefinite conjugations or changes of noun forms in the accusative when the explanations are scattered over several lessons. Enter the present book. This is not a teach-yourself textbook, but a series of lists, with clear explanations of Hungarian verbs, pronunciation, nouns, pronouns, and-heaven help us-case endings. It is an adjunct to any textbook; one can refer to it to clarify points not understood or points forgotten.

Absolutely excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Great Grammar Essentials
Review: Hungarian is a very difficult lanugage to master. The language itself is Finno-Ugric (as opposed to Slavic or Germanic), which means that it is unlike any other laguage, with the exception of Finnish. To me, Hungarain grammar is the most difficult part of the language - there is no word for "I have" and the Hungarian language uses more liberaly the agglutination principle - i.e. possesives as well as other forms (saying you are going to or coming from somewhere, for example) are formed by adding a series of prefixes and suffixes to nouns or verbs.

I spent four months in Budapest and my introductory Hungarian class taught us mostly words and phrases and very little grammar. It was most frustrating for us because we would know how to say "polar bear" but we were unable to ask where certain objects were in a store. While vocabulary is certainly an important part of learning a language, in the case of Hungarian, grammar is far more essential in the mastery of the language, as the grammar structure is so radically different from our own.

Hungarian is often cited one of the most difficult European languages to learn. However, once you master the Hungarian alpahbet and the sounds, you will be able to "speak" Hungarian - unlike English, the Hungarian language has no silent vowels and what is written is what you say. Additionally, the accent of the word is always on the first syllable, making pronunciation a fairly simple exercise. Therefore, if you are just looking to learn a few words or phrases, you are probably better off buying a phrasebook or dictionary and learning the alphabet sounds. However, if you are really interested in learning the language, you need a good guide to grammar. That said, this is one of the best introductory grammar books that I have found.

Rating:
Summary: No, It's NOT Complete, Nor Is It High-Level
Review: I couldn't disagree more with the previous reviewer, who criticizes this book for its alleged inaccessibility. As a beginning Hungarian student, I've been consulting this grammar from day one and have gotten quick answers to the questions raised by Teach Yourself Hungarian, which generally eschews the grammar approach. (I'll admit I have studied a number of foreign languages, but a person serious about Hungarian will need to learn some grammar early in the process or risk learning nothing at all.)

Torkenczy's book is clearly organized and concise. In fact, it is at times a bit too concise, leaving the reader with the impression that the writer has not explained the more subtle grammatical points of the Hungarian language. Nevertheless, for a BEGINNER (not the expert), the book is most practical. The EXPERT (not the beginner) would be better served by Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (Routledge Grammars) by Carol Rounds.

Rating:
Summary: A complete, but high-level outline of Hungarian grammar
Review: NTC's HUNGARIAN VERBS AND ESSENTIALS OF GRAMMAR is much like other books in the same series, giving of course first an explanation of verb conjugations and voices, and then an outline of grammar. This book is organized in a very logical way, and is very comprehensive.

However, as other reviews have shown, HUNGARIAN VERBS AND ESSENTIALS OF GRAMMAR is not for the beginner in the Hungarian language. This book is written as a reference guide for professional linguists or those who already speak the language. NTC also publishes a series of grammar guides geared towards students, but unfortunately there has yet to appear a Hungarian entry in that series.

Bottom line: if you're serious about Hungarian, HUNGARIAN VERBS AND ESSENTIALS OF GRAMMAR is worth buying. However, it provides only limited help to beginners because of its high-level style.