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.Mandarin Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Phrasebook)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Language
by: Anthony Garnaut

September 01, 2006
On a trip to China I ordered this phrasebook as I have absolutely no knowledge of Mandarin and was told China was quite difficult to get around in due to the low level of English spoken over there.

In truth, at places like airports staff there will speak English and signs will be written in English. In Beijing airport I was even able to ask a janitor a question in English and he understood me. In more rural China (specifically I went to Fujian province) it's very unlikely that you'll come across someone that can speak English, but places still have some signs in English.

Following on from my previous point, the writing system will pose a problem and is one this book cannot solve, not that it aims to. Rather you will ... Read More:
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Used Price: £1.68

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.Bescherelle Complete Guide to Conjugating 12000 French Verbs (English Edition) (Bescherelle 1)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Language
by: Bescherelle

December 31, 1995
OK, so it is impossible to make a book like this interesting - at least for me. However, I have had this book for about six months, and I still find it's the first book I reach for when I get stuck. 82 verbs are given a whole page, with 16 tenses written out in full - which is plenty. Although the cover says that there are 12,000 verbs, only the 82 verbs are explained in detail, though these are the ones you'll want most frequently. After that you are referred to one conjugated in the same way as the one you are interested in. At first this niggled because I like to see the word on the page, but then the book would be huge if every single verb was written out. Please not that you need to know the French word you are looking for as this isn't a dictionary ... Read More:
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Used Price: £7.99

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.RAPID FRENCH: 200+ essential words and phrases anchored into your long-term memory with great music. Vol. 1 (Earworms Musical Brain Trainer)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Language
by: Earworms Learning

July 15, 2005
I couldn't do languages at school, wasn't bad at other things, but with languages I always had a kind of block in the brain. But having a partner and his family who spoke French made me try to learn as an adult, and this has truly helped me. I'm not going to tell you that I'm suddenly fluent, but listening to this CD made me realise that I could do it. I learnt the whole CD after several listenings and felt a real achivement, and it spurred me on to learn more (I went onto Michel Thomas who is great). I'm actually enjoying language learning now which I didn't before, and it was because this CD made French accessible to me, if not providing a huge range of vocab. You could go straight to Michel Thomas from nothing, but this did a great job of giving me a ... Read More:
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Used Price: £11.14

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.101 French Proverbs (101... Language)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Language
by: Jean-Marie Cassagne

January 01, 1999
I bought this book just before moving to France 7 years ago. It's amusing and the ilustrations are great!
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Used Price: £1.35

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.Collins Spanish Dictionary: Complete & Unabridged (Dictionary)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Language
from: Collins

June 06, 2005
If you are looking for a comprehensive Spanish English dictionary then this is the one to go for. Its a weighty tome, so definitely not one for the schoolbag, but it really has got everything.

If you want to test a dictionary just try looking up some idioms, some new phrases, and some swearwords. This one passes on all three. It explains words so well that I've found myself spending half an hour just reading its notes on Spanish words.

Its miles better than the Oxford Dictionary, which is really only any good for American English.

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Used Price: £10.72

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.Michel Thomas German Foundation Course: German (Michel Thomas Series)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Language
by: Michel Thomas

September 29, 2006
I have just moved to Germany and did a standard CD course from the local library in the UK (BBC?). It gave me some basics that got me through a few months of being here. I could ask for some coffee and count but it did not give me a foundation on which to build.
I felt that I took a bit of a risk in buying MIchel Thomas because it seems expensive but I am so glad that i did. I have been using the CDs in half term and have managed to get thought half the course without having to repeat anything. I can also practice it straight away and have been praised on my german already!! It is easy to look up words in the dictionary and place them in the correct part of the sentence. I think that the locals here respect the fact that you are being polite.
I would ... Read More:
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Used Price: £52.07

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.Stories from Spain: Historias De Espaana (Side by Side Bilingual Books)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Language
by: Genevieve Barlow, William N. Stivers

May 01, 1999
I am so pleased to have found this book again, I used to own it once before and enjoyed its easy style but I gave it away to a South American friend who was learning English (she loves it!).

This book is so expertly executed that even if you have only a modest level of Spanish, it will strengthen what you've already got, provide you with new words and encourage you onto more.

It's set around 18 stories or myths or folklores from Spain's past, starting with the oldest first and working towards the newest last, with the Spanish and English presented on facing pages.

But each story is introduced by a one paragraph abstract which helps sets the scene for the story that follows. And each of the stories in turn are interesting and engaging ... Read More:
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Used Price: £2.79

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.Schaum's Outline of French Grammar (Schaum's Outline Series)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Language
by: Mary Coffman Crocker

July 01, 1999
A generally well organised primer for those planning to take French to a serious level. The book is well laid out and the explainations are for the most part very clear.

There are one or two errors in the book (for example in the list of impersonal clauses that take the subjunctive - I hasten to add that my native French speaking teacher identified these, not me), but not significant enough to devalue it. The cross referencing is a little patchy in places and some of the exercises on the dry side, but then since when was grammar supposed to be fun!

The section on verb usage is mostly excellent but the section on pronouns would benefit from expansion and clearer examples. Overall though, a very good buy.

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Used Price: £3.24

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.Collins Spanish Phrase Book (Collins Gems Series)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Language
from: Collins

March 05, 2007
A generally well organised primer for those planning to take French to a serious level. The book is well laid out and the explainations are for the most part very clear.

There are one or two errors in the book (for example in the list of impersonal clauses that take the subjunctive - I hasten to add that my native French speaking teacher identified these, not me), but not significant enough to devalue it. The cross referencing is a little patchy in places and some of the exercises on the dry side, but then since when was grammar supposed to be fun!

The section on verb usage is mostly excellent but the section on pronouns would benefit from expansion and clearer examples. Overall though, a very good buy.

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Used Price: £0.65

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.Collins Easy Learning German Dictionary (Easy Learning Dictionary)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Language
from: Collins

April 07, 2008
A generally well organised primer for those planning to take French to a serious level. The book is well laid out and the explainations are for the most part very clear.

There are one or two errors in the book (for example in the list of impersonal clauses that take the subjunctive - I hasten to add that my native French speaking teacher identified these, not me), but not significant enough to devalue it. The cross referencing is a little patchy in places and some of the exercises on the dry side, but then since when was grammar supposed to be fun!

The section on verb usage is mostly excellent but the section on pronouns would benefit from expansion and clearer examples. Overall though, a very good buy.

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Used Price: £5.05