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HomeShop at BookSurgeReligionHinduism541 Albanian Verbs |
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 This is OK but I have found something much better. Feb 07, 2010
Speak Mandarin Chinese For Beginners The Michel Thomas Method (8-CD Beginner's Program) (Michel Thomas Series)Michel Thomas Method Speak Mandarin Chinese Advanced (Michel Thomas Series)Michel Thomas Method: Mandarin Chinese Vocabulary Course (Michel Thomas Series)
I am the author of the Michel Thomas spoken Mandarin Chinese series.
I have the 541 Albanian verbs book. It is OK but in the meantime I have found something infinitely better.
It is entitled Albanian verbs: the art of conjugation.
The authors, Batjar and Sokol Bega have done an amazing job in adding to the few resources available for English-speakers to learn Albanian. They have written ( and now in 2007, revised) their text Let's learn Albanian which, for my money, is the main thing one needs to buy if you want to learn standard Albanianl. Well, really, you should buy the Leonard Newmark Albanian-English dictionary, this verb book and the textbook and you will be well on your way. The textbook also has an accompanying CD with recordings for every one of the 52 lessons, key to all the exercises, a summary of all the grammar, a small dictionary, and, amazingly, a frequency list of the 800+ most frequently used Albanian words. This last item is invaluable for the student since it shows you what words to concentrate on.
The verb book has a very good explanation with lots of examples of why Albanian has all these different verb forms and exactly how they correspond to English expression. In addition, the verb lists have specific information as to which patterns they fall into something which the 541 book lacks. How are you supposed to know how to conjugate and use a verb if that information is not given?
These two books are obtainable from shtepiaelibrit ( Google it for details). I have just begun to order from them and am very happy with their service. Unfortunately, these books are not available in the US or from Amazon which is too bad since they are the very best ones to learn Albanian that I have found.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
lacks an English index w/page numbers Nov 11, 2009
Most of us interested in studying Albanian know full well how hard it can be to find good, modern Albanian study materials. This book is good...I mean, its stuff we all gotta know, and its about time that someone produced a 500+ verb conjugation dictionary for Albanian. I have no complaints about most of the content. But why did the authors not include an English verb index with page numbers? 99.9% of those buying this book are native English speakers looking to learn Albanian, yet if you want to look up a verb, there is no way to know what page the verb is on, unless you already know the Albanian...and you just wonder why this has to be. Verbs in the book are organized alphabetically in Albanian...there is a list in the back of the book of all the Albanian verbs (in Albanian) with page numbers...but how are you supposed to know what they mean if you haven't learned them yet??? So that list is entirely useless. The next list shows all Albanian verbs alphabetically, with the corresponding English translation...but again, how are you supposed to find your verb if you don't know the Albanian??...its like a dog chasing its tail. So you can poor over the many, many pages of this list hoping to stumble on a verb or you'll need to track it down in a separate dictionary first. Its a real waste of time either way...every '501 verbs' book has an English verb index with page numbers for ease of use...these authors must be of the 'work harder not smarter' school. It just defies common sense and I get ticked every time I pick the book up. Hopefully we'll see a 501 verbs for Albanian some time soon as those authors have sense enough to HELP the reader find a verb. In the meantime this is all we got.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 one of the best! Sep 19, 2008
Well written, and definitely a helpful reference book! The author was my language tutor for some time, and I know from personal experience that she is a master of her own language. I wish this book had been published several years ago, but I'm quite thankful to own it now! It's great to have the many tables of conjugated verbs (which can be difficult to learn), and I especially love the popluar expressions and proverbs she included at the end.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
A must-have for anyone studying Albanian! Feb 15, 2008
This book is a must-have for anyone studying Albanian. I highly recommend the combo of Roza Stefanllari's verb book and Ilo Stefanllari's dictionary.
The book of 541 Albanian verbs includes an introduction with all the conjugation patterns for the four main types of Albanian verbs -- the "-oj verbs," the regular consonant verbs, the vowel verbs, and the reflexive/passive verbs. The next section covers all the moods and tenses of Albanian verbs and provides English examples. The bulk of the book provides one page for each of the 541 most common Albanian verbs, fully conjugated. There are several indexes and a list of 1100 other verbs to help you find the correct congugation pattern for them.
The last section of the book provides a very practical phrasebook and concise dictionary of common Albanian words and phrases -- in both Albanian and English.
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