Author: John Mason
Publisher: Red Sea Press
Genre: Nonfiction
Release: Aug 1996 My Rating: 0
Summary: Tigrinya Grammar by John Mason is the best book on the market for learning Tigrinya grammar. The problem (or is it?) is that you have to learn how to read Tigrinya to use the book since there is no English transliteration of Tigrinya words. This would pose a problem for a true beginner who does not yet know how to read Tigrinya *BUT* once the reader attains a basic grasp of reading the language, he/she will reap the benefits of proper pronunciation in Tigrinya since the reading of this language is delightfully phonetic! What you see is what you get, unlike trying to learn how to read English or French! Initially, learning how to read Tigrinya presents itself as a daunting task since there are over 200 characters in the "alphabet", but there is a system that makes memorization of all the characters individually unecessary. Rudimentary ability in reading Tigrinya can be acheived in less than a month of moderate study (approximately 7 hours a week) but consider that you may have to seek out a Tigrinya speaker to demonstrate proper pronunciation. If you do not have access to a Tigrinya speaker, there are cassette tapes available from the publisher of Tigrinya Grammar, Red Sea Press, that may help you with proper pronunciation. There are also computer software that can help you learn proper pronunciation.
If you are looking for a superficial survey of Tigrinya or some practical Tigrinya for travel to Eritrea or the Tigray province of Ethiopia where Tigrinya is spoken, you would be better-suited purchasing Tigrinya Phrasebook by Leonardo Oriolo (Red Sea Press) in which all the Tigrinya words/phrases are transliterated in English for those who can not read Tigrinya. If you want more than a superficial survey of the language, then I would have to say that Tigrinya Grammar is the best resource out there; once you have a basic grasp of reading Tigrinya.
How to Say It : English-Tigrinya-Italian, also by Leonardo Oriolo (Red Sea Press), is an excellent book to supplement Tigrinya Grammar for serious students of Tigrinya. Since I have yet to come across a competent English-Tigrinya/Tigrinya-English dictionary, How to Say It is the closest thing to that with many up to date terms, although by no means as extensive as a typical dictionary in most languages. Although it can serve as a basic dictionary, the bulk of How To Say It is composed of Tigrinya phrases which are a valuable supplement to Tigrinya Grammar's comparatively limited base of Tigrinya phrases. However, as with Tigrinya Grammar, How To Say It also requires the ability to read Tigrinya, which again is feasible within a month of moderate study.
These two books are the dynamic duo of the serious Tigrinya student who wants to learn a unique language for which there are limited learning resources. Good luck in your studies!
Note: All the books mentioned in this review are available from Amazon.com
Publisher: Red Sea Press
Genre: Nonfiction
Release: Aug 1996 My Rating: 0
Summary: Tigrinya Grammar by John Mason is the best book on the market for learning Tigrinya grammar. The problem (or is it?) is that you have to learn how to read Tigrinya to use the book since there is no English transliteration of Tigrinya words. This would pose a problem for a true beginner who does not yet know how to read Tigrinya *BUT* once the reader attains a basic grasp of reading the language, he/she will reap the benefits of proper pronunciation in Tigrinya since the reading of this language is delightfully phonetic! What you see is what you get, unlike trying to learn how to read English or French! Initially, learning how to read Tigrinya presents itself as a daunting task since there are over 200 characters in the "alphabet", but there is a system that makes memorization of all the characters individually unecessary. Rudimentary ability in reading Tigrinya can be acheived in less than a month of moderate study (approximately 7 hours a week) but consider that you may have to seek out a Tigrinya speaker to demonstrate proper pronunciation. If you do not have access to a Tigrinya speaker, there are cassette tapes available from the publisher of Tigrinya Grammar, Red Sea Press, that may help you with proper pronunciation. There are also computer software that can help you learn proper pronunciation.
If you are looking for a superficial survey of Tigrinya or some practical Tigrinya for travel to Eritrea or the Tigray province of Ethiopia where Tigrinya is spoken, you would be better-suited purchasing Tigrinya Phrasebook by Leonardo Oriolo (Red Sea Press) in which all the Tigrinya words/phrases are transliterated in English for those who can not read Tigrinya. If you want more than a superficial survey of the language, then I would have to say that Tigrinya Grammar is the best resource out there; once you have a basic grasp of reading Tigrinya.
How to Say It : English-Tigrinya-Italian, also by Leonardo Oriolo (Red Sea Press), is an excellent book to supplement Tigrinya Grammar for serious students of Tigrinya. Since I have yet to come across a competent English-Tigrinya/Tigrinya-English dictionary, How to Say It is the closest thing to that with many up to date terms, although by no means as extensive as a typical dictionary in most languages. Although it can serve as a basic dictionary, the bulk of How To Say It is composed of Tigrinya phrases which are a valuable supplement to Tigrinya Grammar's comparatively limited base of Tigrinya phrases. However, as with Tigrinya Grammar, How To Say It also requires the ability to read Tigrinya, which again is feasible within a month of moderate study.
These two books are the dynamic duo of the serious Tigrinya student who wants to learn a unique language for which there are limited learning resources. Good luck in your studies!
Note: All the books mentioned in this review are available from Amazon.com
Author:
Publisher: Shining Star Multimedia
Genre:
Release: My Rating: 0
Summary:
Publisher: Shining Star Multimedia
Genre:
Release: My Rating: 0
Summary: