Beginner's Georgian

by Dodona Kiziria

Suitable for business people and travellers seeking easy access to the Georgian language, this title includes an introduction to Georgia, 13 practical lessons centred on everyday situations, review exercises, and glossaries.

Genres: Language

290 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2008

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good primer for someone wanting to learn Georgian. There are 13 lessons presented and the accompanying audio is great. The alphabet is explained in detail and their unique sounds you only find in Georgian and Chechen. These are called ejectives where the speaker makes the sound explode or eject when pronouncing it. I would definitely recommend this book to a serious Georgian language learner. Thanks!

[Mic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. It only took me 3 days to learn to read Georgian, and the audio helps with pronunciation. This book presents the language in manageable bits, and I'm thankful for having found it.

[Hidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is indeed a good intro to Georgian, but it is too dry. You get much less than you usually get at Hippocrene's Beginner's series. You can't expect to finish this book and go directly to Kiziria's and Aronson's Georgian language and Culture: A Continuing Course, and what you get from Aronson's Georgian Grammar won't give you the necessary set of situational dialogues so that you'd be able to start following the Georgian language naturally. Professor Kiziria ought to write a sequel to this book so that Georgian learners can pursue their studies.

[R.J. Rodda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great beginner Georgian book. It is clearly set out, the exercises are achievable and it is written so the grammar does not overwhelm. Some typos though. The CD that accompanies this book is very helpful but all in Georgian so unless you have the book in front of you or know the vocabulary you can't understand it (so not so great for in the car). Still an excellent introduction to the Georgian language.

[Sebastián Alarcón · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource for an introduction to this language. Use of this language goes from for speaking from day 1 to preparing a Khachapuri. Using this book while you're travelling or at office is encouraged. This is a great introduction for more advanced books.

[Darth_Odan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very basic and good beginner's introduction into the language that lacks the necessary practice exercises to truly master the materials taught in each chapter. At points you are just info dumped and then just given 6 exercises to practice the material. For example, chapter 9 will present the 1st and 3rd group of verbs with the present, future, and imperfect tenses; then you are given about 3 pages of practice.

The structure of the book is also somewhat confusing: the dialogues will present cultural information but are not really appropriate for the chapter. For example: the first dialogue has an aorist conjugation of a verb. What is the aorist tense? Don't worry, chapter 11 explains that. How can you use the dialogue from chapter 1 for practice? Figure it out.

The book also assumes prior grammatical knowledge. What is the aorist tense? What is the optative tense and how is it different from the subjunctive? What is a subjunctive tense? Don't worry, we'll gloss over those terms. You will definitely need more materials and a tutor to properly benefit from this course. But, unfortunately, it is one of the very few resources in English directed towarda beginners, so you have to make your peace with what you can find.

[Piet · Rating 4 out of 5]

ასე სასიამოვნოა
ახლა მე ვლაპარაკობ ქართულად

[Azaghedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

For complete beginners this is about as gentle an introduction to Georgian as you're going to get (in English, at least). This gentleness isn't without its drawbacks, of course. There isn't as much grammar as I'd like and by the end of the book you'll still be a beginner, certainly not intermediate. A Beginner's Georgian: Part II would be very much welcomed by me, though I won't keep my hopes up. With that said, for what this book is, it's really excellent. While I like Aronson's Georgian: A Reading Grammar, it employs a tough method. Beginner's Georgian, by contrast, is a real pleasure and will certainly help you understand the elementary basics of the Georgian language. If you're an English speaker looking to learn the language, I would wholeheartedly recommend this as your introductory text.

[Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a good introduction to Georgian as a language, but very much sticks to it's title. No one should expect to be conversational to any deep level after completing this course. In addition, it doesn't provide much depth in any one topic, which is typical for an introductory course, that it's difficult to do more than ask general questions and make general statements.