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Полный курс грамматики хорватского языка с упражнениями и ключами
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November 12, 2022
This book is billed as a "course" on the grammar of Croatian, which makes it sound like you can actually learn something from this book alone. Well... not quite. If you treat this book as a some kind of self-study tool, then it's possibly not only the worst self-study tool on Croatian; it is easily the worst self-study tool ever, on any subject. I know this sounds drastic, but the book is, indeed, that kind of awful.
It starts promisingly and helpfully enough with the review of each individual letter of Croatian alphabet, with great explanations, examples, all followed by a handful of pretty decent exercises. If you had a misfortune of ending up with this book as your only learning tool, at least you can make use out of the first, oh, forty pages (which is the length of Section I). However, once you are properly primed for more learning and ready for Section II, the book suddenly deteriorates into a collection of hardcore linguistic mumbo-jumbo, with incomprehensible tables, new vocabulary that comes out of nowhere, and exercises seemingly designed to inflict maximum pain whilst reducing your chances of actually learning something to near zero.
All in all, if you're planning on a career in linguistics with emphasis on Croatian (and you already know Croatian on some decent level, heh), then this book is probably not a bad reference on Croatian grammar, for those days when you just must write another dry paper on the subject and need something some fine point looked up. But if your goal is simply learning the language, you'll absorb more Croatian by burning this book and inhaling the fumes while listening to Croatian pop music than by actually reading it. Rarely have I been so sorely disappointed in a book; this one surely takes the cake. Run for your life.
It starts promisingly and helpfully enough with the review of each individual letter of Croatian alphabet, with great explanations, examples, all followed by a handful of pretty decent exercises. If you had a misfortune of ending up with this book as your only learning tool, at least you can make use out of the first, oh, forty pages (which is the length of Section I). However, once you are properly primed for more learning and ready for Section II, the book suddenly deteriorates into a collection of hardcore linguistic mumbo-jumbo, with incomprehensible tables, new vocabulary that comes out of nowhere, and exercises seemingly designed to inflict maximum pain whilst reducing your chances of actually learning something to near zero.
All in all, if you're planning on a career in linguistics with emphasis on Croatian (and you already know Croatian on some decent level, heh), then this book is probably not a bad reference on Croatian grammar, for those days when you just must write another dry paper on the subject and need something some fine point looked up. But if your goal is simply learning the language, you'll absorb more Croatian by burning this book and inhaling the fumes while listening to Croatian pop music than by actually reading it. Rarely have I been so sorely disappointed in a book; this one surely takes the cake. Run for your life.
Displaying 1 of 1 review