The rough guide phrasebooks

[Cymro]

I've had the Turkish one of these for quite a while now, and I would certainly recommend anyone wanting to learn the basics of a foreign language by themselves before going to that country pick on of these up.

In the book, priced quite nicely at £4.99, you get:

• A dictionary
• Suitable, common phrases, right after the dictionary entry (so, “room” gives me dialogue to do with a room)
• A detailed grammar section! Rare for a phrasebook,  I must say
• A menu reader. Very handy, if you don't want to end up eating raw sausage in aubergine juice
• Culture points: Includes body language, what colour things are in that country, and how certain systems work.

All in all, quite handy. Its target audience is that of someone who is only learning the basics, but the combination of a grammar reference and dictionary could make it useful to more advanced students.

 

[Llew2]

Interesting! I've been thinking about learning Russian, sounds like this might be a good place to start.

 

[Nash]

Interesting indeed. Perhaps I shall look for a French version (wouldn't want 10 years of learning French to go to waste now would we?  ).