Expensive and not helpfulJanuary 14, 2003 8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I too found this book of very little help to me in learning the Yoruba language. The first 70 pages focus solely on tones and if you do not buy the cassettes then they are very difficult to study. The vocabulary is strange and random- words like intestinal worms and walking stick are taught. I found the book 1-boring and 2-hard to follow. I found the grammar explanations very random and unorganized. This book was not helpful for me and now I am looking to buy another...
No CassetteMay 3, 2001 26 out of 26 found this review helpful
This 343 page Yoruba Basic Course workbook was designed to go with 12 cassettes. The Cassettes are not currently available at Amazon com but they can be purchased for a staggering $228 from the Foriegn Service Institute Department of State. The American State Department produced this course for their overseas personnel. This would be an unwise purchase unless you already have considerable knowledge of the Yoruba language or you already own the 12 cassettes in which case this could act as a additional book so that two people could study together.
The book consist of a softback execise book cover and medium sized typed text. Which gives it a somewhat amature and cheap appearance. I don't think they were originally intended to be commercially available. This is a very traditional style language book totally dependent on rote learning. For something with more pizzaz there are now African language CD Rom courses, which have games and puzzels and interactive lessons. They are suitable only if you enjoy spending hours infront of a computer screen. I bought the Foriegn Service Institute for my children but its only suitable for children ten and up. There is also an intermediate stage course also available from the Foriegn Service State Department for the outrageous fee of $300 Since it's obvious the books did not cost that much to create. This is a case of taking advantage of the public. Because less expensive West African language courses such as "Teach your self Yoruba" from NTC Publishing Group have been discontinued.
