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Title: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Grammar: With Sociolinguistic Commentary
ISBN: 0299211940
Author:
Ronelle Alexander
Publicate Date: 2006-07-01
Publish: 2006-07-01
List Price: $39.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $34.00
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $35.00
Amazon Merchant Price: $35.95
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Great Book!
I speak the language fluently, but I needed something to keep me going on studying the grammar. This book works great for what I need! For beginners it would work really well as well as for advanced speakers. Highly recommended!
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2: Inviting for Americans, less practical for learning "BCS"
This book presumes to teach three languages at once: a task which is simplified by the fact that the three languages are, historically and in practice, effectively the same. Due to the recent conflicts within the former Yugoslavia, the author presents them on near equal footing as "BCS", indicating the general variations of dialect appropriately in the book.
While the book makes a noble attempt to explain the sometimes counter-intuitive (from a Latinic and Germanic perspective, at least) syntax of "BCS" grammar, this book, and its accompanying text, ultimately, leave something to be desired. While the author is clearly versed in etymology as a professor of Slavic languages (and in that sense, the grammar is, to my knowledge, accurate), my impression is that the usage is quite out of place. That is, whatever I have learned by studying Ronelle Alexander's "BCS" isn't quite Bosnian, Croatian, or Serbian, but the made up language that American students of foreign languages end up speaking when we study a language from a textbook, without reference to any primary sources. I don't regret the purchase of the book, as it is the only one available of its scope, but would prefer to read a text written by a native of the former Yugoslavia.
I will try to update this review in a few years if my opinion changes.
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3: This is for the serious student
I purchased this book in April, 2007 after returning from my first trip to Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. I contacted my native Croatian immigrant friends in my town, and she and her Croat Serb husband to tutor me once a week as well. This book has been an excellent resource but you really need the textbook to go with it. Serbo Croatian is a difficult language for any English speaker unless you already speak a foreign language and are familiar with linguistics, verb conjugations and all the rest. Certainly learning Croatian or Bosnian, which are pretty much one and the same, using latin script is the easiest way to start. Serbian is slightly different (use cyryllic script), but I assure you, if you speak one, people will understand you, even if they claim they typically can't understand each other. That's just nationalistic bias coming out. There are colloquial difference, but not much different than if you are an English speaker in the US and live in Idaho vs Louisiana, or are from Canada vs England, or New Zealand. I returned to Croatia and Bosnia in September for the month and had made considerable progress. Although my tutor says I'm only to a 5th grade level, believe, me, that is an accomplishment with such a complex language, and in only about six or seven months of study. I continue my studies in anticipation of moving to Croatia or Bosnia in the future for a job opportunity. This is an excellent resource. And my Bosnian friends here think it's good, too. By the way, I taught English as a second language to Croat, Serb and Bosnian refugees here, so...I disagree with other review.
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4: Poor attempt, but better than nothing.
This was a nice attempt. There is nothing out there at this time so I presume the publisher thought they could just make money by publishing this pile of paper. My background to support this statement. I teach Bosnian to English speakers. I am a native Bosnian and an English major. End.
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5: First-rate
PROS:
- Comprehensive and detailed treatment of grammatical topics in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS)
- Balanced presentation and comparison of grammatical topics and examples.
- Includes a readable and accessible introduction to the history and sociolinguistics of "old" Serbo-Croatian and "new" BCS
CONS:
- None
The grammatical sections are set up in the same sequence as that of the corresponding BCS textbook by Alexander and Elias-Bursac. This reference of grammar is useful in that it goes into greater detail than what's in the textbook and may provide a "second opinion" to someone who is unsure about something in the textbook. The examples that are used to illustrate grammatical topics also have the added benefit of being marked as being used most frequently by Bosnians, Croats or Serbs.
The history and sociological survey should be required reading for anyone who is just starting to study BCS or wondering why some people from the former Yugoslavia still become emotional or sensitive about their language(s). In fact I would venture to say that these same people of the former Yugoslavia would do well to read Alexander's survey for it's a detached and balanced description of the subordination/hijacking of language to fulfill political or sociological aims. I found that reading it was instructive and a reminder than most of us English speakers are relatively fortunate in not having questions about language usage tied as closely or violently to being part of "good guys" or "bad guys".
Overall, it's a valuable source of information and no one can go wrong by having it on his/her shelf when studying BCS.
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