Teach Yourself Complete Catalan - 2 Audio CDs and 336 page Book
Are you looking for a complete course in Catalan which takes you effortlessly from beginner to confident speaker? Whether you are starting from scratch, or are just out of practice, Complete Catalan will guarantee success!
Now fully updated to make your language learning experience fun and interactive. You can still rely on the benefits of a top language teacher and our years of teaching experience, but now with added learning features within the course and online.The course is structured in thematic units and the emphasis is placed on communication, so that you effortlessly progress from introducing yourself and dealing with everyday situations, to using the phone and talking about work.
By the end of this course, you will be at Level B2 of the Common European Framework for Languages: Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Learn effortlessly with a new easy-to-read page design and interactive features:
Table of Contents:
Introduction and Pronunciation guide
Unit 1 Benvingut! Welcome!
Greetings and introductions;
Attracting someone’s attention;
Saying and askin where someone is from
Unit 2 On vius? Where do you live?
Introducing other people;
Exchanging personal details;
Talking about your family;
Asking and saying where places are (I)
Unit 3 Una cita An appointment
Making an appointment;
Asking and telling the time;
Making a simple call;
Asking and saying where places are (II)
Unit 4 Anem a comprar Let´s go shopping
Asking about prices and paying for purchases;
Asking about opening and closing times;
Describing quantities, size and weight
Unit 5 Què fas? What are you doing?
Talking about what you are doing now;
Discussing your daily routine;
Saying how often you do something
Unit 6 Al restaurant At the restaurant
Talking about preferences;
Ordering meals and drinks;
Asking for and giving suggestions
Unit 7 Els transports Transport
Booking a train or plane ticket;
Expressing opinions about people or things;
Making simple comparisons
Unit 8 De vacances On holidays
Asking for or booking a room in a hotel;
Identifying different kinds of accommodation;
Hiring a car
Unit 9 Gira a la dreta Turn right
Identifying public places;
Asking for and giving directions;
Giving instructions and distances
Unit 10 Vaig néixer a Eivissa I was born in Ibiza
Talking about key events in your past;
Saying how long ago something happened;
Talking about someone's job/profession;
Greeting someone on a special occasion
Unit 11 Quin vestit més bonic! What a nice dress!
Talking about clothes in a shop and trying them on;
Talking about sizes and colour;
Describing a person's physical appearance
Unit 12 Festa major Local festivities
Talking about events in a recent past;
Talking about incidents in the city;
Talking about your pastimes
Unit 13 Demà plourà! Tomorrow it is going to rain!
Talking about projects and events in the future;
Talking about the weather;
Asking for services in a bank;
Replying to an invitation;
Sending apologies
Unit 14 Oferta de treball Work opportunity
Discussung requirements for and details of a job;
Talking and writing about obligations and responsibilities
Unit 15 No em trobo bé I don’t feel very well
Expressing moods and physical feelings;
Saying what is wrong with you;
Giving and listening to advice;
Unit 16 Això no era així It wasn't like this before
Discussing how things used to be;
Asking for and giving opinions
Taking it further
Reference tables
Key to exercises
Catalan-English Vocabulary
English-Catalan Vocabulary
Index
NOT GOT MUCH TIME?
One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started.
AUTHOR INSIGHTS
Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience.
GRAMMAR TIPS
Easy-to-follow building blocks to give you a clear understanding.
USEFUL VOCABULARY
Easy to find and learn, to build a solid foundation for speaking.
DIALOGUES
Read and listen to everyday dialogues to help you speak and understand fast.
PRONUNCIATION
Don't sound like a tourist! Perfect your pronunciation before you go.
TEST YOURSELF
Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress.
EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Extra online articles at: www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of the culture and history of Catalonia.
TRY THIS
Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.
Comprehensive - a thorough introduction to Catalan, this book contains everything you need for your next holiday or business trip.
Accessible - new vocabulary and structures are introduced step by step through dialogues.
Up to date - this new edition has been completely rewritten to reflect current teaching methods and the Catalan language as it is spoken today.
Easy to use - the new page design and introduction of artwork make this edition more attractive and easier to use.
About the Author(s):
Alan Yates is a former Lecturer in Catalan at the University of Sheffield and well-respected author of the current edition. He has recently received a prize for his services to the teaching of the Catalan.
Anna Poch is a native speaker of Catalan and an experienced teacher of Catalan and Spanish. She has been teaching at universities and schools in France and England since 1996.
About the Catalan Language
Catalan is the national language of Andorra and is co-official with Spanish in the autonomous Spanish communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia. These make up by far the greatest part of the approximately 68,000 square kilometres of territory where Catalan is spoken, and of the total population of over 13 million. Of these, more than 9 million declare themselves to be Catalan-speakers, and a further 2 million register as ‘understanding’ the language. These totals also include the narrow fringe of eastern Aragon, where Catalan, without official status, shows continuing vitality; and then a more vestigial presence on the French side of the eastern Pyrenees and in the Sardinian town of L’Alguer/Alghero. (This present-day geographical distribution of the language reflects both its origins and its subsequent expansion from the early Middle Ages onwards.) The statistics for Catalan are interesting when compared with figures for national languages in a good number of established nation states within Europe. In terms of area, the Catalan domain ranks 27th out of over 50 European countries or dependencies, and in terms of numbers of speakers the language comes 22nd out of the 36 recognized ‘mother tongues’ of Europe. The figures demonstrate Catalan’s status as by far the most widely spoken of Europe’s ‘minority’ languages. This leads in turn to the concept of ‘stateless nation’ and the associated political issues. However, the main motivation for wanting to learn Catalan is likely to stem from considerations of a different order: that the Catalan-speaking parts of the Mediterranean world are much-favoured destinations for foreign visitors, and that the Catalans, through their language, enjoy an extraordinarily rich cultural inheritance of which many larger nations would be proud to boast.
Since the 1980s Catalan has occupied a prominent place in public life in the three autonomous Spanish communities where it enjoys co-official status. There are differences in language policy between Catalonia, the Balearics and Valencia, but social and official use of their ‘own’ language is a normal part of life for all the citizens of these regions, in local and regional government, in education, in culture and in the media. |
