Foreign-market Books

I Just got this book and it is page for page exactly the same is the older version. I was expecting something new from this as it was pulbished in 2008 / same - save yourself a few bucks and get the older one. If your going to Mongolia a phrase book is a must have , I lived there 1 year with my wife and learned to speak mgl w/o a phrase book. There are no english to mgl phrase books in Ulaan Baatar , only cyrillic mgl to english . So if your going , I would reccomend buying either one .

This book is worth its weight and more in gold. I depended on this book so much during my 2 month trip to Mongolia, traveling the road less travelled. Don't go to Mongolia without this.

I agree with the previous reviewers: the phonetic pronounciations given in the book are quite rough. However, as I had no idea of Mongolian language, showing the written cyrillic text was helpful and a basis for learning from natives during my trip.

In the past year I have spent 6 months in rural Mongolia. I had the Lonely Planet Guide to Mongolia and The Lonely Planet Mongolian Phrasebook. First off, the Guide to Mongolia is excellent, my copy is basically falling to pieces I used it so much.
I was less pleased with the Phrasebook. I have some concerns about the pronunciation guide as given by other reviewers. The use of the "schwa" in Mongolian could be better described. I found the section on restaurants very poor. In the area where I was menus were in Mongolian only and the phrasebook was useless trying to decipher the menu.The phrasebook would be enhanced if the vocabulary list included a Mongolian-English section. If you come across a Mongolian word that you want to understand the phrasebook is not much use.
In its favour, the book is cheap, portable and is written in an easy style.

I went to Mongolia twice in the past year, and I live with a Mongolian woman full time who is a well educated journalist. If one had to rely on this book, one would be in serious trouble. First off, the phrase "sain bainuu?" which is used as "hello", if you pronounced it the way this book says, you would be way off, and no one would be able to understand you. I hear the phrase every day, spoken by native Mongolians, and it sounds more like "sen benno". The book says to say "sayn baynoo". What's up with that? And then the pronunciations for the Mongolian cyrillic that it gives are not correct. So you'd be trying to read something and thinking you were smart with your little book, and when you tried to say it, you'd never be right. So as far as translating a few basic, written words, this book could be helpful. But don't attempt to pronounce anything the way they have it written. I can't believe this is the "best" book out there on this subject! They need to rewrite the pronunciation section with the supervision of an actual Mongolian speaker!

This is the best paperback dictionary around: it's not an abridgement of a larger dictionary, but the full version of a hardback dictionary. It's also available in a somewhat compact hardback edition, which is handy. A previous reviewer is wrong: all nouns show the gender, both in the Spanish-English and English-Spanish parts of the dictionary. There are lots of phrases, English and Spanish, that are translated into idiomatic, natural language. If you can love a dictionary, this is the one.

This bilingual dictionary's two greatest virtues are its compact yet readable format and its affordable price. And, as a bonus, there are brief summaries of irregular verb forms, which occur with frequency that keeps a novice like me guessing. These reminders are packaged with the two-way translations for convenience, never meant as a substitute for an exhaustive reference.

This meets my limited needs, as someone who comes across the occasional unfamiliar word in newspaper-level reading. Most high school language students will also find that it has all the vocabulary they need. This isn't a scholar's reference, though. Translated definitions tend towards the terse, so they won't cover all usages of a term. And, to keep cost down, it's printed on pulp stock, so it won't last forever even if handled gently. It offers plenty if you don't need much, and that's good enough for me right now.

//wiredweird

This book is excellent. I refer to it often in order to clarify
fine nuances in the Spanish language. The work has a beginning
section which focuses on pronunciation of the Spanish
alphabet. Afterward, the Spanish word is listed and translated
into English for A-Z. At the midway point, the English word
is listed and translated into Spanish. In addition, there is
an extensive section on verbal tenses. The origin of words
is fully described . For instance, there are distinctions
for Spanish/American, Cuban and Puerto Rican vocabulary.

This dictionary is an excellent choice for the price. Of course you can get better ones, but certainly you will need lot of additional money and an additional backpack exclusively for carrying it around! This Williams dictionary is by far better than Oxford's Compact English/Spanish dictionary and other "pocket" dictionaries one comes up with. Overall, a good dictionary.

As a Spanish student of 5 years, the Bantam New College Dictionary is the best dictionary I have seen yet. It never fails to have the word or phrases that I am looking for. It is necessary for truly understanding the Spanish language.

Little heard-of, but increasingly important, the six nations known as the Gulf States are using their oil wealth to become global players in world finance. In turn, multinational corporations are recognizing that these nations should become integral parts of their expansion plans. All this makes author Aamir A. Rehman's work important to any business investigating this marketplace. He provides a cultural, economic, historical, political, demographic and geographic overview of this area, while spelling out the pros and cons of doing business there. Through this book repeats some key sections, Rehman keeps advancing his presentation, so any intrepid reader will have a strong foundation for future business plans. Think of this as a business guidebook to the region. If you are investigating an expansion in the Gulf States, getAbstract would suggest that an investment in this book could generate large returns.

[Translated from an Arabic version of this review]

I began reading Dubai and Co shortly after I finished Christopher Davidsons's work entitled "Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success". I also have some background in Dubai as I resided there in 2005. Ever since that time, I have been interested in Dubai, especially its infrastructure, government and economy. Still, information on these subjects remains sparse save the ubiquitous wire article about the latest tower being completed in the Emirate. So, Rehman seems to be in the right place at the right time to talk about this booming city state.

When I began reading the book I was surprised at the simple but clear nature of the author and the useful information contained. For example the comparison between differing regions in the gulf was especially enlightening, and the explanation of differing levels of engagement was also useful.

However, after these subjects, the author starts to focus on business strategies in the gulf and what should be his strong point becomes his weakest. First, he begins to repeat his ideas about halfway through the book. For example, I read numerous times about how KSA forms the core of the gulf market, a statement repeated nearly verbatim with no new analysis. Worse, I found an entire page figure devoted to the same point in the second to the last chapter of the book- something that should have been included earlier or edited out. Even though the book is longer than 300 pages, the analysis becomes surface level. Rehman's most detailed example was about the move of Halliburton to Dubai, but even it only spanned 2 pages. So, much of the book becomes useless platitudes. In the end, this book seems appropriate for the clueless manager on his first flight to Dubai, but does not merit anything more than a skim by those who already have a background in the area.

This book covers three areas:

(A) Gulf Corporation Council (GCC), 37 million, new rich:

1. United Arab Emirates (UAE), 5.5 million,

Dubai Ports World, Emaar real estate firm, retail space 4 times bigger than the ones in US, Al Taylor luxury store, no visa is required for US, UK and EU citizens, liquor is OK, night club is booming, traffice is bad, Hawaa World (150,000 women group), e-commerce is not here yet, Al-Futtaim group, Etisalat (telecom monopoly), expats are 72%, many from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. Emirates Airline booming business, 30,000 Russians, Proctor Gamble, Carrefour, Ikea, McDonald, HSBC, halal beef (no additives or preseratives), Omnicom, WPP, Halliburton, London Business School, Wharton, Zara, the list goes on and on.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) with $250- 500 bn.

Sharjah, women leader Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi (member of Sharjah royal family) government minister, CEO Tejari.com.

Sharia-compliant structures, comply with the Islamic law.
Islamic finance, a fixed return withous risk, is unjust. No interest is paid. Investing in porn, casino, weapons, and related activities is not allowed. People cannot sell what they do not own. Short sellers do not exist. What is being bought and sold must be understood by both parties. Takaful has been developed to meets the needs of insurance products. Murabaha, cost-plus sale, one party buys the product and sells it for a profit. Ijara is leasing. Mudaraba, investors provide capital to a manager who works for a portion of the return. Musharaka, profit and loss sharing partnership. Sukuk, similar to bonds. Malaysia's Tabung Haji was fianced by Islamic finance. There are 300 banks in the world that offer Islamic finance products, 25-30% of the world total.

Public Relation Office, secure government approvals, etc, very important in GCC.

Friday-Saturday or Thursday-Friday is the weekend. Friday is the religious day for people to go to the mosques.

2. Kuwait: Kuwait Investment Authority, Global Investment House Maha Al-Ghunaim.

3. Saudi Arabia: 25 million, Sabic $135 bn market cap, Aramco oil, holy cities Makkah and Madinah, National Commercial Bank, Samba Bank, Al Rajhi Bank, King Abdullah Economy city.

4. Qatar: $45000 per capita, highest in the region, 1 million, Qatar financial center, Cornell U, CMU, Texas AM, Al-Jazeera, Science Tech park.

5. Bahrain, Wall Street of GCC, 370 banks in 2006.

6. Oman, 3 million, oil/gas, constuction, mining.

(B) Levant region (bilad al-sham), $3500 GDP/capita
1. Iraq, many lawyers, MDs, professionals.
2. Israel
3. Palestine
4. Jordan, importer of natural resources
5. Syria, 20 million, low investor confidence
6. Lebanon, 4 million, 60% muslim, 40% christians, Israel Herzbollah conflict, tourism is way down

(C) Middle East North Africa (MENA region), $5000 GDP/capita:
1. Egypt 80 million, Cairo used to be the commercial center, not any more due to government regulations
2. Algeria
3. Morocco
4. Tunisia
5. Sudan
6. Libya

The book will be better, if it gave more depth of a Dubai
firm. I highly recommend this book to all.

As an American born Muslim who has lived and worked in the Middle East as a strategy consultant, Aamir Rehman is able to bring a cross-cultural perspective to his subject. In 300 concise pages, he brings the GCC countries alive, and helps the reader understand how different they are to each other.

I took three key messages away from this book:

(1) The intense demographic and political challenges the smaller GCC countries face, with tiny domestic populations and large communities of non-citizen expatriates.
(2) The story is not just oil, with signficant diversification efforts being made across the GCC.
(3) The cultural differences between the states, with restrictive Saudi Arabia and ultra-liberal Dubai being at the two extremes.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in international business; as Aamir says, the GCC is too important to ignore.

Excellent and Well Researched. The book is a very good at listing why to do business in Dubai and how to go about it from the standpoint of a Large Multi National Company. Personally though I was looking for more of a guide to working in Dubai on an individual basis as either a company owner or employee. The book however was full of information, it almost requires a reread to absorb it all.

If you enjoy History channel shows like Dog Fights or Battle of ____ Then you will deffinitly enjoy this book. Clearly not written to be a typical novel, character development isn't as important in a historical work. Written like a history book with everything from actual units and ships to quotes from the men and woman on both sides it is very insightful.

It was very strange reading about the battles and seeing echos of WWII stories and yet it is 1990. No matter how much technology improves, war is always the same.
I read it as a historical fiction and enjoyed it very much. Worth the money I spent on it.

Although obviously carefully researched, and well written, this is much less a story and much more a technical scenerio guide. If one were studying the topic, then this is a well written highly desciptive what-if scenerio (which is what the character at the beginning describes it as being). However, there is little in the way of characters, and many of the passages require multiple reads to make sure you get the facts straight (and there are a lot of them). There is little suspense (as everything is simply stated, and other than wondering what will come later in the scenerio, there is little personal stake in the outcome. Wargamers looking for realistic scenerios to play with, this is a great book; people looking for a good story, look elsewhere.

This book is more along the lines of the book "THIRD WORLD WAR" by the british retire general Hacket(?) that was written in the early 1980's. It focus's on naval campaigns and the effects that sea power and it's organic air power would have on different theatres of the war. If you are looking for something similar to Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising or Harold Coyle's "Team Yankee" then you will be disappointed. But then you would miss out on a good what if senario, and it is well worth the time to read it.

After reading the first fifty or so pages, it comes as no surprise that The War That Never Was never became a runaway best seller. There were no heroes in the traditional sense, no real character development, no political intrigue, nothing except one masterful analysis after the other, describing all of the amazing complexities of a world at war. I applaud Mr. Palmer for his efforts to describe what was to be the culmination of fifty years of rivalry and competition bewtween the world's two great power blocs.

This is not Red Storm Rising and makes no real pretensions towards such a story. However what Mr. Palmer did present was a truly impressive display of a full understanding of global war in the modern era. The author demonstrated a solid understanding of everything from high tempo land combat operations to modern naval combat. His description of the political dimensions was also well done and in the end read more like a highly developed non-fiction book. I highly reccomend this book to both professionals and amateur military enthusiasts who grasp the complexities that Mr. Palmer so ably describes.

I will note that the author really should have spent more time on the German Front and the battle for control of the see lanes in the North Atlantic. I find it difficult to believe that operations in the Baltic and Denmark should be described in such detail while the Central Front was hardly mentioned in the first two hundred pages. The latter was hardly touched upon and in many ways was the key to the late stage counter-offensives waged in both Germany and in the Med Theater of operations. Also, no nukes or chemicals is a bit of a stretch considering Soviet doctrine called for both at the tactical level. Regardless, tremendous effort that adds a level of realism sorely lacking to this genre.

The War That Never Was details a technically deep story of a Third World War based on a 1989 scenario. Most action takes place outside of Europe, in places that books like Red Storm Rising and Ralph Peters' Red Army ignore. Technically deep, it covers individual ship actions, but not overwhelmingly so. Some technical passages require two readings to be completely understood, and don't expect in-depth characterization, as the war itself seems to be functioning as a character, with the different theatres of war functioning as parts of its "personality."

Naval actions are predominant, with air battles second, and land action confined to a few pages. The Abrams on the front cover is misleading. Do not expect an in depth order of battle for divisions in Germany. I found the development of the war to be plausible, albeit a little to heavily favored to the American viewpoint. I would have appreciated it if a few more things had gone against the NATO forces... the dice seemed to come up with sixes for NATO a few too many times, and that did take away from the story slightly. The structure of the book, with the authors going through each theatre individually from start to finish is slightly annoying, as the author follows the action in one area from the war's start to finish, then moves to another region and does it again, from start to finish. There is little or no action between theatres, which is possible for a war lasting less than a month, but doesn't make for a very captivating story.

Despite these faults, the overall story is worth reading, and I'd suggest buying it if it can be found used. I've seen several copies at used book stores, and it's worth spending a couple of bucks on.

If you aren't sure about buying this Dictonary, I would really recommend it because it is very good. It has excellent German-English translations as well as English-German.

I ordered this dictionary based on all the fulsome reviews. (Some of) the good news: This dictionary tends to give phrases rather than words in isolation. Example: Close = in der Nähe, etc. This is essential in German because the preposition takes a particular case. The bad news: This dictionary is printed in the tiniest type, on the cheapest, natural-coloured paper just one step above newsprint. I've had things wrapped in better paper than this! It's also saddle-bound. This might seem a very superficial criticism, but a dictionary, particularly pocket size, gets a tremendous workout. Mine just arrived, but I can see it starting to fall apart in a month or two. The less-than-white paper and tiny print make it hard to read. After all the effort that went into the content, it's a real shame that it was so shabbily printed. Yes, it was cheap, but I would sooner have paid twice as much and get something that would hold up for a couple of years. I've had my Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionary for 16 years and it's still going strong. The content of this one is better, but.... Shame on you, Harper Collins!

Used this book all of the time in my German classes! Wish I had had this sooner, would have made everything a lot simpler. Its easy to use, easy to understand, and great when you need to find something quick. This should be a book every college student, studying German, should be required to have.

When this book was first published in 1980, the producers wanted it to be 'the most helpful one-volume dictionary for students, linguists, and all translation needs'. Twenty-two years later, I would dare to suggest that if this aim has not been met, then this dictionary has not fallen far short. There are over 200,000 words and phrases in both English and German. All words are defined in context (this is especially important for the novice student) and the clear abbreviations make the dictionary easy to use. Moreover, there is also a four-page guide in English and German on how to use this dictionary to assit the user further.
On account of its age, this dictionary is inevitably a little dated, but it is still a very useful linguistic tool for students of German. I heartily recommend it.

but not of much use otherwise. I know most people will rate my review "not helpful", since that always happens to negative reviews. But so be it.

I wanted to replace my old Cassells dictionary which was published 1976 and therefore out of date. But as it turns out, this dictionary will not replace it. One reason for it, is that a lot of words are missing. This is understandable given the fact that it has only 400+ pages and my Cassells has 1200+. But somehow I missed that when ordering it, since it got so many good reviews. One other problem is that the words it contains, are not really explained and usually contain only one synonym, where in my Cassells it has a whole paragraph explaining the different meanings (and usuage) of the word.

To sum it up, you get what you pay for. It is dirt cheap and it will be good enough for travel. But otherwise it is pretty useless.

Maybe my review is too negative, but I have to counter all the raving reviews.

The story is a good one, if not a great one, with a basic premise only slightly more dubious than the general run of Star Trek stories. The writing leaves a bit to be desired; it isn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination; the characterizations are good to excellent, the pacing is not at all bad, the dialogue neither noticeably bad or exceptional. So if, unlike this reviewer, you aren't a stickler for detail, you might consider this a somewhat above average bit of writing. But there are numerous places in which the word choice, spelling, and other detail -- detail that SHOULD be caught by the editing and proofreading before a book goes to print -- is rather sloppy. Several places, for instance, where the word "breath" is used as a verb rather than "breathe". One where the word that is clearly intended is "planet", and what is said is "plant". (If it was within his power, this conflict would not leave the plant." Or an instance of the mangled syntax "He wasn't been able to use communications until just a few minutes ago." At least one, and possibly more, instances of using "passed" when what was intended was "past". (The...craft shook as torpedoes sped passed her...". Other instances in which there is simply a word missing in the middle of a sentence. I suppose to be fair I should say that my complaint is with the editing, not the writing, but a writer should do a certain amount of his or her own editing. This book was just too sloppy to rate highly, which is a shame because the story was good.

most of series with lots ofbooks are cheesey and bad. this one isn't. It is true to star trek with all the characters and star trek like situations. In it the klingons and the hindran hate each other. But when Picard is sent to try and make peace on hidra a klingon ship decloaks above hidra. Picard tries to take advantage by making the two races come toghether but that makes it worse. A hidran ambassador mysteriosly dies and kills a klingon as a last act of vengence and even worse Worf is charged with the murder. Also a wounded Riker and Troi are trapped in a mysterios place. How could this possibly turn out right? (it is kind of cheesy in the disription on the back cover of the book but it really is good)

Don't be fooled by the cover: this Star Trek book is evenly distributed so that every character gets a chance to do something, a refreshing change from the usual Picard/Data focus.

The Enterprise arrives at a neutral planet to mediate negotiations between the warring Klingon and Hidran empires. Picard mangages to get the two talking, but of course, this is the Enterprise: things are bound to go wrong. When a Hidran delegate is murdered, Worf is accused as the assassin, with Picard left trying to defend him. Meanwhile, Riker and Troi go missing after taking a shuttle to investigate some odd communication discrepancies, Data gets completely paranoid about Klingon spies, Geordi is REALLY blind, and Beverly attempts to hold together the ship. Whew, with so much action going on, the author does a surprisinglly great job holding together a cohesive storyline, keeping audiences captive.

My favorite line of the book is Picard's thought after assigning Crusher to command the ship in his absence, "She wasn't his first choice, but everyone else was either under arrest, missing, blind, or insane." :) Anyway, its a great book, with some funny bits and enough action to satisfy anyone. My only quibble was the sudden resolution, which didn't seem to do the rising action of the book justice. Despite this, it is one of the better ST: TNG books I've read and would recommend it to any fan.

"Foreign Foes" is the first title by this outstanding writing team. I found their writing style to be well versed and engaging with pacing that doesn't bog down in the details. They also do an outstanding job with the characterizations, especially Picard. They captured his character with perfection and in this story; they put him in a situation that is very true to the character. Between this novel and their next, Star Trek Voyager #18 "Battle Lines," I'd definitely have to say that their novels are ones to be looked forward to. The cover art for "Foreign Foes" is different from the norm, but not extraordinarily different.

The premise:

The Klingon Empire and the Hidran have been at war with each other for seventy years and Captain Picard, being the extraordinary diplomat that he is, is called in to mediate a treaty between the two highly aggressive, warring parties. Things start off badly for Captain Picard and everybody else involved as the Hidran Ambassador mysteriously dies but as he's dying, as a last act of vengeance, he kills a Klingon delegate.

Lieutenant Worf is charged with the death of the Hidran ambassador and Commander Riker and Counselor Troi have become trapped far below the surface of the planet. Now Captain Picard must not only find a way of ending the violence between the two warring factions but he must also find a way of saving Riker and Troi and exonerate Worf of the crime he's been accused of prior to a horrendous death sentence.

I highly recommend this novel to any and all fans of the genre as it will certainly make an excellent addition to your Star Trek library! Novels by this writing team to be greatly looked forward to. {ssintrepid}

Star Trek-The Next Generation: Foreign Foes written by Dave Galanter and Greg Brodeur is a Captain Jean-Luc Picard solving a mystery and bring peace to two warring parties book.

For seventy years the Hidran and the Klingon Empire have been fighting a war with neither side gaining the advantage, but now Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise crew are sent to negotiate a peace. While on the planet Velex to mediate a treaty, Picard has his hands full as Worf is charged with the murder of the Hidran ambassador. And while inspecting a field of some new grain, Troi and Riker get trapped in an underground chamber with machenery attacking them.

The story with both plots is written well and you really get into the flow of the book, making for a very enjoyable read. There is mystery and intrigue to pique your interest and there is good character development.

This is a Picard and crew mediate peace between two warring parties book with a good sub plot, making for a fast read.

I used this book during a July trip to Paris and I'll take it with me again when I go next month. I always try and visit flea markets when I travel, and the Longs' descriptions of the Paris markets that I went to were spot on. I also love the way it's written--through the clear prose and various anecdotes, you can really sense their love for the city, and for its culture and people. And the photos are great, too.

"Marketing" is one of the most enjoyable pastimes for a visitor in France. This book unlocks the secrets of Paris's many an varied markets in a well organized and helpful manner. The format is discreet; (You don't look like a dork walking around with a big guide book). The descriptions are candid and intelligent and the images evocative of the treasures that await. I particularly enjoyed having restaurant recommendations for each of the neighborhoods covered.
We used the Longs' previous book on the markets of Provence during our trips there and were delighted to find a similar guide for Paris.

A fascinating book; the market and related stories are wonderful, charming reading. I can almost feel the City unfolding before me.

Markets of Paris is an insiders view of the great variety of treasures available to parisians and also to knowledgeable travelers of the French capatol! Here you will find information on where to shop for food, pets, antiques, furniture, military collectables, designer fashons all sorts of things that will become your ultimate souvienor of the city of light! And you will have shoped, just as the citizens of the City have done for hundreds of years, in the markets of Paris.

The information provided is very descriptive, accurate and has pretty pictures. However, the yellow typeset is amazingly annoying and furthers the difficulty in finding facts easily when you are walking or finding your way via the transits.

This small bulky book reads like an accumutlation of short stories about the varied food and flea markets, boutiques, restaurnats as well as book and antique finds of the authors.

This German course is cheaply put together, but not altogether awful. The audio on CD is worthless without the course book. The audio goes along extremely fast. The coursebook is a 460 page paperback novel-sized. I am on page 56 and have spotted around 4-5 errors already (duplicate sentences, sentences that don't match up with the audio) which indicated the cheap editing. The small dictionary that comes with it is good for beginners. All-in-all, you get what you pay for. I would recommend buying a PC based course available for the same amount of money.

This course is great for someone who is best at learning a language by hearing it, and having a little book to refer to when hearing the conversation that's being spoken. One thing I have to note -- like another reviewer -- the booklet doesn't cover every single thing that is said in the audio, it only translates what's said in the main conversation in the beginning of each lesson and the new words that are introduced. It's not a major problem, not something that should have you looking elsewhere for another course, but it would be nice. Oh yeah, at the end of the booklet is little but helpful grammer guide.

This course won't make you fluent in german -- as if any course does btw -- but it will give you a good foundation to begin your road to fluency. How do you get fluent? Simple, by speaking german with german speakers and constantly hearing german through any means necessary, be it TV, radio, people...That way you get practice so that you reach the point where you can begin to speak without thinking about how your gonna say something, and also so that you get quicker at understanding what someone says.

Also, it won't make your grammer perfect. That matter should be left to other resources like books that teach grammer, or excellent german speakers who can help.

In all, despite its shortcomings, i give it a 5/5 because its effective. The shortcomings that i've mentioned in this review are not a problem because I don't see how it would help you anymore than the text thats already given in the booklet.

We really appreciate the speed in which our order arrived. A very satisfactory transaction. Would recommend this seller.

I used this course before visiting Germany after I graduated from High School. Prior to my trip I studied French in high school (the boring grammar, drills, verb conjugations, teacher saying, " Ecoute tout le monde, repite... "). At first I worried that I had picked up a phrase book that would not be helpful in forming sentances. I was also wary of the idea that only German was spoken on the cassette tapes. The German-only tapes turned out to be more helpful than a burden. It turns out that the proper way to study the course is to review the book prior to and then along with the audio a few times. Then you must use only the audio. When you hear and repeat the audio try thinking of the meaning of the sentance in terms of imagages and feelings instead the English translation.

The results that I experienced were that my listening comprehension in German was better than that of the French that I studied for 3 years in high school. I was able to form sentances more intuitively than by trying remember verb congugations. Latter in college I studied German and I was well ahead of my classmates. In Germany I was able communicate even though I could not have a full conversation.

This course will not get you to fluency but if you learn that way I learn (intuitvlely with little emphasis on rules)then it is a great beginning. There is very little in the way of grammar, but hey, do you really diagram your sentances in the middle of speaking English?

The only drawback is that there are numerous helpful drills in the text that are not included with the audio.

I had purchased this set primarily to learn conversational german for a two-week stay in Germany, although I did have some interest in learning the language for a long time. While this set does provide a good method for learning a large amount of the language, it is not easily approachable for casual learners. For instance, it will take a while to get to lessons involving important phrases for travelling.
However, if you are looking for a rather in-depth introduction to the language, this may be just your ticket.
Considering the sheer number of lessons, the coursebook will likely take a few months to get through (at least if you intend to retain the knowledge). The requirement to use both the CD's and the book make it quite difficult to set time for learning. Also, the CD's are filled with German phrases or words without any actual dividers, making for a very muddled and confused rambling of german words - you really need to follow along with the book!
I feel that I am learning little bits, but this program is not as easy to use as others have been.

When I read the first time this book I cryed. This is wonderful book about olochaust. It's wiewed by the eyes of a children. He study in a French college, where we meet an other student, a jewish student. They became friend. But as they try to look away from the war, that reality will overwhelm them, break their friendship and break up them for ever. It's the story of olochaust's injustice, that hit also the lamb: the children. It's a book very sad and will reduce you to tears. I suggest everyone to read it.

This is just a short screenplay of the movie and not really a memoir. Rent the excellent movie.

First of all, the book was great, and that's all that needs to be said about that... Now, I'm not Quentin Taratino, but, when he worked in a video store, this movie was one of his favorites. He referred to it as "The Reservoir Film" because he couldn't pronounce the frech title. This movie was supposedy one of th reasons he named his own film, "The Reservoir Dogs"...

I'm a French teacher in a college prep high school. This book is nothing more than the screenplay for the movie of the same name. It doesn't pretend to be anything else, so if all you want to do is enjoy the movie there's no reason to read the book. But for students of French, what a wonderful way to learn! Just read the book, with the help of a good dictionary, then see the film. But I warn you that you have to be fairly advanced in the language before attempting to read the book. However, the rewards are considerable. First, it's a wonderful, touching story that has lessons for all. Secondly, your knowledge of the language will increase exponentially.

I loved this book and the movie. It was great how it showed France being occupied by the Germans during World War II through the eyes of a child. I saw the movie in my French class and I was so touched and so sad about what these kids had to go through. I would reccomend this book to anyone and everyone.

I recently found this book at a garage sale. Both the genre and the author were unfamiliar to me, but decided to give it a try. I loved it. Having once lived in the South (ever so briefly), I loved the Southern charm oozing from the pages.
A bit predictable, but made me want to look up more by this author.
Would've given five stars, but I also recently found out that those are rarely taken seriously.

War correspondent Dinah Davis has covered many of the recent hot spots. Currently she is reporting on Afghanistan, but has lost her edge since she witnessed the death of a friend and was nearly killed too. Physically Dinah has healed, but her boss tells her she is not the same and should return to the States to marry and have babies. Initially refusing to listen, Dinah realizes that her career is over and wonders if her boyfriend Bobby Beaufort still waits for as he promised a decade ago when she chose journalism over marriage.

Back home in South Carolina, Dinah's mom worries that her daughter has not recovered from her last overseas assignment. Meanwhile Bobby's older brother Cord, who thought his sibling was a fool to agree to Dinah's backup plan, quickly wants to revise the arrangement by inserting himself as the groom. As Dinah suffers the malaise of post traumatic syndrome, she turns to Cord not her family or Bobby for comfort while he worries whether he will prove enough in the long run.

Though the actual backup plan of Bobby waiting for a decade seems strange, fans will appreciate this deep look into the traumas and tragedies civilians in combat areas can suffer. The story line is character driven once Dinah returns home moping and depressed. Adding to her depression is that she realizes her plan is a failure as she finds the sibling more attractive than the chosen one, but does not want to hurt the loyal Bobby. This is a strong tale that showcases the aftermath of horrific situations on survivors.

Harriet Klausner

I love books that are set in the Carolina Low Country (ie: Dorothea Benton Frank and Anne Rivers Siddons)becuae it seems like such a gloriously stylish place to live!!!

This was an interesting story about a high-power career woman suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, who returns home to heal. When the safety net she intended to fall back on doesn't come through for her, she finds a truer path towards healing, which includes a passionate relationship that's as strong as the passion she once held for her work.

I particularly admired the therapist in this story, and how the psychotherapy sessions were really very helpful and healing. I also found the vivid details of Cord and Bobby's work, restoring antebellum homes and historical landmarks to their original splendour, added significant color and depth to the storyline.

`Backup Plan' by Sherryl Woods is fun southern romance novel. Dinah Davis returns home after working in Afghanistan. She decides to take a break and look up her old boyfriend Bobby - her official backup plan. Instead of Bobby, she finds Cord the older and annoying brother to Bobby. This novel deals with posttraumatic stress disorder, a marriage on the rocks and car bombing. I read the Trilogy out of order and they can stand alone. The second novel is `Flirting with Disaster' December 2005 and the final novel `Waking up in Charleston' May 2006.

War correspondent Dinah Davis is devastated after watching her cameraman/lover murdered in a car bombing ambush while on assignment in Afghanistan. Her editor knows that she is hanging on by a thread, and recommends returning home for some R&R. She decides to quit, return to South Carolina, and look up the guy that said he would wait for her forever. Marrying Bobby would be her backup plan and a way to escape her guilt over losing Peter.

Depressed and spending the majority of her days watching soaps or sitting by the pool, Dinah is unsuccessful at hooking up with Bobby, who never seems to be in town (and is now engaged). She does not count on falling for his roguish bad-boy brother, Cordell. Cord has been in love with Dinah since they were kids; he even made up a little white lie to keep Dinah and Bobby apart, only to have it backfire on him. Dinah just thinks he is a trouble maker. While Cord claims to not be the marrying kind, he certainly does not want Dinah and Bobby to reconcile, so he schemes to keep Bobby on assignment in Atlanta.

The more time Cord and Dinah spend together, the harder they fall for each other, until he finally realizes that the only way to show his love for Dinah is to let her resolve the conflict that brought her home and has caused so much post traumatic stress. Dinah makes progress on her own with the help of a caring psychologist.

The Backup Plan is an entertaining romantic comedy with a hint of despair - parts of the book might make you cry, particularly her flashbacks to Afghanistan. The only thing standing in the way of a 5 star rating is the lack of depth into the character of Bobby. He was never developed, and really on appears on a handful of pages. This was an emotional and engaging story - guaranteed to keep you glued for nearly 400 pages.