Customer Reviews
Pointless purchasing the book without the audio cassette/cd - By: Ca Wanowski, 24 May 2008 
The book itself is very thorough & the author goes into extensive detail about how & why words are used. However, it became obvious that I was not going to pick up much at all without the CD for pronunciation guidance. It also appears that it is very difficult to get hold of the CD so I would not advise this book as a learning aid on its own.
Gets you talking quickly - By: , 04 Apr 2005 
I am no linguist, but I love learning with this book. Within two weeks of receiving this book I was having understandable exchangesin Punjabi with non-english speakers.
This is not a phrase book, yet neither is it a dry dissitation on grammar & conjugation. The author introduces words & phrases through conversational exchanges & then breaks down the sentences to show literal & intentional translations, explaining sentence structure & how the rules differ from English. This is a very interactive way of learning.
I haven't listened to the tapes, so sometimes I get pronunciation wrong & need to be corrected. Personally I like this, since it takes the pressure off being perfect before I use a sentence & gives Punjabi speakers an opportunity to helpin my education.
Colloquial Panjabi - Some thoughts - By: , 06 Sep 2004 In terms of modernity, the course (the book & the recordings) is miles ahead of any competition, but it is not for the users who are afraid of exercising the muscles of their brains or wish to learn "Tourist Panjabi" only. The author seems to be inspired by the modern Generative school of linguistics. He says very clearly that the course is meant for intelligent & dedicated adult learners who wish to use Panjabiin all sorts of, & often unpredictable, situations. The dialogues & exercises deal with many different types of situations, rules of grammar & pronunciation are explained expertly &in great detail, hundreds of Panjabi words dealing with various topics are givenin the Vocabulary section, a long list of Panjabi verbs is also given, & the user is actively encouraged to imagine new situations, find appropriate words from the Vocabulary section/dictionary to generate new appropriate utterances. The section dealing with the Panjabi script is the best introduction to the writing system of a North Indian script I have come across.
The course has a well-planned architecture & does not appear to consist of chunks assembled together. The lessons move from the grammatically less complex to the more complex. The cassette recordings have not only the dialogues & exercises but also explanations & exemplification of the subtleties of pronunciation, especially Panjabi tones, which could not be presented on the printed pages. The extremely natural-sounding & dramatic dialogues present real life situations & have a touch of tenderness & gentle humour. The Grammatical Summary & the Vocabulary section should be a boon to any leaner of Panjabi.
Sadly, the author does not tell the user "where to move from here" because no courses for the learning of Panjabi at a higher level exist. I have been looking for one for the last four years & have not been able to find any. What about Bhardwaj himself writing one!
