Title: Phenomenal for learning the language, but cultural issues?
Product review: This book served me well on a recent trip to Macedonia, so much that Macedonians frequently told me, "You speak our language well." Nearly every recently arrived American I met has this book, which is becoming *the* textbook for English speakers who want to learn Makedonski. One Macedonian who works as a translator praised the book, commenting that it helps to have been written by an American (or a Canadian) who can understand Makedonski from the English speaker's point of view. A *mild* criticism is that the book barely prepared me for the ethnic diversity I encountered, even in Skopje. The book almost all but ignores the fact that many Macedonians are *not* ethnically or culturally Macedonian! And occasionally someone would object when we used a word of Serbian origin, such as "fala" for "thanks."
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