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Title: Small and insufficient.
Review: This book presents a small amount of elementary Finnish, and it suffers the ills of small courses: not enough explanation of grammar, not enough exercises, not enough reading, not enough sound recording. It is visually attractive--but is that enough?Finnish is a complex language with exacting pronunciation, complex grammar, and an extensive network of internal sound changes that must be explained clearly and completely. The student cannot assimilate these structures without reinforcement from exercises and readings. None of these elements are sufficiently provided in this book.Compare this poverty of resources with the very fine course by Meri Lehtinen (books and recordings published by Indiana University) and with the two second-best runners up, the Foreign Service Institute's Finnish course, also with book and recordings, and "Finnish for Foreigners," (books and recordings) published in Finland but widely available in the English-speaking world.
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