Georgian: A Reading Grammar

by Howard I. Aronson

This course is specially designed to teach how to read Georgian literature. It is intended for beginners, and starts by teaching the unique Georgian alphabet and basic pronunciation. The reading and translation passages have been selected from both classical and modern Georgian publications, and are recorded as well on the CDs. Reissued in 2005 on 4 audio CDs (3-1/2 hours of recording), accompanied by a 528-p. textbook. Product No. SGG150D.

Genres: Georgian, Reference, Language, Nonfiction

526 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1982

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has really grown on me as I gradually grasped what it was trying to teach me.

Georgian is different to most languages in ways that aren't easily appreciated at first. This book manages to present the most important features of the language in a way that leaves the reader with a solid understanding of how the language works on its own terms and, perhaps more importantly, with the tools to learn more Georgian by reading further on their own.

Reviews that suggest it isn't "Ready for prime time" seem far off the mark: yes, the reading passages are tough, but they are doable if you've mastered what's in the exercises that precedes them, yes there are corrections appended to the end of chapters and the book, but these are to my mind an indication of the perfectionism of the author rather than any failings on his part, and the exposure to real texts is invaluable if you are planning to continue learning by reading independently after you finish this book.

[Hidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the most comprehensive resource for English-speakers, but that doesn't mean it is enough to give you a decent level of Georgian. If you can read German, go for Tschenkéli's book first. It is older but written in a much more clear, acurate and didacttical way.

[Grada (BoekenTrol) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started this book when I was learning Georgian. I did not finish however.
When picking up on my Georgian again, I'll pick this one up.

[Evan Siegel · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a self-starter, I found the book a slog. Of course, Georgian is a tough language--complex grammar with unfamiliar features and many, many, many irregularities. But the author compounded the problem with a book which was not ready for prime time. Each chapter has numerous corrections which the user must refer back to, particularly those in the lesson vocabulary. On top of that comes a large number of additional corrections stuck in the back of the book. The user searching for a word s/he cannot find in the vocabulary has to search several places. I've never seen this in a serious grammar.

I also found it troubling that simple samples, such as children's stories or folk tales or songs or newspaper articles are not used at all. Instead, the reader is almost immediately presented with readings at the college level. My Georgian friends were rather shocked at the level of the language assumed by the author at an early stage. This was not helped by the often inadequate quality of some of the texts.

I've taught myself Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and other languages. True, they are much simpler and more regular languages than Georgian, but I was given the consideration by the textbook author of a clean and well-paced presentation. I had no such luck with Aronson. I've just completed the grammar for the second time (well, second and 2/3 time). Each read has only confirmed my sense of the text's inadequacies.