Why you definitely need to use phrasebooks.

Hey fellow language learners, in this article I will tell you why you definitely should use phrasebooks when learning a new language.

To begin, there are several publishers who make phrasebooks, the most known is probably Lonely Planet, they have excellent phrasebooks, I really recommend them.

Well, why you should use them?

First of all, they are very useful, they contain a lot of practical information. With practical information I mean phrases that are used in daily life plus often they also provide possible answers to questions.
These little books are divided in different chapters like for example: practical information, shopping, traveling, at the doctor, in the supermarket etc.

 

The chapters are very easy to browse through.

Mostly the chapters are indicated with colours.

In this way you can look up a phrase in no time. This is handy when you are in a foreign country and want to ask something to a local but you don’t know how to ask it.

Another asset that these tiny books have is that they contain relevant information. Textbooks often have boring dialogues that are totally irrelevant. In phrasebooks you really have good examples of phrases that you surely will need. With dialogues in textbooks you actually have a lot of excess information.

Most phrasebooks also have a chapter where they explain some grammar of the language, they also have a chapter of basic information like numbers, days, months etc…

Many phrasebooks have some drawings with vocabulary on it like you see on this picture.

In all the ones that I have they show how to pronounce the language and all of them have a little dictionary in the back. Little and compact, perfect to take with you wherever you go. That’s another asset of these tiny books.

In the Lonely Planet phrasebooks, they give you some information about the culture of the country that speak that language, I think it’s very interesting and also important if you are planning to go to the country.

My conclusion is that they give you a good base of the language, some grammar points, basic information and phrases for daily life situations. You can bring it with you wherever you go and it’s not that expensive. So, that’s why I really recommend you to use phrasebooks.

Did you know?
They already used phrasebooks in the 15^th century. They were used in Mediaeval Europe by pilgrims to the Holy land.