Teach Yourself Catalan (Teach Yourself Complete Courses) Revised edition by Yates, Alan, Poch, Anna (2004) Paperback

Catalan is a member of the Romance family of languages, which includes French, Castilian Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, and is the mother tongue of approximately 10.5 million people. In Spain, it is spoken in Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic islands, the eastern part of Aragon and El Carxe (in Murcia). These areas are much-visited by English-speaking tourists and travellers, particularly Barcelona and the Balearic Islands. Within these Spanish territories, Catalan has joint official status with Castilian Spanish. Outside Spain, Catalan is spoken in Andorra, north Catalonia in the south of France and in L'Alguer in Sardinia. More people speak Catalan than speak Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Irish. The current edition of Teach Yourself Catalan has been completely rewritten and updated for beginners in Catalan who are planning to visit a Catalan-speaking area or who are starting a course in the language. New vocabulary and structures are introduced step by step through interesting dialogues which are also on the accompanying recording. There are plenty of exercises to practise each point as you learn it and to help reinforce your new language.The course covers all the language you will need for your next business trip or holiday, including getting to know people, making arrangements, shopping, ordering a meal, giving opinions and using the telephone. There are comprehensive bilingual vocabularies and a 'taking it further' section to direct you to further sources of Catalan. The accompanying recording consists over two hours of listening material on CD and contains all the dialogues from the book, exercises in listening and speaking, and a comprehensive pronunciation guide. It is available separately (0 340 87057 5) or in a pack with the book (0 340 87056 7). This course contains everything you need to start speaking Catalan with confidence and appreciate the culture of Catalan speakers.

Anna Poch Gasau is a native speaker and an experienced teacher of Catalan to adults. She has been teaching at universities and schools in France and England since 1996. Alan Yates is former Professor of Catalan Studies at the University of Sheffield and has recently received a prize for his services to the teaching of Catalan.