Rating: 
Summary: A good travel guide to Ukraine - not a language primer
Review: A single trip to Ukraine hardly qualifies one as an expert on the Ukrainian or Russian languages.Yet, this is exactly what some reviewers pretend to be. Linda Hodges' travel guide on Ukraine, while it has some shortcomings, is definitely full of valuable facts, and comes from the heart of the author, which is more than can be said about the reviewer's attack on the Ukrainian language and therefore its culture. To call the Ukrainian language "pointless" is quite an outrageous thing to say. While it is true that little Ukrainian was heard in the Eastern part of Ukraine ten years ago, the situation is quite different today, where one hears Ukrainian everywhere - in the streets, in schools, in government offices, even though Russian is still considered far more dominant in many areas. The use of the Ukrainian language is growing every year. One can't help but be somewhat surprised to see the obvious hostility towards Ukrainians. Why travel to the fascinating land of Ukraine with this kind of attitude? Perhaps one should confine his interests to travel in Russia, an equally fascinating country, where the Ukrainian language would not be such a threat.
Rating:
Summary: Language and Travel Guide to Ukraine
Review: First, I must admit that I did not buy this book from Amazon.con. But I feel that this is a good way to express my opinion of the book. Ukraine has a complex and facinating history. This fact will manifest itself while traveling in Ukraine. I know because I have been there. This book interlaces a good overview of Ukraine's history into its main theme of being a language and travel guide. It has good information for anyone traveling to Ukraine. I wish this book was available when I was visiting Ukraine. It would have been quite helpful in a few situations I was in. One last note ... At the start on most chapters, this book gives a Ukrainian Proverb(With the English meaning). It's a nice touch.
Rating:
Summary: Language and Travel Guide to Ukraine
Review: First, I must admit that I did not buy this book from Amazon.con. But I feel that this is a good way to express my opinion of the book. Ukraine has a complex and facinating history. This fact will manifest itself while traveling in Ukraine. I know because I have been there. This book interlaces a good overview of Ukraine's history into its main theme of being a language and travel guide. It has good information for anyone traveling to Ukraine. I wish this book was available when I was visiting Ukraine. It would have been quite helpful in a few situations I was in. One last note ... At the start on most chapters, this book gives a Ukrainian Proverb(With the English meaning). It's a nice touch.
Rating: 
Summary: A top selling travel guide to Ukraine now updated!
Review: Hippocrene Books announces publication of the Third Edition of LANGUAGE & TRAVEL GUIDE TO UKRAINE. This reliable, thorough and fascinating guide has been a wonderful resource for travelers to Ukraine since its initial publication in 1994. It has already been reprinted several times, and now Hippocrene is pleased to offer this Third edition with new and updated updated maps, telephone numbers, sites, resources and much more.
Rating:
Summary: A good travel guide to Ukraine - not a language primer
Review: I bought this book before making my first trip to Ukraine in 2003. Since then I've been back for a much longer second visit and have learned enough Russian to get around. While this book has useful tourist information, its language guide is quite misleading. First of all, the only people who speak Ukrainian are those living around Lviv. Everyone else, without exception, speaks Russian. So learning Ukrainian phrases etc. is totally pointless. Second, the pronunciation guide suffers from the major flaw of representing the "g" sound as "h" - which will make any beginner's attempt to speak the language hilariously incomprehensible. Imagine a foreigner coming to the USA and asking for directions to the nearest "has station" to fill up her car with gasoline, or admiring a nice flower-filled "harden." Or how about, "let me hive you some hrapes."So if all you need is a basic primer for sites to visit, this book is OK - but if you also need to learn something of the language, skip this book and head straight to one of the many excellent Russian language course books available - ones that don't pretend "o" sounds like "oh" - it actually almost always sounds like "ah" and tell you the truth about that letter "g."
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but inaccurate
Review: I bought this book before making my first trip to Ukraine in 2003. Since then I've been back for a much longer second visit and have learned enough Russian to get around. While this book has useful tourist information, its language guide is quite misleading. First of all, the only people who speak Ukrainian are those living around Lviv. Everyone else, without exception, speaks Russian. So learning Ukrainian phrases etc. is totally pointless. Second, the pronunciation guide suffers from the major flaw of representing the "g" sound as "h" - which will make any beginner's attempt to speak the language hilariously incomprehensible. Imagine a foreigner coming to the USA and asking for directions to the nearest "has station" to fill up her car with gasoline, or admiring a nice flower-filled "harden." Or how about, "let me hive you some hrapes." So if all you need is a basic primer for sites to visit, this book is OK - but if you also need to learn something of the language, skip this book and head straight to one of the many excellent Russian language course books available - ones that don't pretend "o" sounds like "oh" - it actually almost always sounds like "ah" and tell you the truth about that letter "g."
Rating: 
Summary: Very helpful travel guide
Review: I must say that I've found Linda Hodges' guide to Ukraine very helpful and a pleasure to read.The fact that it is a bit "rose colored" does not detract from its value as a travel guide. While it is true that Russian is much more prevelant in the eastern part of Ukraine, it does not follow that Russian culture is. Many Ukrainians in the east are simply Russian speakers, and do not consider themselves Russian. No Russian would ever point that out to an American, and it is something that takes time to understand and appreciate.
Rating:
Summary: Very user-friendly travel guide!
Review: I would highly recommend this travel guide to anyone planning a visit to Ukraine. Linda Hodges and George Chumak have upgraded this new edition. Definitely worth getting!
Rating:
Summary: Better than several alternatives
Review: Limited scope, but a good general guide. Smaller towns and rural areas don't receive much coverage. However, considering the alternatives, it is quite satisfactory. The language section are very good, but,from personal experience, studying Russian would be more helpful unless you are traveling in the far western part of the country. An unscientific estimate: probably 80% of the people speak Ukrainian, an even higher percentage speak Russian. When I asked the natives about the number of Ukrainians that understand Russian better than Ukrainian, I was told it was because of the previous educational system (the better schools taught all the subjects in Russian only). I love the Ukraine and the people, but, a comment that I heard applied to U.S./Mexico relations seems to be applicable to the Ukraine/Russia situation: "Poor Ukraine. So far from God and so close to Russia."
Rating:
Summary: Better than several alternatives
Review: Limited scope, but a good general guide. Smaller towns and rural areas don't receive much coverage. However, considering the alternatives, it is quite satisfactory. The language section are very good, but,from personal experience, studying Russian would be more helpful unless you are traveling in the far western part of the country. An unscientific estimate: probably 80% of the people speak Ukrainian, an even higher percentage speak Russian. When I asked the natives about the number of Ukrainians that understand Russian better than Ukrainian, I was told it was because of the previous educational system (the better schools taught all the subjects in Russian only). I love the Ukraine and the people, but, a comment that I heard applied to U.S./Mexico relations seems to be applicable to the Ukraine/Russia situation: "Poor Ukraine. So far from God and so close to Russia."
|
