Approximately five million people worldwide speak Albanian. The opening of Albania in the 1990s to broader trading and diplomatic relations with other nations has created a need for better knowledge of the language and culture of this country. This book teaches the student to communicate in everyday situations in the language, with each chapter introducing a new situational context. Students learn to discuss work, vacations, health, and entertainment. Students also learn to practice basic skills such as shopping, ordering tickets, and renting an apartment. Upon completing this textbook, students will be at the A2/B1 level of proficiency on the scale provided by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The textbook includes: • eighteen lessons based on real-life situations, including three review lessons • dialogues to help introduce vocabulary and grammatical structures • comprehension questions and exercises • related readings at the end of each chapter • full translations for all examples discussed in grammar sections • a series of appendixes with numerous charts summarizing main classes of nouns, adjectives, and verbs • an appendix with the solutions to most of the exercises in the book • a glossary with all the words in the dialogs and readings.

COLLOQUIAL ALBANIAN is easy to use and completely up to date! Specially written by experienced teachers for self-study or class use, the course offers a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Albanian. No prior knowledge of the language is required. What makes COLLOQUIAL ALBANIAN your best choice in personal language learning? Interactive – lots of exercises for regular practice Clear – concise grammar notes Practical – useful vocabulary and pronunciation guide Complete – including answer key and reference section By the end of this rewarding course, you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in Albanian in a broad range of everyday situations. Accompanying audio material is available to purchase separately on CD/MP3 format, or comes included in the great value Colloquials Pack.

This collection of papers on contemporary issues in Albanian history and anthropology covers a broad range of approaches and forms of analysis. The book includes research on parts of the country that have rarely made an appearance in international scholarship, including recent research on various aspects of urban life in Albania, with several chapters being set in Shkodra, Tirana, Elbasan, and Gjirokastra. Issues of local self-organization or identity processes are presented as well. A third core aspect that is addressed is the continued analysis of new and revealing demographic sources that shed light on the structure and history of the Albanian family. (Series: Studies on South East Europe - Vol. 9)

This comprehensive linguistic survey of the Indo-European groups synthesizes the vast amount of information contained in the spe­cialized handbooks of the individual stocks. The text begins with an introduction to the concept of the Indo-European language family, the history of its discovery, and the techniques of analysis. The introduction also gives a structural sketch of Proto-Indo-European, the parent language from which the others are descended. Baldi then devotes a chapter to each of the 11 major branches of Indo-European (Italic, Celtic, Indo-Iranian, Greek, Armenian, Albanian, Baltic, Slavic, Germanic, Tocharian, and Anatolian). Each chapter provides an outline of the external history of the branch, its people, di­alects, and other relevant history. This out­line is followed by a structural sketch of the most important language or languages of the branch (e.g., Old Irish for Celtic, Sanskrit and Avestan for Indo-Iranian, Latin and Osco-Umbrian for Italic). The sketch also contains the phonology, morphology, and syntax of each language. There is lastly a sample text of each language containing both interlinear and free translation. In those branches where there are special issues (e.g., the relation of Italic to Celtic and Baltic to Slavic, or the problem of archaism in Hittite), additional discussions of these issues are pro­vided. Baldi's final chapter gives a brief out­line of the "minor" Indo-European lan­guages such as Illyrian, Thracian, Raetic, and Phrygian. Adding further to the usefulness of the book are extensive bibliographies, an up-to-date map showing the geographical dis­tribution of the Indo-European languages throughout the world, and a detailed family tree diagram of the members of each sub­group within the Indo-European language family and their interrelationships.

A Stanford University Press classic.

Anthropology and Egalitarianism is an artful and accessible introduction to key themes in cultural anthropology. Writing in a deeply personal style and using material from his fieldwork in three dramatically different locales -- Indonesia, West Africa, and Monticello, the historic home of Thomas Jefferson -- Eric Gable shows why the ethnographic encounter is the core of the discipline's method and the basis of its unique contribution to understanding the human condition. Gable weaves together vignettes from the field and discussion of major works as he explores the development of the idea of culture through the experience of cultural contrast, anthropology's fraught relationship to racism and colonialism, and other enduring themes.

In its ninth printing, the Albanian Practical Dictionary is expanded and romanized to include 9,000 entries with simple pronunciation and basic grammatical information. Also includes a transliteration guide, a list of abbreviations, geographical names, and idiomatic expressions.

This reader presents the best of classical Albanian literature, from the end of the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth century. It includes the best-known works of the age, poetry in particular. After a sluggish start, Albanian literature flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. By the mid-1930s, it reached a zenith, when intellectual life in the country was finally on a sound footing. A modern literature had been created in Albania and the nation had come of age. Alas, it was a brief blossoming in the shadow of the apocalypse which loomed in the form of the Stalinist regime that seized power in 1944 and would snuff out all genuine literary production for decades to come.

Here is the captivating story of humankind’s enduring quest to build a better language—and overcome the curse of Babel. Just about everyone has heard of Esperanto, which was nothing less than one man’s attempt to bring about world peace by means of linguistic solidarity. And every Star Trek fan knows about Klingon. But few people have heard of Babm, Blissymbolics, Loglan (not to be confused with Lojban), and the nearly nine hundred other invented languages that represent the hard work, high hopes, and full-blown delusions of so many misguided souls over the centuries. With intelligence and humor, Arika Okrent has written a truly original and enlightening book for all word freaks, grammar geeks, and plain old language lovers.

Tafesilafa'i is a community conversation of the Samoan communities in the United States. The author, using the grounded theory research methodology, has suggested that: Samoans, because of their fa'a-Samoa, come to know in unique ways. Because the fa'a-Samoa has its own cosmogony, social infrastructures, culture, and unique language, it stands to reason that Samoans come to know in a unique way. In this work, the fa'a-Samoa is placed in dialogue with theories of perception and the resulting epistemology, or theory of knowledge, is embodied and showcased during the Tafesilafa'i Festivals. Tafesilafa'i is a faith-and-community-based organization that functions as an organic clearinghouse for the fa'a-Samoa and a think tank where inquiries about the Samoan people, language and culture are addressed. Tafesilafa'i is also a place where contributions by the Samoan community are made to the larger community.