NATO Phrase Guides
Quickly learn essential to pronounce the phrases you may need for peace-keeping or military operations, in easy single-serving doses! Great for boring deployments!
I basically only have info on the Balkans, because I worked there. If you have any US or other country handbooks, that include a language section, please send a copy to me so that I can get the language part published here. I'll send it back to you along with a T-shirt.
My goal is for single-serving to be a one-stop shop for foreign language needs for tourists, travellers, business, self-learners, military, or anyone with an interest in languages. When you are done looking at the site, download the MP3 Audio file and print the Acrobat Booklet. You can use them together anywhere: at home on your computer or deployed with a portable mp3 player. You can even copy the audio to CD or tape and take it with you on your deployments. Practice the pronunciation before you go and then just carry the booklet with you. If you have any problems or suggestions, please e-mail me.
One of the reasons that I began doing this site, was the difficulty I had using the phoenetic pronunciations given in most phrase guides. The problem is that either one has to learn the international phoenetic alphabet, or guess how the author thinks that someone would pronounce certain letter combinations. I avoid phoenetics and use audio from real native speakers. There is no mistaking how a word should be pronounced. Only knowing a word or phrase is half the battle; you must be able to be understood. Hearing a native pronounce the words is the greatest aid to pronunciation. Practice is the key to learning (as if your parents haven't been telling you that all along). Once you're there, speak! I've seen bored MP's pick up languages in just a couple of months just from talking with with the street urchins that hang around the gates. Don't waste your deployment playing nintendo!
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