THIS BEGINNING COURSE IN AYACUCHO QUECHUA, SPOKEN BY ABOUT A MILLION PEOPLE IN SOUTH-CENTRAL PERU, WAS PREPARED TO INTRODUCE THE PHONOLOGY AND GRAMMAR OF THIS DIALECT TO SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH. THE FIRST OF TWO VOLUMES, IT SERVES AS A TEXT FOR A 6-WEEK INTENSIVE COURSE OF 20 CLASS HOURS A WEEK. THE AUTHORS COMPARE AND CONTRAST SIGNIFICANT FEATURES OF QUECHUA AND ENGLISH FOR PEDAGOGICAL PURPOSES IN TEACHING THIS HIGHLY INFLECTED AND COMPLEX LANGUAGE. THE MATERIAL IS PRESENTED IN 10 UNITS, EACH OF WHICH CONSISTS OF A DIALOG TO BE MEMORIZED, A DIALOG REVIEW, A SECTION ON GRAMMAR WITH ACCOMPANYING EXERCISES, CONVERSATION, "LISTENING-IN" (PRACTICE IN AUDITORY COMPREHENSION), AND DICTATION. DIALOGS AND EXERCISE MATERIALS HAVE BEEN TAPE RECORDED. (JD)