Deutsch Heute: Introductory German, Eighth Edition [Hardcover]

Jack Moeller (Author), Winnifred R. Adolph (Author), Gisela Hoecherl-Alden (Author), Simone Berger (Author), John F. Lalande (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0618338292 | ISBN-13: 978-0618338290 | Publication Date: October 20, 2006 | Edition: 8

By maintaining a focus on building students' listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, Deutsch Heute has become a classic among introductory German texts. Students learn grammar in a clear and concise format while being introduced to contemporary life and culture in German-speaking countries through cast of recurring characters. Familiar characters and the integration of all program components--workbook, video, and function-based activities--foster language learning and skill development. Easily manageable for two-semester courses, the text covers grammar in a logical sequence, leaving the future, subjunctive, and passive voices to the last two chapters.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 440 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; 8 edition (October 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618338292
• ISBN-13: 978-0618338290
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Detailed and informative for beginners, January 8, 2008

By 

Karolina Vaickute - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deutsch Heute: Introductory German, Eighth Edition (Hardcover)

When I began using this textbook as part of an elementary German college course, I had absoluely no prior experience in German grammar or communication (I couldn't even say eins, zwei, drei :) ). I find that the book is, for the most part, very straightfoward in explaining grammatical concepts and is consistent in the way it progresses from chapter to chapter (with example dialogues vocabulary, explanations of grammar and grammar pratice exercises). The book also includes colloquial expressions in vocabulary lists, which can help non-native speakers sound more natural, and each chapter includes some cultural tidbits about Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

I've had no problem using this book daily or understanding the concepts. It also corresponds pretty well to the Deutsch Heute workbook, for extra pratice. The book should, of course, be used with supplementary classroom instruction and not as a self-study material, because some things simply need extra explanation (for example, the different kinds of cases, adjective endings, prepositions, etc.).

Some criticisms that I have is that the book is sometimes inconsistent: i.e. in one chapter a certain preposition is used in an expression, and in another chapter the preposition is different even though the expression is supposed to be the same. There are also some spelling errors, but neither they nor the slight inconsistencies get in the way of learning German, in my opinion. I also wish that it would provide more real-life situations to which certain grammatical rules should be applied, and it would be useful if it contained a back-of-the-book answer section for pratice exercises when studying at home.

Overall, I think most beginner students will find this book easy to use and understand. Viel Glück!(Good luck!)

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Deutsch Heute - Misleading Intro, September 9, 2010

By 

mosirish - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Deutsch heute: Introductory German (Available Titles Ilrn: Heinle Learning Center) (Hardcover)

On page xv of the introduction, this book specifically says "Packaged with your textbook, the Text Audio CD's contain the Bausteine dialoges...." Guess what? There were NO CD's. I've called the publisher twice (this isn't Amazon's fault), and they've told me that I need to BUY the CD's ($41.99 thank you very much). I've sent them a fax of the intro page and they said they'll get back to me. We'll see.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible, plain and simple., July 19, 2011

By 

Julia V. Winters "JVWNYC89" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deutsch heute: Introductory German (Available Titles Ilrn: Heinle Learning Center) (Hardcover)

In all honesty if you are taking German at college and your professor uses this book, be prepared for one hell of a time trying to learn even basic German. I took two semesters of college level German with this crappy book and it was just a pain. The instruction of my professor was not great either, he moved a little too quickly for me (and my classmates included) but I have to say the book was the greatest struggle when working independently on homework assignments and preparing for exams; basically the book just added insult to injury.

I think this book is organized very poorly and has really horrible examples which do absolutely nothing to help you understand the German grammar rules. Also the chapter summaries are completely useless! Do not buy this book. I have it sitting in my room right now, and I am debating on whether I should even put it on my seller's account; do I want to put someone else through that, I don't think so, but then again I know I will not be using it again!

Also, like many other people who have reviewed this sorry excuse for a German language textbook, I was pretty unhappy to find out that there were NO CDs that came with the book, oh yes, you have to buy them separate! Gotta love that.

The only other German language textbook I have had looked at is this one, and I would definitely recommend it over Deutsche Heute... Neue Horizonte: Introductory German (Available Titles Ilrn: Heinle Learning Center) Check it out.