Deutsch: Na klar! An Introductory German Course (Student Edition) [Hardcover]

Robert Di Donato (Author), Monica Clyde (Author), Jacqueline Vansant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2007 | ISBN-10: 007353532X | ISBN-13: 978-0073535326 | Edition: 5

This versatile and colorful program for introductory German courses motivates students through its outstanding integration and use of authentic materials to illustrate vocabulary in context, communicative functions of grammatical structures, and cultural points. A fully revised text-specific website (www.mhhe.com/dnk5) offers a wide variety of interactive activities, language practice and cultural activities. The ample activities and exercises, the easy-to-follow chapter structure, and the wonderful array of multimedia supplements make Deutsch: Na klar! a favorite among students and instructors.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Monica D. Clyde is a native of Düsseldorf. She received her Ph.D. in German literature from the University of California at Berkeley. She has taught German language and literature at Mills College, Cañada College, the Defense Language Institute, and the College of San Mateo. She was Director of Faculty Development and Scholarship at Saint Mary's College of California until her retirement in 2003. She coauthored Texte und Kontexte and was contributor to Mosaik: Deutsch Kultur und Luteratur, Third Edition, both intermediate college-level German textbooks.

Jacqueline Vansant received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. She has taught at Hamilton College and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and currently teaches at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where she also heads the German section of the Department of Humanities. Her particular interest in language pedagogy lies in reading and reading strategies. She has written widely on contemporary Austrian literature and culture, served as coeditor of Modern Austrian Literature from 2000-05, and is presently working on a book entitled Austria: Made in Hollywood.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 5 edition (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007353532X
• ISBN-13: 978-0073535326
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > German

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Completely Useless, unless it's all you have., January 18, 2005

By 

Michigoon "tech geek" (Mid-MI) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Deutsch, Na Klar!: An Introductory German Course (German Edition) (Hardcover)

There's really no point to owning this book if you're enrolled in a German class, and there's absolutely no reason for a self-learner to pick this up otherwise. There's a lot of people who say this book "is great if you're in a class / using video / using audio / great teacher / etc etc..." and the truth is, when you have that much enrichment anyway, you don't need a very good book (which is the only time when using this book is acceptable). And the "listening comprehension" CD? It's much more useful as a coaster. A coaster that might cost you a whole paycheck.

Gripes:
-Never provides ANY blocks of words/pronunciations in chapters (even when it does, it tends to have whole phrases translated, not word-by-word breakdowns like you need, especially in the beginning). You have to learn 90% of your words on your own, and then try to figure out what's going on in the book based on your own knowledge. This is an almost absurd problem considering the price.
-Randomly tosses around different dialects of German with little division. Without a professor keeping you informed, you might not even notice some of the differences. My fiancee was dismayed to learn that I wasn't learning the same dialect that she knows (and her dialect is High German, which is the one you're "supposed" to learn in an introductory class). I think I'm learning a more Southern or Austrian dialect. Is that the book's fault or my professor's? Since the book doesn't help, I have absolutely no clue!
-The CD is truly worthless. It barely follows the book, and doesn't provide ANY quick access to any necessary elements. It doesn't have access to very much in the way of pronunciation at all- nearly all of the CD is composed of text application of the words with little or no motivation except as practice for what you should have learned before (except there is no "learning before"- in the book or CD). Inexcusable.
-No answer keys. The book might have you learn new phrases with something like "figure out which of the following phrases are greetings or goodbyes", and unless you ask a professor, you might never know. Again, it's just amazing that a book would cost so much and not contain something like this.
-How can you learn a language when the book never really teaches anything new, and just keeps expecting you to apply knowledge that it doesn't give? It makes no sense!

Counterpoints:
-It's... kind of pretty. If you don't mind that a lot of the pictures aren't properly explained. And those pictures are example exercises in the chapter... yeah, you'll mind.

If you HAVE to have this book for your class, just hope it's a good class. This book seems near-worthless for trying to teach yourself, which as any student knows, is critically important to ANY language class. Listen in class, and don't expect the book to be of much help.

So what do I reccomend?
Even if you class doesn't reccomend it, try to find the two workbooks/lab manuals that go along with the book. Frankly, I've found that they sometimes do a better job of teaching than the book does. AND they have answer keys to help you check your progress. Sadly, however, the manuals don't come with the necessary listening CDs, so you're still going to be left out in the cold for most of the experience. Again, just ridiculous.

Overall:
-If you're taking a German class, and this is the book, you don't have much choice anyway.
-Which is to say, if you're not taking a class and you're learning on your own, virtually any other book does a better job.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One of 'those' books, October 1, 2007

By 

E. M. Stoudenmire "Physics student" (Santa Barbara, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deutsch: Na klar! An Introductory German Course (Student Edition) (Hardcover)

Basically, this is one of those books that is fine for classroom teaching, in that it's perfectly fine as long as you have an instructor.

But, there is absolutely no reason why it should cost as much as it does (it's way too expensive here on Amazon, and $200+ at my campus bookstore!). And, there's no reason why the publisher should make minute changes every year and call it a new edition.

Oh, wait. There is one reason - it's a racket just like all of these kinds of books.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad!, July 14, 2002

By 

"ben_seidman" (Duke U) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deutsch, Na Klar: An Introductory German Course, Third Edition (Hardcover)

We use this book for german 1 and 2 here at duke. Let me start off by saying that I've never been very skilled in learning foreign languages. As such, I have a tendency to lash out at the books that are assigned the job of teaching me in this area ;) This book, I think, gives the reader every possible advantage in terms of learning the language, I think. The grammar is explained clearly, and in a logical order. I'd give it a 5, but as I said, I don't like having to learn foreign languages ;)