First German Reader: A Beginner's Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language German) [Paperback]

Harry Steinhauer (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0486461793 | ISBN-13: 978-0486461793 | Publication Date: December 10, 2007 | Edition: Bilingual

Specially chosen for their power to evoke German life and culture, these short, simple readings include poems, stories, essays, and anecdotes. Featured authors include Goethe, Hesse, Heine, Schiller, and Hölderlin, in selections offering a variety of subject matter and gradual advancement in language skills.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Bilingual edition (December 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486461793
• ISBN-13: 978-0486461793
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > German
  • #96 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > German > Instruction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for beginners, March 1, 2009

By 

melodious chaos (Arlington, VA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First German Reader: A Beginner's Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language German) (Paperback)

The introduction claims that "First German Reader is truly a beginners' book. It may be started after two or three weeks of experience with an introductory book to German." I couldn't possibly disagree more. You really should have a few years of classroom experience under your belt before attempting it. The reading passages are highly academic in nature, with a very strong focus on philosophy and poetry. They are often very dense and difficult to understand, even reading the English translation. Furthermore, to fully appreciate many of the passages, a great deal of context is often required. While the notes at the end of the book do help somewhat, they are woefully inadequate in many cases. Last but not least, I personally found most of the content to be pretty dull. These factors can easily combine to make for a very frustrating, and not necessarily productive, reading experience for a beginner. A few short sample passages:


"Large industries have already introduced a system of profit-sharing with their employees. But what is much more significant: in all industrial concerns the workers enjoy the legal right of having a voice in matters that concern them. They get a third of the seats on the boards of directors of joint stock companies (one half of the seats in the mining and steel industries)."

"Act in such a way that the maxim of your will may at all times also have validity as the principle of a universal law."


The texts are also outdated. Besides the lack of any material from the past forty years and the use of the old spelling throughout, I suppose this fact mostly only matters for the "Über Deutschland" passages, which are intended to paint a broad picture of modern Germany. One of these essays states that "West Berlin is a part of the Federal Republic, while East Berlin belongs to the 'German Democratic Republic.'" Hmm. This edition was published in 2007, but it's clear that none of the content has changed since it was originally published in 1964.

On the plus side, the translations are generally very good for the purpose they serve. They are literal enough that it is farily easy to compare the English and German versions, but (mostly) natural enough to be comprehensible by themselves. There are also a fair number of endnotes that explain references to particular people and places, as well as unusual word usage and grammar. The passages are of just the right length that the reader can maintain a sense of accomplishment and not get too bored, even reading very slowly and carefully.

Despite the blatantly false advertising of the title, if you have a fair amount of experience with the language and a strong interest in German philosophy and poetry, you might find this book to be rewarding. Otherwise, save yourself the frustration and steer clear.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is hopeless for beginners in German., November 22, 2009

By 

Susan J. Dunn (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: First German Reader: A Beginner's Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language German) (Paperback)

This book is not a first German reader, do not buy it if you are new to German! (Try Asterix comic books in German). To me it's a waste of money, a year ago it was far to too hard to read in German, and now after a year learning German and living in Germany it's still too hard and irrelevant to modern German. The root problem is that it was written in 1964, probably for school German lessons. The material it draws from are very deep and would tax most native English English speakers in English! (e.g. 'Now I am many an hour's distance from that place....', '....descends into the fearful arena....','...man must meet nothing with resolution....' and so on). The corresponding German is equally academic and complex.

If you could learn even some of this German, imagine the laugh when you said in conversation 'Vor dem Handeln, im Handelm hat er alle Ursache, den Versatand beweglich zu erhalten', which in English is 'Before acting, in acting, he has every reason for keeping his intelligence mobile....'.

24 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beginners but Interesting, July 19, 2008

By 

M. Stevens (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: First German Reader: A Beginner's Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language German) (Paperback)

This is a very well thought out first reader for adults - simple and easy to understand, especially with its the English translations, but at the same time interesting and informative. Really enjoyable to use.