Customer Reviews

German in 10 Minutes a Day

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is great for starting out in your language learning. I use other language cassetes as well, but this helps me by presenting small amounts of information, and also giving me a visual aid. You may feel stupid and your friends might laugh at it, but put the stickers up around your house....then walk around saying: "Wo ist das Sofa? Dort ist das Sofa!" It really does help. It is also helpful that this is a very thin book, easy to throw in your bag when you are traveling and work on it. I take it on business trips and flip through and do a little bit every day. Also helpful is that this book has excercises, questions, and crosswords to keep you thinking so that you aren't just parroting it back. I definitely recommend this book if you are just starting to learn, need a small refresher or need some basics to survive for a trip. Includes tear out flash cards, stickers to label objects, and a carry along translation card for dining out experiences.

I've been learning Russian by self study for the last couple of years and recently decided to brush up on my German as well. I've purchased a LOT of language learning products as of late, and I've found that the quality and effectiveness of learning materials can vary greatly. I bought the Russian version of this text and was incredibly disappointed. I was in a bookstore recently and checked out the German version. Yup, more of the same. This book might be okay for kids, but it's not a serious learning tool. Learning a language in ten minutes a day may be a fun fantasy, but the resources available in this series of books won't do much to help you learn German.

On the surface the book looks great - big pictures, stickers, activities, flash cards and a laminated "pocket pal" with a short list of phrases and such. The problem with these resources is that they all fall short when scrutinized individually. There aren't enough flash cards, and the words that are chosen are sort of odd. Some are obvious for the beginner, but many just leave me scratching my head as to why they picked them. The activities in the book are the best part, but as a workbook, it's only average. The stickers are a good idea in theory, but are you really going to put stickers on objects all around your house? The "pocket pal" phrasebook would be a decent idea, but it's a real pain to get out of the book (I had to cut it out with a razor knife), and it's too big to fit comfortably in your pocket when folded up. Because this book tries to be everything to everyone it falls short on all counts.

One thing you'll notice about most of the five-star reviews listed here for this book is that often it's the only review that the "reviewer" has made. I find that very suspicious, don't you? Click on them and check out their other reviews, you'll find there arent any. Hmmmm... can you say "sock puppet"?

For a popular language like German, there are many good and reasonably priced language materials available that will take you much farther than this text. The Teach Yourself series is good and comparably priced with a better book and tapes that allow you to actually hear the language. The Living Language Ultimate German isn't bad at all. Oh, and Deutsche Welle has free German lessons available on their website.

Here's a note going out on the off-chance that there are people reading this that are really serious about learning a foreign language: Buy "How to Learn Any Language" by Barry Farber. While his method is effective, it requires work and in addition you'll need to budget a bit of cash for materials. But the materials can be purchased over time and don't necessarily need to be the expensive ones.

Or you can buy stuff like this. But you won't learn to speak German well and you'll have wasted your money. It's your choice.

I'm an American English teacher traveling through Europe. I spoke no German before leaving the states and bought this book to learn the basics. It definately helped! I believe in "easy" learning, and the information in this book -- as well as its layout and illustrations -- made learning simple. Plus, it contains stickers bearing the names of common household objects. Placing the stickers all around my house was a painless way to learn vocabulary. Use the book along with other books or tapes if you want. It helped me survive my first months in Germany!

"10 Minutes a Day"? More like 10 minutes a week, for me. I didn't put in the time this book deserves, and still went from no German to passable German in 3 months. I used the book to get ready for a spring break trip, and was able to shop, get directions, and talk to the police. Two people even complimented me on my German!

This book starts off with the important stuff - the question words - and then takes you through everything you'll need to get around as a tourist. The stickers and flash cards are a helpful learning aid - starting every morning identifying your breakfast is great practice.

I have no criticisms of the book. I just wish the series had more languages available.

Bought this prior to a trip to Germany and Austria. Studied German in high school 30 years ago and this basic course brought many basics back. Practical text with great flash cards and stickers. I would recommend also getting a course that has tapes or CD, as understanding spoken German is the biggest challenge. Also see "Just Listen and Learn German", very practical and a good value. Guten lernen.

The author seems to have her heart in the right place and the book is well organized, but I really doubt anyone will learn more than number, colors, or other such items.

I've been working through a number of German books in my middle(ish) aged quest to be bilingual so I'm not a total beginner. I wanted an exercise book to do over lunch and I found this book on sale (<$5). I would say I got about that amount of knowledge out of it.

The matching, fill in the blanks, and crossword puzzles were good, but so much is left out that you can't really understand any of what you are doing, you are just memorizing. For example, the author has you conjugate the verb 'sprechen' but never mentions it is an irregular verb that changes to 'du sprichst'. Later, the sentence structure where a second verb is unconjugated and moved to the end of the sentence is used by the author, but is never mentioned to the reader.

It was a good way to keep my head in German, but I can't say I got very much from the book.

I have several of the 10 Minutes a Day language learning titles and think they're all wonderful. Now Bilingual Books also has a "book" called a Language Map. The laminated, condensed travelers' guide (stashed in your purse) gives you the confidence to use your newly acquired language skills, knowing that the phrases you'll need most often are right there, in case you've forgotten any. Truly excellent books.

This is a great way to start learning German. It really has all a tourist needs to know for a short trip. The book also is a good springboard into more advanced German-learning books. Plus it is a fun book and can be used by children as well as adults. Highlights are that it gets you right into speaking German without getting hung up on technicalities. It focuses on the most important words, phrases and grammar for a trip to Germany. The book also has stickers with German words to place on objects all over your house. There are also flashcards, a pull-out menu translation (very necessary in Germany), and another pull-out with essential words.

After many books on Italian, French, Spanish, I finally found a learning guide that makes sense. Chapter 1: the alphabet. Chapter 2: key question words (who, what, where, when, why, how, how much). Chapter 3: Odds 'n ends (the words for "the" and "a"). And so on. All words are shown phonetically, as well as how they are spelled in the native German. Tear-out sheets for reviewing on the go. Peel-off stickers to put around the house. This one seems to have it all.

I have not found a better introduction to a language! I was having difficulty in classes and stopped going. I just didn't get it. After buying this book, WOW! What a difference! I can now understand some German, can read some German and I can speak simple sentences. I never could get that far before with any other method. Studying 10 minutes a day as outlined in this book really works. Just wanted to update the opnions because none have been written in 2000. It is a shame if you overlook this great value and learning tool. You will need to find someone to help you with pronouncing the words, although the key is about right.