Customer Reviews

German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German (American University Studies, Series 6, Foreign Language Instruction, Vol. 5)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To start with I didn't have any particularly keen interest in German. While browsing through books in the library I chanced across Ms Wilson's book and started leafing through it. I was really impressed by the flowing, homely style of presentation and I decided to learn the language seriously.

Here are some of the salient features that make the book so helpful for beginners (this is the first foreign language that I have started learning, other than English which I learned as a kid):
1. Well chosen exercises after each chapter. To get the full benefit from the book, one must do all the exercises. I personally found that I could easily manage a chapter a day for the firsr few chapters, and then a chapter per two or three days for the later ones.
2. Sense of humor. Yes, in this regard it is doubtlessly one of the best textbooks that I have ever read in my life. And this is in sharp contrast with some of the other texts that are available in the market (for instance the texts that are used for the beginning German courses at Stanford. Oh, why are those books SO devoid of humor?)
3. Using proverbs to teach German. This is a great idea that should be used in teaching any language. Proverbs are those little simple sentences that somehow stick in our minds more than other things do. That's why they survive so long. Now Ms Wilson smuggles the German vocabulary into the reader's mind in packets of these proverbs.After reading the German for "When there is fire in the heart, there's smoke in the head", it is hard to forget that Rauch means smoke.
4. No language book for beginners can be expected to be full of real examples of great literary value, since those will be above the level of the average reader. But still the author creates the wonderful feeling of "real German" by quoting sentences and passages of famous German authors. This is in sharp contrast with the (popular?) German textbooks ... with examples churned out by machines to show the use of some grammar rule.
5. The book is well worth the money. I don't know why, but some German teachers at US univs prescribe textbooks that are written only to extract money out of student's pockets. The books ... force you to use manuals and workbooks that are sold separately, and are often full of silly pictures that do not help you to learn anything, but only serve to increase the price of the book. Ms Wilson's book, on the contrary, is full of serious information, and acts as a good reference book even after you through with it.
6. Finally, the book does NOT teach you how to speak German or how to comprehend spoken German. For that a good resource would be the book+CDs set from the "Living Language" series.

I first studied German over twenty years ago, and found it isn't like riding a bicycle -- if you let it go, it goes. I've studied several languages, so perhaps I can be forgiven, but when I started seminary I found that there were various pieces that were important to read that could only be found in German, or while they were available in English translation, the original language was important to capture the nuances of the arguments. When I looked to my old textbooks for German, they didn't seem designed to be re-learned quickly.

I was very pleased to find this book, German Quickly. As a seminarian, I appreciated the fact that the author April Wilson had also been through a divinity programme. She specialised in teaching German to graduate students who needed to quickly capture the language so that they could read fairly high-level academic articles and texts for their studies. This particular book is very good at helping students in the humanities -- German is also important for those in the sciences, but this book does not cover the particular scientific terminology; that being said, this would be a good primer for German generally, and students could then go on to master the nuances of scientific language.

One of the best features of this text are the stories and text samples at the ends of the sections. Wilson takes these from all manner of sources -- the story of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac from the Bible, pieces from works by Martin Buber and Friedrich Nietzsche, and other writings make for interesting, realistic learning. These are not artificial constructs, but rather perfect examples of the kinds of actual reading that needs to be done.

There is also humour and style in the 'ordinary' exercises. How does one translate 'Ich bin ein Berliner'? Who can forget the language when one translates phrases such as 'Kinder und Narren sagen die Wahrheit'? (Children and fools speak the truth.) These are actual exercises. The one drawback for personal study is that not all the exercise solutions are given in the back of the book.

There is a very good section on German dictionaries, giving the strengths and weaknesses of many of the major German dictionaries available. She actually has the brilliant suggestion of having two dictionaries -- a smaller paperback version that gives quick-and-dirty definitions, and then a larger hard-back dictionary that fills in the nuances of the words. Using only the larger one will slow down the beginning reader. This suggestion is one of but many that makes this text a real gem.

This book is for reading comprehension; writing can be learned from it, but it really doesn't focus upon that. Nor does it concentrate on German as a spoken language -- there is a pronunciation key at the beginning, and German is much more standard than English in pronunciation according to spelling, but this book is not intended to train speakers or listeners in German. It is as its title suggests -- a grammar for reading German, quickly. In that, it succeeds admirably.

I have both this book and German for Reading Knowledge. German Quickly is by far more helpful and worth every penny. It was developed by the author after years of teaching students how to read/translate German (without worrying about speaking). Because the focus is on translation and not "learning" German language in the manner of a formal school course, the book is much more intuitive than any other I have encountered on this topic. After working with this book for 5 weeks, I was able to translate an amazing amount of German!

This is not a review, but rather additional information about German Quickly. The 2004 edition includes some printing errors, of which I am extremely aware, and which I deeply regret. A new edition was just printed, and it at least has a correction sheet at the beginning. If you have a book without the sheet, please contact me, and I will send the list of corrections. My e-mail
is: april25@uchicago.edu. If you are studying on your own, I can also
send you an answer key.

April Wilson's German Quickly is the best German grammar for reading available. Ms. Wilson brings nearly thirty years of experience preparing graduate students for the German exam at the University of Chicago to this marvellously concise and lively grammar, and her experience shows. German Quickly is designed, as its title indicates, to produce rapid progress in German through several weeks of intense study. Rapid comprehension of complex paradigms and irregularities is facilitated with very clear charts and lists of essential rules at the beginnings of each chapter. Since it is assumed that the owner of this book will use it primarily to improve reading skills, Ms. Wilson does not clutter the text with rarely-encountered exceptions and colloquialisms, or verb forms that tend to be absent in literature and academic prose. Instead she identifies those verbs, nouns, prepositions, and syntactical constructions that are most frequent and most troublesome, and returns to them often.

One of the most effective aspects of German Quickly is its repetition of "essential" vocabulary items throughout the chapters. The reader is spared the trouble of constantly flipping back through previous chapters to recall an important word, since the most important words are repeated in several lessons, marked with an asterix. Additionally the exercises provide constant review of the most important grammatical constructions, which the reader must learn both to recognize in readings and to produce in English-to-German composition.

German Quickly can be used as a handy reference grammar after the student has mastered the basics. The final chapters and extensive appendices present with characteristic clarity overviews of German grammar, useful phrases, and an eminently useful review of several German-English dictionaries. A partial answer key at the end of the book provides answers to the more difficult exercises, and a glossary provides quick definitions and surveys of usage for troublesome words, along with asterixes indicating which vocabulary items are most important to memorize.

German Quickly is a challenging book, but the exercises in each chapter are surprisingly enjoyable, drawn as they are from traditional (and some very strange) German proverbs, e.g., "Wenn der Teufel krank ist, will er Monch werden; wenn er gesund ist, bleibt er, wie er ist," "When the Devil is ill, he wishes to become a monk; when he is well, he believes he is"; or "Es hofft der Mensch, solong er lebt," "A man hopes, so long as he lives," (cp. the Latin proverb, "dum spiro, spero"). Selections from philosophical writings and literature, especially Nietzsche and Kafka, are also included. The student finishes German Quickly not only with the foundations of grammar and vocabulary, but also with a lively knowledge of German culture and popular values.

I am a PhD student at Harvard who recently used this book to study German for a language exam (for scientific reading knowledge).

I would recommend the book for independent study for the following reasons:
1. Each lesson is short and self-contained.
2. There is an answer key in the back (essential if you're studying alone).
3. The practice readings are interesting (drawn from German proverbs, philosophers, theologians, etc.).

But there are two major problems as well:
1. You will get no sense of the pronunciation of the language, which is essential for a real understanding (as opposed to a superficial reading knowledge, i.e. my understanding!) of any language.
2. The book has literally dozens of annoying and distracting typos. Example: One of the most difficult chapters (27), The Overloaded Adj. Construction, has numerous typos which certainly do not help you along the path of understanding. And for those of you who love the answer key in the back, it too contains several critical typos. So beware. But this is the publisher's/editor's fault, not the author's.

So, if you're just trying to learn a bit about another language for reading knowledge, etc., this is a good book. Viel gluck!

P.S. I did in fact pass the reading test, mostly due to the solid presentation in this book! (And also by being subsequently heckled through a semester-long reading course...).
P.S.S. And a note on the typos: The author offers a list of corrections to anyone (apparently) that will email her, which is very generous (see 'comments').

April is a supurb German instructor, something I learned studying the language with her earlier this year. She brings years of expertise, and understands both what sparks a student's interest and what that student needs to learn. This book--the principle text of her course--is focused accordingly, complete with pithy grammatical summaries and ample examples through proverbs and short narrative. At a swift but not overly hasty pace, one can work though the book in 8-12 weeks, and should be on the way to reading a wide range of German literature.

The potential buyer should be aware of two points. First, this text is geared towards those wanting to develop German reading comprehension; there is nothing here that focuses on conversation. Second, as a grammar, this text must be supplemented with an adequate dictionary (I chose the HarperCollins Unabridged). That said, this is a great text and provides a helpful gateway into the language.

German Quickly is simply the best German grammar teaching tool you can buy. April Wilson adroitly steers the student through the intricacies of a grammatically challenging language with finesse and humor, keeping the student's attention and interest by ingeniously chosen examples, and offering extremely clear and concise explanations. Mrs. Wilson assumes no grammatical knowledge, and explains grammar concepts found in the English language when needed for the comprehension of German. From explanations of the articles and the genders of nouns to the German passive and the overloaded adjective construction (including the Subjunctive I and II), this book can be used as a comprehensive introduction to German grammar or a superb grammar review. Forget the dry, cumbersome explanations found in more traditional textbook German grammars such as German for Reading Knowledge, and pick up German Quickly. You will be happy you did.

April Wilson's GERMAN QUICKLY is an excellent, thoughtful, well-crafted text. It is clear that this book was carefully and gently prepared, especially with students, new to the language, in mind. However, I am sure advanced students already familiar with German would also appreciate this book. I have thoroughly enjoyed Wilson's approach of using examples from classic works, proverbs, and the wonderful adventures of Fraulein Meier and the mailman (this adventurous subplot motivates students to finish the book). This grammar is a must for anyone having to learn German quickly or for anyone in need of review (of German and English!) Thank you April Wilson for this book!!!

April Wilson has written a great textbook for learning German grammar. Conversation and writing are not covered, but I can highly recommend it to anybody who is learning German and is comfortable studying grammar, not just the reading students the book was intended for. All of the major grammatical structures are presented in a clear and straightforward manner and there is a very comprehensive and handy grammar summary in an appendix.

What really gives this book its charm, however, are the examples and practice translations. The main themes are German proverbs, classical German literature, and the running story of Fräulein Meier and her local mailman. These take the form of both practice sentences that illustrate the grammatical points at hand and longer reading passages. All vocabulary is defined and these reading exercises not only take the drudgery of out practice, but make language learning an outright pleasure!

In short, this is easily the most accessible grammar book I've seen for any language.