German: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides) [Paperback]

Heimy Taylor (Author), Werner Haas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997 | ISBN-10: 047115704X | ISBN-13: 978-0471157045 | Edition: 2

The fast track to speaking and understanding basic German

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Now you can learn how--quickly and easily--with this practical, self-paced guide. It combines the user-friendly virtues of a phrase book with the learning tools of a full-fledged language course to provide you with the basic vocabulary and grammar you need to start using German right away. Completely revised and updated for today's usage, this new edition gives you:
* A proven interactive format that lets you teach yourself at your own pace
* Exercises to reinforce what you've learned
* Clear explanations of German grammatical structures
* More than 1,000 of the most frequently used German words
* Sample dialogues with cultural notes and lists of terms


See inside for information on German pronunciation cassette.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German

From the Publisher

Combines the quick-reference virtues of a phrasebook with the in-depth information found in a full-scale language course. Zeroes in on the topics, words, and phrases used in everyday conversations and travel. Full of special drills and exercises to reinforce new material, self-tests to measure progress, and exercises to help readers practice the skills they've just learned. Culture Notes in each chapter provide insight into German art, literature, and history as well as practical ``survival tips'' on everything from finding overnight accomodations to dealing with a sudden medical emergency. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047115704X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471157045
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #719,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This guide will surely guide you!, May 4, 2000

By 

Brian Ramirez - See all my reviews

This review is from: German: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides) (Paperback)

I have found this book's layout to be very clear and easy to follow. The introduction teaches in detail how German spelling are supposed to sound by providing english words that appoximate the sounds. This book seems to contain grammar lessons that are more extensive than those found in the popular "Teach Yourself" course. This book serves duly as a workbook in that you can write your answers to the exercises in the spaces provided and refer to the correct answers in the back of the book. My biggest gripe about the book is that there were no pictures. I love pictures!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good guide - Not for the absolute beginner, March 29, 2004

By 

"deadseadiver" (Jerusalem) - See all my reviews

This review is from: German: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides) (Paperback)

I found the book extremely helpful in studying German. There are a few caveats, though. First, you probably would want to start with a simpler book, as the pace picks up pretty quickly in this one, and it can leave you behind.

One thing that annoyed me was the way some terms and structures were introduced out of the blue - not always properly explained. One such example is case declension - the meaning of "cases" wasn't defined at all, as if the book was meant for reviewing the material, rather than learning it for the first time.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For the most part, I like it, June 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: German: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides) (Paperback)

As someone who's just trying to brush up on my German before I need to use it this fall, I have found this book really helpful at covering vocabulary and grammar points. It often bothers me, though, that the answers in the back sometimes directly contradict instructions in either the reading or the exercise itself. Also, there have been several times when a word used in an exercise was not in either the end-of-chapter vocabulary, or in the German-English dictionary at the back of the book.

As I said, though, for the most part, I do like this book. Just make sure you take it with a grain of salt.