Customer Reviews

German: How to Speak and Write It (Beginners' Guides)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What all the other 5-star reviewers say is true! I am an American who learned German as a second language starting in college, and continuing into time spent studying and working abroad. Back at home now, I am ever interested in, and conscious of, the need to keep up my language skills, and am always scanning German language books and aids. Although this book is meant for a beginner, I couldn't pass it up. It is chock full of approximately 1950's era, quaint illustrations and drawings (all much more helpful, somehow, than modern books' attempt to be "hip"). The illustrations all tie in closely with the readings, and make it easy to stay interested. There is such a variety of different excercises, amusing stories, interesting facts, maps, etc., that it is a pleasure to pick up the book each time. Take it from someone who has been comparing German language learning aids for years - this one is hard to beat!

I have to also agree with most everyone else who thinks this book is great. I've looked at just about every self-teaching book out there and this is one of my two favorites.

Positive:

It offers a lot of simple exercises that force you into thinking 'in German'; the questions are quite easy and build up in difficulty slowly over time. Their repetitive nature makes for great learning with instantaneous feedback.

The pictures/drawings are also nicely done, far from new and probably very dated as far as whats going on in Germany but very good at getting you to remember the word or concept. I think the dated look to the drawings actually helps in that they look so no-nonsense... like old textbooks that you may have used before the age of illustrations having to look comical or politically correct.

The learning is accomplished mostly via learning to say sentences and build up gradually each chapter. I think this is similar to the (also very old) Berlitz Self-Taught book (which I nearly purchased before I saw this one, not bad either). All in all, I think this book beats the old Berlitz book as it seems to have more exercises which are much more varied; actually, the scope of the information about Germany and its customs is quite interesting.

All words are also presented phonetically just underneath the german spellings... this was helpful.

Negatives:

Its probably a little light on explaining the grammar rules. I don't think you'd really be learning as much as you could by using this book alone.

I've found that this book, when used along with the old 'German Made Simple' book (for its grammar info and exercises) offers about as much as you could ask for, assuming you learn by repetition/exercises like I do.

Its too bad the excerpted pages offered here do not show the actual lessons in the book and only go over the introductory material. It does give you a glimpse of the drawings though.

This one is definitely a good choice. You'll probably want to pick up a more grammar oriented book later but this would be an excellent starter for most anyone.

Dover books are usually good, and this is no exception. I am just learning German and found this book far better and more interesting than some of the other basic books I tried. The rate of progress is noticeably slower than in say the Hugo book and I found this helpful. One thing: you will want to get a separate grammar reference to go with this as he works more with examples than charts.

Compared to the other beginner books this has FAR more in it.

This book is immersing and tough. The first German sentences you're exposed to are not translated and complex. You won't get all the grammatical concepts till late in the book. The translations are in the back though. The teaching style is excellent. It is great supplement or book to expose you to German. It will take persistence to get though it. The illustrations from the 40s (I think) are great. The book is a great buy for the info it holds.

I am studying German independently armed with only this book (and a good dictionary). My friend in Berlin is consistently impressed with my progress and I have only been studying for 6 months. Don't let the old fashioned style dissuade you, the pedagogical approach is effective and accessible to everyone. Highly recommended!

As a self-taught student of German, and having experimented with courses ranging from instant to not-so-instant German, I found this quaint, but highly rigorous and well-organized approach to learning German, to be effective and enjoyable. The format is excellent. There is no recorded component, so this book is definitely for visual learners, and it will need to be supplemented with audio materials for those who want to speak, rather than just to read, German.

What a treasure! The book is inexpensive, and jam-packed with useful instruction in German. This book is a relaxed introduction to the German language, ideal for the beginner. It provides the novice with a basic grasp of the grammar and a foothold to devoloping the new vocabulary, as well as some interesting cultural insights. I have yet to see a textbook as thoroughly illustrated as this one. There are numerous quaint illustrations, photographic and drawn, that really make this book unique. The pictures seem to be mainly of 1930s to 1940s era, and some possibly from the 1950s. Its like a relic from a lost time!

I have spent 3 months studying this book and am now reading 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear but in the original German text. I of course need a dictionary to do so but that is all I need to enjoy the novel without any trouble.
There is a Japanese maxim that says `practice beats theory' and this book is an excellent example of it, although as such one needs a little patience to finish it.

Patience in any case is what one needs to learn any foreign language and the numerous illustrations of the book are then one of its strengths to help one sustain the patience.
A movie critic once said a good movie is one that does not age. I believe this applies to illustrations as well. In fact, those in this book do not appear old at all, despite the fact that they must predate the year of my birth of 1954. They are as expressive as they are alive.

The many photographs in this book on the other hand do look old, what they depict as well as themselves. One of them even fails to convey the depth, which however only contributes to the overall charm that they possess. Some of them even appear magical to me, for example the one entitled WO DIE ZEIT STILL STEHT or NATIONALTRACHT.

Pictures however are not the only strength of this book.
It develops a consistent story around a pair of families, their introduction, their relation and their interaction, in a manner that encourages continuous reading.
Furthermore, this basic thread is interspersed with numerous funny short stories and even poems. They serve their purpose very well; they do make one laugh and they do make one appreciate the language the book is teaching.

I read every single page of this book and did all the exercises. If you follow my example, you should be able to be reading normal German books in three months.
This is such a fine book.

Agree with all of the positive reviews. I studied German in school 20 years ago, but had forgotten most all of it. This book got me back on track in no time. Gets you reading sentences and paragraphs from page one.

I have tried a number of introductory German texts for my Saturday morning German class and have never received a more positive reception from students. Yes, the illustrations are ludicrous and anachronistic to every extreme, but they somehow appeal to my class, providing diversion and comic relief. The copyright is 1962, and the illustrations are 1862, but the learning experience is timeless.