Customer Reviews

Mastering German: with 15 Compact Discs

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Of course, everyone learns a bit differently, but I, for one, like the fact that all the dialogue is spoken quickly from the get go. Having lived abroad (France & Russia) I can attest that hearing the language spoken slowly during your studies only handicaps you severely later on. Much better to dive in and get used to it. The object is to communicate with Germans, regardless of their accents, speed of talking or diction.

Also, there is plenty of English during the oral translation drills. It is just that the tape does not waste your time doing a spoken English translation of the initial dialgue. Again, it is better to just listen in German and not let English become a crutch.

My only complaint is that the book is rife with typograpical errors. Intitiallly, when you do not know the language, you can get a bit confused. Later on, it is just annoying.

However, this program is so good, that I still feel it warrants five stars. Alright, maybe four and one half.

The book is short and the cd course is very basic. You might be wondering why a short book has 15 cds worth of audio. That is because they have the same sentence repeated over and over (and over) with a different noun each time. It can be quite humorous at first. Even when you get into the later cds, the sentences are still pretty simple. The things it asks you to translate are pretty easy, it's just the speed and the duration that is challenging. While you suffer the repetition though, you really do get the most important concepts literally "drilled" into your brain.
I recommend it, but not as much as the Living Language Ultimate German Advanced 8 cd package.

I never made it through the whole course. All I know is that I went through about half the tapes and I could speak faster, clearer and with fewer errors than any of the non natives in my 3rd year college german class (with the exception of one return missionary who put me to shame, but too bad it was such a big class). The teacher asked what experience I had, suprised at the clarity of my accent. I also speak french and spanish, if that affects it at all

Let me preface this by saying I am first generation German/American who is familiar with the language. My major gripe is the fact that the audio drills do not include the words in English, this is a major disadvantage compared to other courses such as Berlitz (who have the insight to include them). Secondly, the audio drills are spoken too fast, I found myself going beck 2-3 times to absorb what was said. Thirdly, because the drills were spoken so quickly the word were poorly enunciated, and that hinders comprehension. I was hoping to use this course in my car, which would be impossible, due to my previously mentioned reasons. This course would be best for someone who has the time to sit at home and listen while reading the book.

This 15 CD program provides all the necessities for becoming competent in the german language.Native speakers provide the opportunity for pronunciation and listening comprehension practice.Grammar essentials are also present. However,I do have two criticisms,one major,one minor. First,the accompanying book is RIFE with spelling and typeset errors,which can be confusing. Secondly,some of the phrases in the drills are rather silly. Would one ever REALLY say"I have many pretty french newspapers"?

This is the absolute most straightforward way to learn. I have looked at literally dozens of different programs and systems none of which can even come close to competing. I also speak French, Spanish and some Italian and Portuguese and have studied those using their respective programs. I read here that someone said they preffered the Mastering Italian better than the Mastering German and I would like to put in my word about that. The German program does require more effort. But it pays off, by the 6th tape you will find yourself speaking better than the majority of third and fourth year college students as opposed to the Italian where they actually waste a great deal of time on the tapes actually reading the English that has been written there. You will find no such waste of time on the German. This is clearly the only way to learn German short of travelling to Europe.

I have being studying on this course since 7-8 months for an average of an hour per day EVERY day + simply re-listening for another hour a day. At home, in the public transportation, in the fitness studio, before sleeping... Results start to show up, and my german friends tell me that I am making a lot of progress. After all, how do kids learn a language? Hear and repeat. That's it. Yes, it could be a bit boring especially in the beginning when you can't actually apply the little you have learned. If you resist enough to obtain the critical mass of knowledge, the fun will begin. Grammar is important to have fast access to a language, as you don't have 5-6 years to learn as a kid, you want to do it in 2-3 years. But remember: grammar is a model of the language, not the language. This book contains anyway all of the necessary grammar. Finally you will speak correctly because "it sounds well", not because you used the grammar rule. At the end of this course you can start to integrate with reading and TV, that is also important. A few errors in the text...but take finding them as a further exercise. I already bought the second level, and I am trying even the Vocabulearn series, to accumulate words.

I found the Barren's Mastering German a good first level course in German. The compact disc's ability to pause, repeat, loop through a series of tracks and jump straight to a given track/lesson makes it far superior to the cassette. Barron's did an excellent job of breaking the course up into lots of small tracks on the CDs. This allows you to set-up the CD player to constantly repeat a track until you successfully complete the unit. My only two complaints are 1. The CD's do not include the words/phrase in both English and German. This requires you to read the book while listening to the CD. 2. The drills are spoken very fast. While this may be normal speed for a conversation, it makes it difficult to understand for the beginner.

I've heard a lot of good things about this series from Barron's. I already speak a good deal of German but had lost my fluency so I gave the program a shot. I agree with other reviews in that the book is very good but the overall program is weak. Moreover, one of the male speakers on the CD is either a native of one of the many dialects spoken in Germany, or he is simply not a good speaker. Either way, I don't think his sentences are clear, especially if the listener was a German first-timer. I've tried the Italian course, and it's much better. For language courses though, nothing beats Pimsleur's comprehensive programs, but they cost three times as much.

This represented my first foray into learning a foreign language, which I used first twelve years ago, then as a refresher seven years ago before I was stationed in Germany.
Ah, where to begin? This method of learning a language is one of those very low tech/ high concept systems that simply will get you to where you want to be, IT IS NOT FUN, colorful, user-friendly, modern, technologically advanced, up to date like any of the programs coming out to day, but sadly this antiquated relic from the cold war still works better, faster, retains longer (way, way longer), then any of those systems like Rosetta Stone.
The crux of this program is simple they give a series of about a hundred a fifty words, in mini-dialogues then a quick note or two on grammar, some pronunciation practice and drills. The drills being the meat of this program, are excruciatingly painful at times but they work, still better then ANY other method for time and consistency.
How well do they work? Before i used this program as a refresher, I could hold a 20 minute conversation without English word dropping, or being at a loss for words, this was FIVE YEARS after going through it the first time. I then went through it again so I could be fresh when I got to Germany. Upon my arrival I didn't experience any of the language issues my friends and colleagues had, over the two years I lived in Germany, I used the skills I had learned from ONLY this program to do things like talk to paramedics when my friend had alcohol poisoning, talk to the police when we got in a car accident, to making friends and socializing, and of course all the touristy things like ordering food shopping etc. I never had any issues.
This course brought me to this level in about seven months, follow each 2 hour lesson everyday for about 2 1/2-3 weeks then proceeding to the next.
A note about the drills, the core of everything, as they say repetition is the mother of learning, and I've found this to be true. They will give a sentence like, I go to the store with my sister, then they will cue either in German or English, with something like train station, brother, and you repeat, I go to the train station with my brother. this type of sentence will be altered and repeated in different ways literally thousands of time, utilizing different verbs, adjective, nouns, pronouns and cases till your blue in the face. Having repeated the words so many times it becomes effortless in conversation, from the definite and indefinite articles to the conjugation of verbs the words get drilled into the motor software of your brain.
On top of they pain associated with the program, it is extremely dated has very poor sound quality and some errors, but that being said use this program with level two and in about a year you will be about 93% of the way to full fluency (i mean being able to understand crying children, and drunken factory workers), being able to convey any opinion or philosophical viewpoint you wish. Never straining for lost words. But this program isn't for sissies it requires serious motivation and determination, this program will take you the rest of the way.