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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic masterpiece!, November 5, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Mastering German-With Book (Foreign Service Institute Language Series) (Audio Cassette)
Using libraries, I tried most of the currently available taped courses in German before settling on Barron's. It is superb! It is not for the casually interested, but rather for the person who would, as the title indicates, begin the mastery of German. I understand that the criticism of the Audio-Lingual method (which this course follows) is that it did not, in the end, produce truly bilingual speakers amoungst all the high school and college students who were taught using the method. I'd suggest that this may have been heavily influneced by the motivation (or lack thereof) of many of the students. Presumably, a self learner would be sufficiently motivated to take the necessary extra step of practicing free speaking, the lack of which will inhibit the real acquisition of any foreign language. The tapes, which intentionally demand quick responses, are brillantly designed to make the processing of the language automatic. I wonder if, perhaps, those people who seem not to have found the tapes useful did not read the instructions at the beginning of the book so as to understand the purpose and use of the tapes...or maybe they simply needed a different approach to learning...we don't all learn in the same way. It is true the speakers on the tapes do not sound like trained actors, but then neither will most Germans with whom one might speak. Everything you need to speak, read and write German is here...vocabulary, grammar, constructions, verb conjugation, etc. Moreover, if one applies oneself, one learns very quickly and with extraordinarily good retention. A truly magnificent accomplishment.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Audio Lingual Method Needs Revision, June 27, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Mastering German-With Book (Foreign Service Institute Language Series) (Audio Cassette)
The course "Mastering German Level I" (based on the Foreign Service Institute programs of the 1950s) represents a student's personal drill sergeant in a linguistic book camp. It's tough! It's painful! But it's character-building! If you're looking for a German equivalent of Pierre Capretz' outstanding "French in Action," this is not the course for you. But "Mastering German Level I" can improve a learner's facility with the German language. The concept of long and complicated drills and incessant repetition used throughout this ear-and-tongue method has value for making the language automatic for the non-native speaker. But for rank beginner, this audio lingual method of learning foreign languages--so much in vogue in the 1960s--can be daunting. The quality of the tapes, unfortunately, can disappoint and mislead the real beginner--as well as the more advanced student--who needs great guidance in pronunciation and inflection. In fact, the poor quality of the audio portion--the very framework for this course--nearly topples the structure that this course is attempting to build. "Mastering German Level I" desperately needs revision, better quality tapes, and some good proofreading to correct typographical errors in the German and the English. I would not recommend this course for the beginning student.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't believe the hype, June 13, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Mastering German-With Book (Foreign Service Institute Language Series) (Audio Cassette)
The reason this course is so good is that no-one these days has the time and energy to develop a course of this calibre. This was written at the start of the Cold War, when the Diplomatic Service put serious resources into developing a language course that would allow diplomats to walk into Germany and start communicating. The volcabulary isn't too large, but it is designed to get you speaking. The quibbles about the packaging are justified but minor - they obviously just used the course notes and there are lots of spelling mistakes. Also it's clearly aimed at diplomats - I doubt I'll be using "Einfuhrbestimmungen" (import regulations) anytime soon. Also I don't understand why people have difficulty with the speakers - they're actually German and talk like the natives will when you get there. Isn't it better to become used to how a German will talk to you now rather than later? The tapes are a bit hissey but not too serious. It just takes getting used to. I think the main problem people have with this course is that it tells it how it is. Most modern courses sell the idea that you can learn a language in a very short time and it just isn't true, and people lose confidence when it doesn't happen. To learn a new language from scratch (in a country that doesn't speak that language) to the point where you can have a basic conversation takes at least a year for most people. I've watched beginners on language courses, and it takes them a couple of weeks just to feel comfortable introducing themselves. The Barrons course is not designed with the hype in mind. It was developed for a purpose and that is to get you speaking. That said I almost died of boredom doing this course so I suggest using it as an addition to teaching. You'll be surprised at how fast you improve.
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