Customer Reviews

Una Visits a Abuelita with Cassette(s) / A Visit to Grandma (Berlitz Kids Love to Learn) (German Edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was so pleased to receive this book, along with "The Five Crayons" and "The Missing Cat" (all put out by the Berlitz language company)! I teach German in a German-only K-5 program. The language used in this book is wonderful and easy for young readers/listeners to understand. The book introduces essential vocabulary, including feelings, action words, some past tense, descriptive words, and some colors. These are all items I teach in Kindergarten, then reinforce in 1st grade. Which means these books are perfect for my students!! The tape offers native speakers, which is a plus, as well as 8 songs to go along with the chapters. This book is a wonderful addition to any collection of German books for young learners!

I bought all three books in the series: A Visit to Grandma, The Missing Cat, and Five Crayons, all in one order. I didn't use them for a couple of weeks, and kept them in their boxes. Finally getting around to the books, TWO of the three audio cassettes broke within the first week of use. It has been more than a month and a half, and I've been emailing and calling Berlitz (multiple numbers; I feel like i'm getting the run around) to see about replacements, but to no avail. After all the emails and calls, Berlitz says that the best the can do is sell me the items again for half price. All I desire are the tapes. I have the books, of course. It's disheartening that this large, multi-national corporation 1) does not stand by its products, and 2) can't afford to send a customer two tapes.

With that out of the way, I do think the series is pretty good, though I've (obviously) really turned sour on the company. I've read the other reviews of these prodcts, and by and large agree. The illustrations are nice, and the narrations on the audio are professional enough. Some issues I do have:

They advertise that the tapes are 60 minutes long. They are, but they're playing with the language. While the cassettes are actually 60 minutes long, there is about 20 minutes of silence on the second side. So if you buy all three, you're purchasing 60 minutes of quiet time.

Speaking of the second side, it is interesting because that is the side containing songs--songs go along with the story. Apparently all the songs are the same (i.e., same music, lyrics, etc. just translated into different language) regardless of the language you are learning (French, German, Italian, etc.). This makes for some contorted lyrics at times. The writers really had to make it stretch in some parts to get all the syllables in, or to spread them out. So for example, in the back of the book, where the lyrics to the songs are, they give you the German on the left, and the English on the right. The English goes along quite well the song (it must have been written or drafted in English). It has even numbers of syllables per line, rhymes when it should, etc. The German, on the other hand, is almost unwieldy. Don't get me wrong. If you listen to it enough, you will learn, but it's clear that the song was not written in German. If the lines rhyme in German, it's probably a random event.

Also, this is the first time I have ever seen a cassette no labeled with "SIDE A" or "SIDE B." In the great scheme of things, I guess this is no big deal, but it shows the attention to detail that was *not* paid to this project.

Given the paucity of German language materials on the market, purchasing these books, for children, unfortunately, is a must.

The tape is extremely well done; the book is colorful and the index offers good explanations for children with pictures presented with each word, which is good for young non-readers. Following along with the tape is easy since Chris Demarest's illustrations keeps children interested in listening along. There are several chapters with different related topics which offers variety for older readers.

This is definitely more self-study educational material in German than an enjoyable tale for bedtime reading. While that doesn't detract from its value, it wasn't what I was looking for in a book. I imagine this is a very helpful book for children who would like to learn German but who have parents who don't speak it.

The three Berlitz books/tapes in this Adventures with Nicholas series have been a great introduction to German for my 5 year-old. This is the most difficult of the three; use it third. The Missing Cat is probably the best to use first, and then The Five Crayons.

Greeat book with cassette tape to read and sing a long to. German is easy and fun with this sing a long and story.