German Demystified

by Ed Swick

Book Overview

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071475613
• ISBN13: 9780071475617
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 479 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Learning German

Upset that book didn't actually come with disc like promised in discrimination. Be careful when purchasing. Im assuming New is the only guarantee to get disc

Excellent for beginners, but lacks the audio CD for Practice.

I purchased this book while studying German on a website. It is very helpful, because it walks the reader from writing basic sentences to writing more advanced sentences. The book has a section for verbal practice, but does not offer an audio CD to guide the reader through this process. The lack of an audio CD is the only criticism that I have for this book. I have written and chatted with several German people since buying this book. They are quite amazed with the results of my writing skills. I accredit this improvement solely to this book, because I have not used any other writing guides for the German language. In my opinion, if you want to learn the basic German sentence structure, then I recommend that you purchase this book.

great intro

i'm a beginner, learning German through my 2nd language (English). I bought about dozen books and found this one's the best. Very clear explanation of how/why, through example and tests. Very recommended even though seems like only few people reviewed. It takes both approach - immersion and old-school structured step-by-step progress. Since I found immersion only way gives me weak foundation to build on, this book excel in that way.

Ausgezeichnet !

I teach German at the university level, and this is an excellent book. I really have learned some things. Each teacher approaches grammar slightly differently, I think, and Swick has managed to pack lots of very useful information into his book. I think that this book is an excellent review for someone who has intermediate or even advanced knowledge of German.

Outstanding Review of German!

I agree whole-heartedly with Herr Hartmann. This course is comprehensive overview of German grammar, which has been constructed very carefully. Starting with a nicely described pronunciation section, the material builds upon itself from chapter to chapter. The book moves at lively but easy pace. I think that the real genius of the method lies in the oral practice sentence lists which not only review and utilize the vocabulary but also drill the grammar points [without being overly tedious or boring]. The written exercises let one ponder the rules and understand German constructs. Start at the beginning and work your way through the whole book. The results will be well worth the effort and amazing! I absolutely enjoyed the course. Ed Swick has done an outstanding job! I would like to request or suggest that recordings of the chapters [especially the oral practice sentences] by native German speakers be made available on-line or included in subsequent editions. You would have an awesome package!

A great self-teaching book!!

Good German language books that can be used to teach yourself German seem to be few and far between but this is the one you want. It starts out assuming you know no German at all and proceeds from there. The pace of the material is exactly right so that you feel like you have a handle on the current material before moving on to the next. Along the way you learn alot of vocabulary, grammar and, unlike many other German language books, you even learn tips on how the Germans speak their language and what their customs are so get a better fram of reference on what is being said and why. This book focuses very well on not only teaching you how to speak the German language but also how to read and write it as well. The book is divided into four parts (each with its own test at the end so you can measure your ability) and each part is divided into chapters (each with its own quiz). There are lots of both spoken and written exercises to help your learning along. The pronunciation section in the first chapter is the best I've seen in any German language text and will really help you pronounce the German vowels and consonants correctly. Another great aspect of this book is its dedication to teaching the complex grammar of the German language. Far too many books I have seen teach you how to order lunch or ask for directions to the bathroom but make no mention of why the words are changing form from haben to habst to gehat. Now you you'll know not just how to say something in German but why you are saying it that way. All the answers to the tests and the quizzes are in the back of the book in addition to an English-German and German-English dictionary. A great self teaching tool for a great price.