ISBN0618338292

This book doesn't make sense. It gives you german phrases before showing how to say them. even at that, it doesn't tell you what each phrase translates to in the dialogs. There is no context for, oh, beginners. Seriously, an introductory book for beginners that doesn't put things in a logical order is just a sign of stupidity. I took latin for years and the Wheelock's Latin book made more sense than this. An intro should not presume prior involvement with the language like this book does. Do not buy this unless you really have to.

This is a college level textbook. I did not find it condusive to individual learning but can see where it could be a decent book with a teachers guidance.

When I began using this textbook as part of an elementary German college course, I had absoluely no prior experience in German grammar or communication (I couldn't even say eins, zwei, drei :) ). I find that the book is, for the most part, very straightfoward in explaining grammatical concepts and is consistent in the way it progresses from chapter to chapter (with example dialogues vocabulary, explanations of grammar and grammar pratice exercises). The book also includes colloquial expressions in vocabulary lists, which can help non-native speakers sound more natural, and each chapter includes some cultural tidbits about Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

I've had no problem using this book daily or understanding the concepts. It also corresponds pretty well to the Deutsch Heute workbook, for extra pratice. The book should, of course, be used with supplementary classroom instruction and not as a self-study material, because some things simply need extra explanation (for example, the different kinds of cases, adjective endings, prepositions, etc.).

Some criticisms that I have is that the book is sometimes inconsistent: i.e. in one chapter a certain preposition is used in an expression, and in another chapter the preposition is different even though the expression is supposed to be the same. There are also some spelling errors, but neither they nor the slight inconsistencies get in the way of learning German, in my opinion. I also wish that it would provide more real-life situations to which certain grammatical rules should be applied, and it would be useful if it contained a back-of-the-book answer section for pratice exercises when studying at home.

Overall, I think most beginner students will find this book easy to use and understand. Viel Glück!(Good luck!)