Each one is a standard exercise book for intermediate and advanced German grammar, similar to “German Second and Third Years.” The yellow books are also similar to “Mittelpunkt” in that they are from a German publisher, Hueber Verlag, for the German market – meaning that readers should be comfortable with a full-immersion text. This is a book for 1st year German. When you search online for free German learning books, there are quite a lot of 19th century books from the public domain. It gives an overview in the form of many lists each listing content by chapter resulting in very long lists. Explanations on Grimm Grammar are fun to read and a nice change of pace compared to traditional textbook explanations. If you’re looking for a textbook to help you prepare for a major German certification exam such as the Goethe-Institut tests, look no further. read more. Additionally, because Grimm Grammar relies on German fairytales I find that this can lead to gender roles being presented in a problematic way, thus taking away from inclusiveness and fairness. The grammar drills use fairy tale characters and mix up details from individual fairy tales, which adds another level of complication. This is quite unusual. I think that a few design tweaks could help a lot. There is considerable information about Germany and Switzerland, less on Austria. Explanations are kept short and concise. Perhaps, the number of symbols used in the textbook (currently 16) can be reduced to max. The text includes material not only from Germany but also includes Austria and Switzerland, to a lesser degree. With the exception of a few songs, there are no literary texts that students are introduced to. The content is objective and unbiased, a very nice aspect to the text. Kudos to UT-Austin! Clear steps have been taken to update the interface in light of new technological developments. Discount Secondary School Textbooks books and flat rate shipping of $7.95 per online book order. The textbook and the accompanying website are well organized and presented in a logical and clear fashion. read more. Lastly, think of your age. For the most part, the content of this book is timeless in its relevance. It would be helpful if the authors included a note to explain this variation early on and also mentioned that with the spelling reform of 1996, many words that were formally spelled with an Eszett are now spelled with double “s.” This obviously does not pose a problem as long as there is an instructor to explain this but as more and more colleges and universities move to online language instructions, clarity is essential. read more. This is a promising textbook which presents an impressive array of carefully didacticized cultural material. The text is consistent in the terminology used. 5 B The Second Level of Knowledge of German -- A2 „Waystage” 1. I realize how difficult this is, and this review is not meant as criticism but rather as (hopefully useful) suggestions. One suggestion that I have, for future updates or revisions, would be to include more written texts for work on reading comprehension and also written texts about cultural aspects of German speaking countries (like for example, holidays, geography, traditions etc...), as well as some resources for instructors (testing program for example). As stated in the previous response, however, the primary textbook materials themselves can occasionally feel less than authentic. For instance, I found the explanation on word order in declarative sentences especially superficial. I did not notice major inaccuracies in the book's content or presentation and find it overall to be a functional tool for language learning and instruction. The text’s cultural components are very well-integrated and appropriate. In centering content around the goal of studying abroad,... The layout is pretty clear and consisted and should pose no problems for students and instructors. They’re written by the pros: highly educated native speakers and experienced teachers. The grammar section in particular can be easily assigned and reviewed or used as a reference at different points during the course. DiB covers all important first-year topics typically found in a traditional textbook, with a special focus on preparing students for studying abroad. The terminology is consistent, so are the symbols used to orient the user about the category of an exercise. At this point, however, some of the content is almost ten years old and eventually the writers/editors will have to update it, especially where the various video clips are concerned. The book is clearly divided into an introduction and 10 chapters, each of them more than sufficiently long (around 40-50 pages) the organization is fine and consistent; different types of exercises are easily identifiable. The book's accuracy is definitely up-to-date. It is fairly easy for the teacher/student to move between the different chapters and the various links, content headings, and index are helpful in navigating the overall content, which goes to almost 500 pages. Deutsch Aktuell. It would be great if German immigrants and refugees were also included though. The amount of material in “Deutsch im Blick” does require instructors to pick and choose what can feasibly be covered and thus put extra effort into (re-)organizing chapter content for their classes. This makes it easily accessible to students of German as a second language. There is clearly a focus on higher ed in the topics, which should appeal to college... The sequence of grammar and organization of the text is clear and logical. The site index comes the closest, yet does not provide a single-page overview of what grammar is covered in each chapter. The attempt to include texts from all German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg) and interviews with speakers of Swiss German sometimes make certain parts inaccessible for speakers of standard German. Again, the text is entirely in German, but isn’t fluency your goal anyway? I sometimes used the PDF of the textbook on the computer screen and in general that is not a pleasurable experience, especially if I'm trying to move from on part of the text to another. I would suggest reworking the long-ish vocabulary lists at the beginning of the chapter, maybe differentiate them into a "Grundwortschatz" and "Aufbauvokabeln" and introduce them in context. Additionally the text provides the teacher and student with a thorough overview and description of the book’s layout, describing and guiding the reader through the various facets the text offers, whether the Grimm’s Grammar, reading exercises, or online tasks and the like. That is less the case in terms of culture. We've completed 3 years! You had extra worksheets and readings (often pulled from other books), videos, audio recordings, or maybe even some online resources. Find nearly any book by books written in German. It’s the web-based first-year German program developed and in use at the university. The links to online resources from the textbook are not consistent, nor clearly indicated what are linked resources and which are not. I would recommend updating those. Students need to review all of these fairy tales in order to follow to complete the grammar drills correctly. Reviewed by Henning Wrage, Assistant Professor, Gettysburg College on 2/19/19, As often mentioned in the reviews, there is abundant material for a course on the elementary level, both with regards to vocabulary and to the number of exercises offered in the up to 50 pages of each chapter. The text also strives to reach students of diverse learning styles by incorporating a wide array of multimedia materials, including proprietary video recordings, internet and other cultural resources. This is particularly apparent to me in the sections about university life, food, family and travel, and politics. Some are from the US, some are German exchange students in the US. 263 The use of 'n' with articles are not exceptions; instead, place names with articles follow different rules The online resources as presented on the web interface are reasonably easy to navigate, though the ease of use and overall functionality of the website could stand to be enhanced considerably. I discovered no mistakes outside of the stray stray typo or oversight. I found the textbook and website to be very consistent. All the material is divided in sections of roughly equal length. As often mentioned in the reviews, there is abundant material for a course on the elementary level, both with regards to vocabulary and to the number of exercises offered in the up to 50 pages of each chapter. Even if you’re already touring through Germany with a “learn by osmosis” attitude towards the language, you’ll benefit from the guidance of an expert-designed curriculum. However, since it is web-based, it would be fairly easy to update the book’s content and incorporate recent events/developments. Every chapter has a comprehensive intro where all vocab and grammar topics are introduced and the electronic... Deutsch im Blick covers the main points of German language, grammar and culture comprehensively. An example would be the article about the “Eiscafé” in chapter 3. In principle, the book collects a great number of relevant materials and activities. You may also want to consider checking out VitalSource, a site where you can rent or buy e-books. It takes a little bit of searching/ clicking around until one finds the grammatical content area. Switzerland and Austria are mentioned but not discussed in much detail. This way, you have a truly personalized learning experience. Chances are, your teachers never made you work from just one book all year long. Even I as a German teacher at MyGermanAcadamy always have the e-book by my side for when I have to find a quick explanation of … is admirable and unique. Overall, there is lots of very useful cultural information for everyday life in a German-speaking country. I really think the authentic documents are an awesome idea. I wish that the book included QR codes as well as URLs to audio files next to the exercises that accompany them, rather than including QR codes on a separate page later in the chapter. The QR codes are great, but I wish they were not at the end of the chapter but included whenever a link is mentioned or a video being referred to. Reviewed by Pia Kostner, Instructor of German, University of New Orleans on 2/8/17, The text includes a wealth of vocabulary, so much so that students might feel overwhelmed by it, especially since there are two vocabulary sections per chapter. The Second World War is a history of the period from the end of the First World War to July 1945, written by Winston Churchill. A great feature of this textbook is the QR codes section at the end of each chapter that allows for easy access to the entire textbook content from any portable device (with an internet connection). In reference to the previous question, as well, I do prefer when the emphasize tends to be on vocabulary through integration, rather than memorizing vocab. Some texts I’ve utilized in the past can focus too much on certain aspects. 282 nach Ihre speziellen Wünsche > nach Ihren speziellen Wünschen The cultural content and vocabulary selection is broad and varied (almost overwhelming, I would imagine, from the viewpoint of a first-semester student, a challenge presented by many books), as are the amount of practice exercises. This note provides an introduction to the mechanics of materials and structures. read more. Cassettes v. I.T. Given that there is no additional workbook, I would like to see more (grammar) exercises included in the text. The visual appeal of the text cannot compete with other, traditional print textbooks on the market. I wish that grammatical explanations and exercises were integrated into the main text rather than kept on, a separate web site. This is certainly creative and humorous, but presents practical obstacles due to a completely separate vocabulary. The "Grimms Grammar" website cleverly uses German fairy tales to contextualize the grammar. Everything except for, possibly the videos, will have longevity. The modularity presents the opportunity for the content to be used in other contexts. ;-) I only found it a little confusing where to find things on the intro page. Reviewed by Janet Gesme, Instructor, Central Oregon Community College on 8/15/17, Considering that it is designed for the first year of study, this book is more than comprehensive. I did not see any errors. Reviewed by Anke Kenney, Instructor, Rhode Island College, Providence College on 2/1/18, The book is very comprehensive. The text is clear and new concepts are adequately introduced and covered. I could not find any grammatical errors or inconsistencies. Austria and Switzerland appear to... I enjoyed reading through this text and getting a glimpse at the variety of authentic practice and aspects of the German language and culture. The "Grimms Grammar" explanations tend to be very thorough and detailed. The brief grammar notes in the margin are helpful and do refer to the additional resource of Grimm Grammar, but grammar exercises that are thematically linked to and located in the current chapter would be helpful. Once the learner (or instructor) gets used to the layout and interconnectivity of the book and its various links, it becomes easy to follow. I was a little surprised by the sequencing of the grammatical structures. For every lesson, a list of vocabulary is provided for easy reference and bolstered with plenty of examples of how each word is used in a sentence. I do not find these major issues. Due to the stand-alone nature of the grammar companion, the examples provided there are not integrated (in terms of topic, characters etc.) I've only noticed some minor errors. Overall, I didn't find the text culturally insensitive or offensive in any way, but it could have been more inclusive. The book seems to be aware of its obligation to represent German speakers are diverse and to recognize the diversity of German learners. There is no interface issue and navigation is easy. 3) Some chapters are very heavy on grammar (for example Chapter 5), some have a minimal amount of grammar exercises (Chapter 3). The chapters all follow the same flow and orientation is quick and easy. The result occasionally seems anecdotal, somewhat esoteric, and raises questions about the accuracy and current relevance of cultural information. Writing 2 Contents 2.1. In terms of grammar, the curriculum's sequencing does containing some eye-brow-raising choices not normally encountered in German textbooks. All parts of language acquisition are covered (reading, listening, writing, speaking). I spotted a small inaccuracy in chapter 5 E. (postcard). Reviewed by Andrea Meyertholen, Ph.D., Language Coordinator, University of Kansas on 8/21/16, This textbook describes itself as a “language program for beginning and early intermediate students of German.” With the wealth of materials contained within its 10 chapters, the curriculum could certainly be used over the course of 2 or 3... Download Kurspaket PDFs for free from Site Index or chapter pages (e.g. The videos open in a new window that also displays the video script or the English translation, if desired. The style of the textbook was quite clear. For example, I find that most German textbooks have a very outdated vision of what life is really like in Germany today. The book would furthermore be more user-friendly if it incorporated an interactive platform rather than pdf format. Are you a beginner (A1-A2), intermediate (B1-B2) or more advanced (C1-C2)? Solve System Of Equations From Context Delta Math Answers Solve Your Math Problems Using Our Free Math Solver With Step-by-step Solutions. I do find some of the grammar sequencing and omissions surprising, but I also do not know how UT's German Department structures their course designed to follow "Deutsch im Blick," so perhaps it makes more sense in the organization of their overall program. The book covers the areas needed in an introduction to the German language. The book seems relatively current in its presentation of images and media (at least in relation to other textbooks in print format). Topics are presented in a clear and concise manner. The text is comprehensive in terms of basic vocabulary and grammar. Are you studying German for a specific purpose, perhaps for university studies or travel? Reading books in a foreign language is a natural and fun way of improving vocabulary and phraseology but also learning about the history and culture of the nation whose language you are trying to learn. Each chapter follows a similar structure, and the layout of each chapter's website likewise follows the same format.