German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German | 
 enlarge | Author: April Wilson
Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $44.95
Buy New: $37.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 120150
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 430
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0820467596
Dewey Decimal Number: 438.2421
EAN: 9780820467597
ASIN: 0820467596
Publication Date: March 2004
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Product Description
German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German is a thorough, straightforward textbook with a sense of fun. It teaches the fundamentals for reading German literary and scholarly texts of all levels of difficulty. It can be used as an introductory text for scholars with no background in German, or it can serve as a reference text for students wishing to review German. The grammar explanations are detailed and clear, addressing common problems students encounter while learning to read German. This book includes thought-provoking and entertaining reading selections consisting mainly of aphorisms and proverbs. There are also twelve appendices, including a summary of German grammar, descriptions of German dictionaries, a partial answer key, strategies for learning German, and a humanities vocabulary section of about 3,800 words.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 Okay, but not so great April 16, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
The concept of this text is sound, but there are a lot of errors and misspellings that an advanced speaker of German would/should not have let get by in the editing process. This, for me calls the scholarship of the entire work into question.
 Very helpful for learning to read on your own July 9, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I got this book because I wanted to read German, not speak it. It provides very, very clear explanations and emphasizes some realities of learning German that I, as a self-teacher, was trying to evade. For example: you're not going to be able to understand German without understanding noun cases.
There is an extremely helpful chapter on using German dictionaries that would have saved me many headaches if I had had it earlier. The chapters are short enough to comprehend, logically organized, and illustrated with amusing and interesting brief readings, starting in the very first chapter with one-sentence quotes and proverbs. I am not really reading German yet but I am much closer to that goal now that I am using this book rather than one of the many, many books that focus on speaking German.
Other reviewers have expressed disappointment at the lack of attention to German pronunciation. I have a shelf full of books and tapes and CD's to help me with that, but none of them taught me how to use a dictionary. I am not at all disappointed that a book on reading German doesn't spend time on pronouncing German.
The only reason I don't offer it a full five stars are the many typos, but it is mentioned elsewhere that the author will email you a list of corrections. I haven't asked yet but probably will. The price of the book is also a bit steep - I bought a copy a year ago for a whole let less. But this is probably the book to go with if you're trying to learn how to read rather than speak.
Decent, but not five stars... May 25, 2007
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
I am a PhD student at Harvard who recently used this book to study German for a language exam (for scientific reading knowledge).
I would recommend the book for independent study for the following reasons:
1. Each lesson is short and self-contained.
2. There is an answer key in the back (essential if you're studying alone).
3. The practice readings are interesting (drawn from German proverbs, philosophers, theologians, etc.).
But there are two major problems as well:
1. You will get no sense of the pronunciation of the language, which is essential for a real understanding (as opposed to a superficial reading knowledge, i.e. my understanding!) of any language.
2. The book has literally dozens of annoying and distracting typos. Example: One of the most difficult chapters (27), The Overloaded Adj. Construction, has numerous typos which certainly do not help you along the path of understanding. And for those of you who love the answer key in the back, it too contains several critical typos. So beware. But this is the publisher's/editor's fault, not the author's.
So, if you're just trying to learn a bit about another language for reading knowledge, etc., this is a good book. Viel gluck!
P.S. I did in fact pass the reading test, mostly due to the solid presentation in this book! (And also by being subsequently heckled through a semester-long reading course...).
P.S.S. And a note on the typos: The author offers a list of corrections to anyone (apparently) that will email her, which is very generous (see 'comments').
 Does the job with captivating interest March 10, 2007
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
German is my sixth formally-learned language. I've used eight introductory grammars extensively.
For me, there might be too much explanation and examples, but these can be skipped over easily enough. Other students not as acquainted with language acquisition might really appreciate such commodities!
There is hardly a dull moment in any of the first 100 pages I've worked through so far. That is to say, while learning German might not be fun (!), Wilson makes the task not seem tedious.
As others have mentioned, the majority of Wilson's exercise sentences are proverbial: "Sleeping after lunch is as healthy as a rotten fish;" "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of the Truth than lies" (Nietzsche); "Other people's cows have bigger udders...."
What a refreshing change from typical translation exercises! I e-mail my wife one or two such proverbs a day.
I do a chapter every day or two, without too much pain.
Wilson is a gentle taskmaster. She attaches vocabulary reminders with the exercise sentences.
Wilson is most supremely interested in gettting her reader-client to read German. Thus, she provides sample readings of short essays which simulate the real reading world of students acquiring German for advanced humanities studies. These are designed to challenge, but again she provides sympathetic assistance to help the reader get trhough such essays.
Wilson's sympathies toward her reader-client is also reflected by her vocabulary lists. They are quite extensive. However, important words recur in these lists from chapter to chapter, giving plenty of exposure to them before finally being marked as the final chapter in which they will be listed.
Such sympathy may also be reflected in Wilson's decision not to give extended definitions in the chapter vocabularies. Instead of giving two or three different possible meanings of a word, she usually gives but one, and then introduces an alternative meaning in another chapter. For me and my brain, I'd rather have all two or three meanings altogether at once. Wilson's approach leaves me with wondering if I had learned the word wrong to begin with. Wilson's approach, however, might be well appreciated by other users.
Included is an extremely helpful three page chart designed to help English readers recognize related words in German. Thus, when the reader discovers that the German ff parallels the English p, the reader might more readily guess that the German word Affe is the English word ape. Or, since the German letter z parallels the English letter t, one might guess that the German word Zunge is the English word tongue.
Answers to about half of the exercises are provided in the back of the book. A quite thorough glossary of basic and humanities-specific words is also provided, including a list of proper names (e.g., Armelkanal--English Channel; Bundestag--German Republic; Island--Iceland).
There is an array of materials available on the web for the book. I would be happy for a specific vocabulary flash card program designed for each chapter. Maybe there is....
Wilson seems very personable. She provides her email address, and has corresponded with me a couple of times. She provided me with the answers to the exercise not included in the book.
If you're looking to learn how to read German academically, I doubt you need to look further.
One of the best I've read March 8, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have looked at many books in my quest to learn how to read German. Most don't serve that purpose well. Wilson's book stands above the rest. It is clearly written, and has a way of getting me up to a moderate speed quickly. Her long experience in teaching German clearly shows through.
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