German for Reading Knowledge (World Languages) 7th Edition

Currently using the book for a German reading course. It is easy to navigate with important vocabulary and translation exercises. Highly recommend it for those who want or need to learn German for reading purposes only.

Then material was tremendously helpful in my class. The book is organized abit queer (introducing things too early or too late)All in all it was a major asset to my success In classHowever, the book was not in the best of shape when it arrived

My son loved it! He is in grad school and wanted to learn German in addition to the other languages he has learned. This book was recommended by a professor friend if his. Thanks!

It's a shame graduate classes most often use this text.Positives: a great deal of vocabulary (when adding the exercise/reading glosses), grammar, syntax, and readings in a condensed book. This should allow graduate students to build a foundation for reading academic German.Negatives: There is too much vocabulary in the readings and examples that is not included in the standard vocabulary lists. This makes readings extremely difficult to follow for each chapter. Additional vocab should probably be limited to the readings at the end of the chapters. Additionally, many points of grammar are not explained adequately. Case endings for adjectives, for example, were presented haphazardly rather than in a simple chart. In many instances, I find myself going to the Sandberg volume to clarify German grammar. The book would benefit by being larger and going slower and more thoroughly. Unfortunately, most graduate level German for reading classes use this book, so if you take the course, you're stuck with it. Finally, the book is obscenely expensive for what it offers. Greed plain and simple.

Great

German for Reading Knowledge is geared for that: learning to read German. This book is not focused on conversational German, but rather for those (generally graduate students preparing for language exams) who only need to acquire the ability to read German. From my own experience, we are currently using this book within a classroom setting, but many will need a resource to study the language independently.This book is arranged into twenty-five chapters (Kapitel) and consists of 318 pages. Each chapter contains the grammatical lesson, vocabulary, practice sentences (the answers are available on the website), and a paragraph or more of German text for translation. The lessons begin with the nominative case and sein ("to be") conjugations for present and passive, then the subsequent chapters build upon the grammar. The readings, from chapter 1, are complex and challenge the student. These readings start the student with reading German, which is the end goal. The Appendices include some review on the case system, verbs (though a review of conjugations would have been nice here), advice on purchasing a dictionary, German scripts, and vocabulary.There are several concerns with this text, though. Firstly, while there is a vocabulary list in each chapter, it does not include all of the vocabulary presented in the chapter. There is a considerable amount of vocabulary throughout the chapter that is not included in the list, and it would have been nice if the chapter list included all of the presented vocabulary. Additionally, even starting in the first chapter, the sentences and readings contain vocabulary which is neither in the vocabulary list nor in the vocabulary in the back of the book (e.g. `zu' is used, with two different meanings, in the first reading), requiring a dictionary from the start. Secondly, the sentences and readings include grammatical information that is not presented until later lessons. One cannot be expected to translate a sentence when the necessary grammar is not taught until a later lesson. Thirdly, the book has errors. In my case, there is a professor to correct the errors (ranging from incorrect information to including references to sentences included in earlier editions but absent from the seventh).Fourthly, and this is by far the greatest concern: This book is incredibly overpriced. Right now, it is selling for $115 on Amazon. This is a small paperback book and I can find *no* justification for the exorbitant price, especially considering the problems with the book. I have bought expensive academic books and monographs in the past, but those were typically hardcover books and of incredible quality. Even for an academic textbook, this book is not worth the price. If it was offered for under $40, and was used in a classroom setting with an instructor to help make up for the problems/deficiencies of the text, I would recommend it (with prejudice). At this price, however, and with the concerns mentioned above, I cannot recommend this book.

I purchased this on Kindle so that I would be able to use a dictionary. However you cannot use purchased dictionaries (nor set them as the default dictionary) with the Kindle app, only Kindle devices. And just discovered that this book is not compatible with my Kindle 2 device. So now I have a German-English dictionary that can never be used with my German book and vice versa. And a book that is Kindle edition that doesn't work on Kindle!!! I feel ripped off but I have my language exam coming up so there is not much I can do about it. If you are a graduate student you probably need this book but don't expect it to work with your Kindle.

I just discovered this book and I feel compelled to review it because of it's enticing content.Let me first say that I dont think this book suits the needs of an absolute beginner. This book is a wonderful resource for anyone who has a certain (informal) knowledge of the languague and is ready to learn German in a more structured manner, on their own.The book is very well organized and I find the provided rules clear and well examplified. But all this might be true of other german grammar books. What makes this one special is that, for once, I don't have to spend my time reading about Robert's groceries or any of the details of Robert's mind-blowingly boring life for that matter. No, here the examples are taken from Goethe, and German history/ society texts. I learn grammar while reading about Bach and Helmut Kohl. And that's what makes this book special.Now, other german textbook writers: I beg you, follow.