Our faith, clearly explained, simple and unpretentious, as a father would explain it to his children. I remain especially moved by Luther's analyses oOur faith, clearly explained, simple and unpretentious, as a father would explain it to his children. I remain especially moved by Luther's analyses of the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. I am not wholly comfortable giving this book a rating, but I will say 5 stars, partly for its clarity in presenting theological ideas, and partly for how useful it has proved over the last several centuries. Dr. Martin Luther famously said, "You can burn all of my books except for two." This is one of the ones he would save....more
This short book was not at all what I expected. I thought I’d be reading a book that taught German, either with grammar rules, vocabulary, or helpful This short book was not at all what I expected. I thought I’d be reading a book that taught German, either with grammar rules, vocabulary, or helpful hints for English-speakers. Instead, this book is more of a guide to how to study German. For example, it gives advice on how to connect online with native speakers. This book includes some history and culture information about Germany, but there is no (or very little) specific language information to be had. It’s a little bit more “big-picture” than that. It’s simple and clear, and it’s well-researched. The tone is upbeat, and this author really has the knack for making something as difficult as learning German seem possible, even fun. On the whole, an excellent guide, and a good supplement to one’s foreign-language learning....more
I read the first story in German and found a couple of the German spellings (word forms?) to be different from what I expected. I figured thDNF at 20%
I read the first story in German and found a couple of the German spellings (word forms?) to be different from what I expected. I figured that either I had been spelling the words wrong previously, or else they had different forms in these contexts (case changes or something). But then, a section in English had a few orthographic anomalies, too, and even grammatical concerns. I don’t typically like to judge books too harshly for typos, since that’s less an authorial issue and more an editing concern, BUT typically, typos do not interfere with a reader’s understanding. Here, though—as with any language book—it is key. How am I to trust the German sections if I can’t even trust the English? How can I learn the language if it may be presented incorrectly? And how can I be sure what is intentional and what is a mistake? I went ahead and read the second story as well, two out of the ten included in this collection, but I don’t trust the quality of writing enough to continue. I don’t want to learn bad German, and if the English portions are any indication, the book’s language benefits are decidedly suspect. Too bad, too, because the book’s format is excellent. I liked the side-by-side English/German text, and I was especially glad that the comprehension quizzes also included the answers, something that is missing from many other foreign-language books.
Slightly less important than the language elements is the entertainment value of the stories, which were also not my cup of tea. The first story had characters who, while likeable enough, were difficult to root for. One in particular couldn’t let go of an old grudge, and the ending, while I think it’s meant to be funny, just made me feel empty and sad. The second story is about a religious family in which the parents worry when their children actually want to go to church. The parents solve the problem by proving that ALL religion is a brain disease. Honestly, I don’t know which group of people should be more insulted: religious people for being portrayed as mentally diseased, or NONreligious people who come off as intolerant, judgemental hypocrites. I think it’s supposed to be funny, but I just don’t get it. Not the book for me, and not even something I could recommend to another....more
I love languages, and I had recently begun trying to learn German when I stumbled upon this little gem. It’s funny, and it highlights, from the point I love languages, and I had recently begun trying to learn German when I stumbled upon this little gem. It’s funny, and it highlights, from the point of view of a frustrated student, some of the more bewildering aspects of the German language. I think most English-speakers attempting to learn German could relate to this. I believe German is a beautiful language, but even so, I agree that its complicated rules can seem strange to outsiders—even more so than other foreign languages in the Indo-European family. I studied French before I ever studied German, and French has gendered nouns, and different forms for the word “the,” and different forms of the word “you,” and a bunch of different cases. So does German. Yet somehow, they seem more logical in French than they do in German. For example, in French, “le” (“the”) is always masculine, and “la” feminine. Easy! The most confusing thing that happens is that both become “les” when they’re plural. But German is stranger. German has three genders, not two, and the word “the” changes not only for gender and number, but also for case. So “der” is masculine nominative, but something “der” can also be feminine if it is an object. “Die” is feminine singular, but it can also be plural—any plural. And don’t get me started on pronouns. In German, “Sie/sie” can mean “she” or “you” or “they.” And this tendency to reuse words can be quite challenging to someone unfamiliar with the language. Enter Mark Twain’s narrator, who describes the German language’s idiosyncrasies in an over-the-top style that, oddly enough, seems reminiscent of Saxony’s tradition of over-the-top humor. The narrator here imagines the German language as being the result of a single “inventor” who was deliberately trying to confuse people. Bizarre premise, I suppose, but it works. I also give credit to Twain for taking the time to mention some aspects in which German is better (easier? clearer?) than English. That was a welcome shift in perspective. My biggest criticism lies not with the book itself, but with the specific audio edition that I heard. The narrator, Rainer, was difficult to understand. I had the distinct impression that he was talking strangely in order to be silly, but I think the text is funny enough to stand on its own. I just kept thinking of Dr. Seuss’ book The Lorax, in which the Once-ler sounds “as if he had smallish bees up his nose.” That’s exactly how I’d describe it. All in all, an interesting read. It pokes fun at the German language without ever disparaging its people, and its teasing tone is both lighthearted and, at times, self-deprecating. You can agree or disagree with his comments, but it seems clear that this is meant all in good fun....more
Charming, whimsical artwork, variety of languages and phrases, maps showing relationship between the different countries’ languages.
The bad:
FThe good:
Charming, whimsical artwork, variety of languages and phrases, maps showing relationship between the different countries’ languages.
The bad:
First of all, so many languages didn't make the cut. So many common languages. This book is advertised as featuring both common and lesser-known languages, and for highlighting more than just a country's official language when there are pocket communities who use another. So, for example, how is it Canada's and the USA's substantial population of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers don't seem to exist here? It's such a distinct dialect of Deutsch (Deitsch!), and it covers such a broad geographic range, and it isn't even mentioned. Also, too much information that did make the cut has been relegated to the app. No pronunciation is given (not even IPA, which is both succinct and precise), nor any explanation on the languages and their difference. I have listened, for example, to the news from Paris and from Quebec, and even though they’re both recorded in French, they have a distinctly different sound. The Democratic Republic of the Congo uses yet a different style of pronunciation. In addition, even the similarities are hard to spot. Languages that are related often have words that are cognate, but here, the related languages are often separated by others in between, making it hard to see their linguistic connection. There’s enough here to inspire kids, I guess, but I think the most I got out of it was being able to look at a map and see (some of the places) where these different languages are spoken. I don’t know how useful or practical any of it is.
The ugly:
I had such a wretched time with the app. I thought, when I got the book, that the book would be a complete thing unto itself. But that’s not the case here; this book is meant to be read alongside an app that will talk in all the languages. That sounded nice at first, since I’d much rather hear something than read a person try to describe how something should sound. However, it was a little alarming to me how absolutely central the app was to understanding the book. (I mean, doesn’t the book mean anything?) Anyway, I installed the app, and it doesn’t work. I can select a country or a language, and I can see the picture of a smiling child, but the app freezes up and won’t speak. I tried restarting, uninstalling, reinstalling—nothing. I told some relatives, and we tried it on three different devices, and it didn’t work anywhere. Worse, I couldn’t even delete it successfully; now, it randomly keeps trying to re-install itself, and it makes the whole device crash. I can’t make it go away. So, to sum up, the book is kind of worthless without the app, and the app is kind of worthless anyway. Cute pictures, and a nice idea, but far too inaccessible to be worthwhile....more
I was a little disappointed in the story. I didn’t connect to the characters, and I found the plot just a bit lacking. On the othGreatly enjoyed this!
I was a little disappointed in the story. I didn’t connect to the characters, and I found the plot just a bit lacking. On the other hand, this is a pretty straightforward fairy tale, and that’s probably just the nature of the genre. My German skills are not terribly strong, either, so I’m sure I missed some of the subtler points as I was reading. I did appreciate the humor, and in one place, I even laughed out loud. So content-wise, just as interesting as some of the selections in the other Hagboldt graded reader, and amusing overall.
Language-wise, this was an excellent reader for someone trying to learn German. It started with simple vocabulary and built from there, and the glossary at the end was quite useful. The other German reader starts with tiny unrelated vignettes, so I was a bit surprised here to see that the first booklet was all the same story. It challenged me a bit more because if there was something I didn’t understand, that could affect my understanding of the rest of the story as well. I enjoyed the journey, and I also appreciated the care it must have taken to craft such a long tale in such simple words. The writers of this book care—about the story, the folklore around it, the German language, and especially their readers—and that, more than anything, makes for a charming reading experience....more
2.5 stars, rounded up. A nice idea, but the execution was disappointing. I like the idea of learning a language through song: lyrics are easy to pick 2.5 stars, rounded up. A nice idea, but the execution was disappointing. I like the idea of learning a language through song: lyrics are easy to pick up, and complicated ideas like syntax and grammar are made all the more natural through this type of learning. However, this book doesn’t really do that. It doesn’t have traditional German songs, for one thing; it has traditional English songs that have been translated into German. It also doesn’t give the English meaning for the German words; it simply gives the original English words. As you can probably imagine, since the songs all have the same rhyme and meter patterns as their English counterparts, the translation isn’t exact, and without knowing what any of these words actually means, it’s going to be impossible for children coming to German for the first time to understand much at all of this. It’s going to be more like singing nonsense syllables than singing something with meaning. It’s also a waste of a rich musical heritage, as there are a great many traditional German-language songs for children that might have been fun. Perhaps my biggest disappointment was that the book’s back cover specifically mentions “The More We Get Together”, which is, of course, the anglophone’s counterpart to the traditional song “Ach du lieber Augustin.” I don’t know all of the words in German—only a little bit. My mother used to sing it to me when I was a kid in a mix of German and English, “Ach du lieber Augustin, everything’s gone.” I have, of course, looked up the German lyrics as a grownup, but I was looking forward to a book + CD combo. Instead, I got the completely unrelated English version, translated into the language of the original song, but with none of the same content.
Still, there is some good here. I like the coloring book pages, which will give the kids something to do while they listen to the German language, and which will also let them spend time looking at a page with German words. I liked that the songs aren’t the whole story; there are simple sentences in German, too, which provide a great opportunity for learning words, phrases, and basic grammar. Certainly not bad, but it could have been so much more....more
This was interesting. As far as I know, this is the only book in my local public library system to have full text in German, French, and English. It mThis was interesting. As far as I know, this is the only book in my local public library system to have full text in German, French, and English. It may be the only tri-lingual book they have. So of course I had to read it, but I will be the first to admit that it was the writing, not the content, that drew me in. I started with German, which is by far my weakest of the three languages, and I wasn't understanding the introduction very well: just bits and pieces. So I switched to French, but I found that it still wasn't making sense, which troubled me greatly, as I've studied French for years. So I switched to English, which I think I speak fairly well all things considered, and I was relieved to find that switching to my mother tongue did pretty much nothing to improve my comprehension. (This gives me hope for my French!) The introduction is bizarre, to say the least. It makes passing references to things for which I have no context, and the whole section is bogged down by a philosophical (or perhaps pseudo-philosophical) meditation on time: on what it is and how it works, on time's connection to Yahweh (but in a kind of secular context), on eternal time, on non-eternal time, on time as it's understood in Jerusalem, and so on. It is entirely possible that this author was trying to make an intelligent and sophisticated point that was above my comprehension. It is also possible that the author didn't explain enough or give in enough context to be understood, and if so, then that's just sad. It's one thing not to be understood once, but this writer had three chances in three different languages and wasn't clear in any of them. In reading this, I had the impression that the author was just trying too hard to sound enlightened. Once the book gets going, though, it gets much better. The images themselves are quite lovely. The decision to use only black and white images made for a striking effect, and the pictures show different elements of the city in all their glory. One improvement I would suggest would be to have captions for the pictures. There are no captions, only end notes, which means that readers unfamiliar with the city must choose between a smooth reading experience and knowing what it is that is being seen. But those end notes are meaningful, interesting, and definitely worth the time of seeking them out....more
This fourth installment of Peter Hagboldt’s series of graded German readers builds on the vocabulary of the earlier installments. Most of the stories This fourth installment of Peter Hagboldt’s series of graded German readers builds on the vocabulary of the earlier installments. Most of the stories of this installment are longer than the anecdotes of the previous book, and what with that, the slightly more advanced writing, and the small amount of pictures, these tales took more effort and concentration to understand. I was glad for the challenge. This volume was also a logical progression from the previous one in terms of content. While volume three told unrelated stories that often connected to German history and culture, this volume is a part of German culture. These are yarns, tall tales, wild stories, adapted from years of repeated tellings. Eulenspiegel is a kind of prankster, while Münchhausen entertains listeners with tales of his remarkable (impossible!) exploits. This is a way to learn German by reading German folklore, and it’s quite the experience....more
Please note: I think I’m reviewing a different edition of this tale. It’s the same author, but not the same illustrator. I’m proceeding on the assumptPlease note: I think I’m reviewing a different edition of this tale. It’s the same author, but not the same illustrator. I’m proceeding on the assumption that the text is the same, and that the particular edition used is comparable to the one listed here.
I greatly enjoyed this fairy tale. As a child, I liked the way that the dead mother was still a powerful force and very much present in the story. I liked that, in contrast to the cutesy and clean fairy godmother of Perrault, the magic here is earthy and mysterious. I liked that the animals themselves were magic. Grownup me can appreciate the villainy of the stepmother, who gives Aschenputtel permission to attend if she can accomplish a simple (and impossible) task. It’s just reasonable enough on the surface to make her seem fair, and it gives just enough hope to be really cruel. Neither kid-me nor grownup-me was surprised that the stepsisters cut their feet to fit the slipper; I still maintain that this was very much in character for them: they were desperate, and willing to sacrifice. It was also in character for their mother, whose pushiness hurt everyone around her, including her own children. Finally, I really like the active role that Aschenputtel takes in her own life. She knows when and how (and whom!) to ask for help. She takes steps to forge a connection with her dead mother, she commands the birds, and she uses magic to create her own fancy dress.
The only part of the story I don’t like is the very end, (SPOILER ALERT!) when retribution comes for the stepsisters. The birds peck their eyes out. This always seemed to me to miss the point. The stepsisters have already suffered plenty: Physically, their feet get cut apart; Romantically, they lose out on the prince; Financially, they have limited prospects for anyone else; Socially, they’ve missed out on a long-term relationship with Aschenputtel because their mother had prevented them from treating her as family for all those years; and Morally, well, just look at their mother. (She gets off scott-free, by the way.) The blindness addendum didn’t exist in early versions of the story; it was only added by the Grimm brothers to a later edition of their work in order to make the story more appropriate for children. I think that if they were trying to instill a sense of justice by punishing the wicked, they should have left the children alone and gone after the stepmother. This is the only misstep in an otherwise wonderful story. On the whole, a beautiful fairy tale that doesn’t shy away from themes of family, loss, and love....more
I delighted in reading this collection of anecdotes. Some were true accounts of real historical figures, while other stories felt more like fables. ThI delighted in reading this collection of anecdotes. Some were true accounts of real historical figures, while other stories felt more like fables. They were all quite interesting, and some were funny. The footnotes and illustrations were helpful, as was the glossary at the back, and I enjoyed several "Aha" moments as I understood the meaning of the tales I read. This is an excellent book for students of German to practice their vocabulary and language skills: the plots are clear, and the writing is not complex. Most of the sections are very short, only a few paragraphs, but they do get longer toward the end. Fantastic German language practice, with a little bit of history and human interest thrown in....more
I found these flash cards to be quite helpful. They feature a clean design and clear, large font. They include a variety of useful words and phrases. I found these flash cards to be quite helpful. They feature a clean design and clear, large font. They include a variety of useful words and phrases. They are small enough for me to shuffle through them easily, carry them with me, and study them whenever I have a few minutes. A wonderful and highly usable study tool....more
These stories are written to help English-speakers learn German. Each story is short, only a few pages long at most, and they contain simplified grammThese stories are written to help English-speakers learn German. Each story is short, only a few pages long at most, and they contain simplified grammar and vocabulary with a special emphasis on high-frequency phrases. The content of the stories is both humorous and relatable. The main character describes (for example) his love of pizza, his adventures trying to live in a bachelor pad shared by four guys, and his Christmas shopping. There are also illustrations to aid in understanding.
The early stories translate most of the vocabulary. The stories themselves are fluid, as they are only in German, but any word in bold font (and that’s most of them) is given in English at the end of the story. Someone very new to the language has only a few pages to flip to find the meaning. However, by the end of the book, the stories are using many of the same words and phrases from before, and their meanings are not given again. In this way, the language builds off earlier stories, and readers get a chance to practice and see how much they remember. This also means that the final stories have relatively few words translated.
Mini comprehension quizzes (4 to 7 questions each) follow every story. They are all multiple choice, and the answer key is given at the end of the book. I found these immensely helpful. The questions are basic enough to be understood, and yet I found that they helped me to gauge what I did or didn’t understand. I often felt the quizzes helped me learn, just as the reading did.
Perhaps the only suggestion I have would be to put in a glossary at the end. This way, if there is a word or phrase that the reader doesn’t remember from an earlier story, it will be possible to go back and look it up. However, I can understand why this book isn’t set up that way. Having the vocabulary given after each story, and in the order in which the words appear, rather than alphabetical, makes for a smoother experience reading. I also think the lack of a glossary challenges me to glean what I can from the context, or to go back to earlier stories and re-read. All in all, highly educational....more
This collection of fables was part of an experiment sponsored by the University of Chicago Press. Peter Hagboldt designed a series of five graded GermThis collection of fables was part of an experiment sponsored by the University of Chicago Press. Peter Hagboldt designed a series of five graded German readers intended to aid English-speakers as they studied to learn German. Hagboldt was very scientific in his approach; each reader is designed to build off of the previous in such incremental degrees as to avoid overwhelming the student. Unknown words are translated in footnotes. The goal is to give students a sense of accomplishment in reading and understanding something interesting.
Fabeln is the second book in the series, and it introduces 150 words and 38 idioms, building on the 500 words and 30 idioms of the first book.
What I liked: Being able to read something in German and understand was very rewarding, and the simple language used for these fables made that possible. Some of these fables were stories I’d heard before, and that also helped. Illustrations gave visual cues. I also liked having the footnotes as a quick reference. I read the first book in the series first, and so this felt like a natural progression, which was, of course, the goal. In terms of language instruction, I’d say this was a success.
What I didn’t like: I didn’t find the comprehension questions at the end to be very useful because there were no answers given. How do I know if I am right? Many of the questions are more than a simple yes/no, and even the ones that just ask the student to correct a false statement still require a working knowledge of German grammar. I can’t blame Peter Hagboldt for this, as he expected anyone reading this to be enrolled in a German language course. I am not. So this part felt too incomplete to be useful to me.
I also didn’t like the stories themselves. I know that some fables are dark, but I felt like the great majority of these stories involved someone (usually a cute, fluffy animal) dying horribly at the hands of someone else (usually an animal with sharp teeth). And while I know that animals kill other animals in the wild all the time, it’s somehow much more disturbing in a story where they talk and act human, work together, hang out, make bargains, swear friendship, and then savagely turn on each other. In one story, an animal kills human children. In another, an animal commits suicide to protect a friend. And in yet another story, a man wants to kill his dog for the crime of being too old, and the dog, who seems resigned to this, still begs him, “Think of what I was.” Heartbreaking. Worse, I was reading this in a language I don’t speak. I’m not very familiar with it in general. It’s weird to think of the few words I do know in German being so morbid. “Bite” and “Scream” and “Die” and “Death” seem to be all over these tales. It was also difficult for me because these words would jump out at me, and I would know, from the beginning, that the tale wouldn’t end well, but I wasn’t familiar enough with the other words in the story to be able to skip ahead; I’d have to read it, slowly, from the beginning, to understand. Because it was a foreign language, I spent a long time immersed in these stories. Some of these stories had happy endings, but in general, this was a very difficult and painful collection of animal tales. This was educational from a language point of view, but I would recommend that anyone using this book take it in small doses, with lots of pleasant stories in between....more
This book contains all five graded German readers from Peter Hagboldt’s Elementary German Series. The volumThis book was amazing. Five big gold stars!
This book contains all five graded German readers from Peter Hagboldt’s Elementary German Series. The volume is a convenient size, and the glossary at the end is easy to access. This series is intended to supplement classroom study of the language. Its organization is incredibly scientific, with vocabulary words selected carefully and introduced at a steady pace in the readings. Hagboldt crafted this book (this series of five readers) specifically to avoid bombarding students with too much at one time. This is meant to be pleasurable, and it is. It is meant to introduce words in context, and it does.
It is not a grammar book. It does not teach German sentence construction or verb conjugation. It assumes that its readers will be studying these things as well, and that they’ll have a teacher to whom they can direct their questions. That was not the case for me, and even so, I was able to read and enjoy this book immensely. I was a little bit taken aback in Reader 3, when things switched to past tense, but I was able to catch on and enjoy the ride.
This volume has an introduction that explains its purpose, and each reader opens with a note to the student and a note to the instructor. Going in, students will know how many vocabulary words and how many idioms will be introduced in each section. Best of all, the words that are introduced are repeated, so that there is little need for intense, specific study; they’ll recur and be remembered naturally.
Each section ends with a review, and that leads me to my only complaint about this volume: there are no answers given for the review questions. If I’m trying to test my comprehension of a story, I’d like to be able to check my answers. Because of this lack, I was hesitant to use the review sections at all, since I’d have no way of knowing whether I was correct or not.
All in all, a phenomenal tool for studying German. I don’t know why readers like this aren’t more common. I would have liked to have something like this for French when I studied it in high school—what a wonderful way to learn!...more
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