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German language book reviews
When you learn German books such as text books, phrase books and dictionaries will push your success. Start searching for your favourite books by using my German language book reviews below.
The text books and apps will help you make a start or deepen your knowledge of German. Many great dictionaries are online for free and available as apps.
In addition to text books, there is mind boggling language training software, and fun and interactive online language training communities.
Learn German Books: The Top Four
Here are a few German text books that I researched when my husband finally announced he would learn German. He is very busy and needed some intuitive and easy language books for every day use. I hope you find them useful. In order to correctly learn German books (especially phrase books) should be accompanied by audio resources such as CD Roms.
German for Dummies is a highly rated language learning book and CD, using the renowned Berlitz approach that focuses on conversations . The CD allows you to learn German pronunciations from native speakers and practice your own pronunciation.
The Eyewitness German Travel Phrasebook and CD is a very visual German phrase book. It covers phrases and vocabulary by subject. The book includes a CD and a 2,000 word mini dictionary and is suitable for both business and leisure travellers.
Conversational German in Seven Days is a book and CD that teach you just enough German to master typical situations when travelling in German speaking countries, and have a light conversation.
German Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand German Quickly and Easily. This text book makes language learning effective and easy by covering everyday topics. You train your vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation through reading and review exercises.
German Dictionaries And Apps
When learning German books such as dictionaries are being increasingly replaced by great online resources. Here are some of the best online dictionaries.
LEO
For almost two decades I have been using the free LEO German-English Dictionary dict.leo.org. The Germany based dictionary also translates from Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese and Russian, is easy to use. It produces search results that are specified by use, such as informal speak, financial, computer or technical language, or particular Austrian expressions. The results are grouped by nouns, verbs, adjectives, and phrases. They also include words that have a similar orthography and related forum discussions about the best translation for trickier words and phrases.
Important: You don’t need to search for the symbols of the Umlaute (ä, ö, ü) on your keyboard when you type in certain words. Just use ae, oe, ue instead and the words will be recognised (unlike with the Collins online dictionary). LEO is also available for free as an iPhone and iPod Touch app on iTunes.
PONS
PONS is another great free online dictionary which covers German to English and 15 other languages. The results are also grouped in verbs, nouns and phrases, and you have the chance to ask questions in the forums, as with LEO. The pronunciation button takes one click only (unlike with LEO). The PONS SNAP Translate app is really cool when you are on the move. You can take a picture of a German text with your camera phone. The app then translates the text and reads it out to you. The premium version is available for German and costs USD 25 on iTunes.
Duden Explanatory Dictionary
If your German is more advanced and you need more than having a simple conversation in German, you may want to get the Duden, THE reference dictionary in German. There is also an explanatory iTunes Duden app for those on the go. It includes audio pronuncations for difficult words and covers Austrian expressions. You can get it in the iTunes store for around USD 44.
Learn German In Vienna
I wouldn’t want to send you away with a pile of books and a cold handshake. Have you ever thought of taking a language course while travelling? Find out what it takes to learn German in Vienna.
Other German resources on Vienna Unwrapped: Wienerisch, Learn German Software, Rosetta Stone German, Learn German For Free;
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