The Berlitz Self-Teacher: German: A Unique Home-Study Method Developed by the Famous Berlitz Schools of Language Paperback – 6 Mar. 1987

For anyone who is interested in learning the German language, I recommend "Berlitz Self-Teacher German". This book includes detailed information on the pronunciation and spelling of almost every German word. This book breaks the complicated German language down into sections that are very easy to understand and remember. This book also includes at the end of every chapter a quiz that you can give yourself to help you to see if you have learned the desired amount of German that the chapter has to offer. As well as German, the Berlitz books offer a variety of languages to choose from such as: Italian, French, Spanish, etc. Try the Berlitz books once and I know that you'll never need to go to any other language book again.

For such an old book (copyright dated 1950) it is surprisingly effective. I developed some study techniques using this book that hopefully other learners would find helpful.First, I'm am totally self-taught. I've been using Hugo German in 3 Months cassette/book course and have been happy with the results. However, I also enjoy using many other resources to continue practicing. The Berlitz Self-Teacher book focuses on one practical aspect of speaking a language - tons of sentences to learn and practice speaking. Interspersed throughout are tips on grammar and syntax construction. The format follows thus:Example:German vocabulary : Der BleistiftPhonetic pronunciation: Dehr Bligh-shtiftEnglish translation: The pencilThen it begins to show how to use some of the vocabulary in actual sentences.Example:Ist das der Bleistift?Ist dahs dehr Bligh-shtift?Is this the pencil?Later chapters actually have mini-dialogues and more complex sentences using the same approach above. And at the end of each chapter is a page titled Thinking In German with questions which someone can ask you (or you can ask yourself) and then supply the answer in German. There is a key in the Appendix for each test so you can check if your answer was correct. By the time you get to the last chapter you have learned a lot of vocabulary, grammar, proper pronunciation and have practiced thinking and speaking in German.I added one extra twist to all of this. I made my own tapes to go with the book. I bought some blank tapes and then recorded myself saying such things as "state in German that you are hungry as a wolf and haven't had anything to eat since 6 AM this morning." I would then have a long pause in the tape to allow time for my answer and then finally tape the correct answer from the book. The beauty of this approach is that I was continually having to think and respond in German before hearing confirmation if my answer was correct or not. This re-enforces what you know and can be repeated to gain better proficiency. The downside is that I don't have a native German accent. On the other hand it does provide a good way to continually hear my own improvement at correct pronunciation. If you have access to the Internet you can supplement this book by tuning into one of the many streaming audio German talk-radio stations to hear proper German pronunciation. Overall this is a very solid book. Its strong point is the tons of sentences and thinking exercises you can practice. It's a good compliment to the Hugo course I'm using. I am enjoying this book so much I plan to get the Spanish, French and Italian Self-Teacher books as well.