Vocabulary Builder: German: Master Hundreds of Common German Words and Phrases

Having started learning German in 7th grade, I had some high hopes for this book (ended formal study with Middle Ages German in college)... I find immersion the best method for learning (living or spending significnat time in a country)...but a book like this is the next best thing. I would recommend it highly for someone with one to two years of academic study (from scratch) already under their belt. It will prepare you for the inevitable immersion experience (for example, household vocabulary), you can spend 15-20 minutes a day and work through the book rather quickly and profit from the time spent commensurately. Much better than rote memorization, it provides context--which you'll have to have for that immersion experience. That's what I lacked when I went to Germany to study in 11th grade--I was speechless in everyday conversation. This book will help you with that transition.

This is a great addition to any German class or as a refresher for those who wish to keep up or continue their German language skills.

As a German teacher, I am constantly looking for new books to help my students learn German more effectively. I recently came across this book and wish that I could have a classroom set! When school starts, I'm going to look at getting some that my advanced students can share. The exercises are excellent for building on basic vocabulary. Exercises include: learning how to paraphrase words you don't know, putting words into word families, reading comprehension (stressing skipping words you don't know that may not be that important), knowing when to and how to use a bilingual dictionary, putting words into topic areas, grammar exercises, and much more. I can see this book being very valuable not only as a review tool for my German III/IV students, but also as an expansion tool for building their language skills. I would highly recommend this for anyone wishing to hone their German skills. For college students, I could see this being used in any 100-level classes as a supplement to the textbook. The only thing missing is listening comprehension, but that can be compensated for using other media devices.