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German book suggestion | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading |  | |
| shadowcalm Triglot Newbie Taiwan Joined 5966 days ago 29 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Latin, Ancient Greek, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 9 of 22 21 August 2008 at 4:01am | IP Logged | ||
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Emil und die Detektive" may be intended for younger readers, but really anyone can enjoy it. Though less well-known, a sequel also came out five years after the first book: "Emil und die drei Zwillinge." There are several websites devoted wholly or in part to "Emil", which include everything from pictures to vocabulary lists. Another work by of his worth considering is "Das doppelte Lottchen", which was the inspiration for the movie "The Parent Trap".
"Die unendliche Geschichte" is a fun read. Make sure to get an edition in the original red and green print. One other writer you might like is Cornelia Funke. "Herr der Diebe" (English: "The Thief Lord") offers a mysterious and exotic adventure. You also get to pick up a bit of Italian along the way. Viel Spass! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| alfajuj Diglot Senior Member Taiwan Joined 6202 days ago 121 posts - 126 votes  Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Taiwanese, French | Message 10 of 22 21 August 2008 at 6:55am | IP Logged | ||
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When I was first beginning to read French, the Little Prince was absolutely perfect for beginners. It's easy enough, and although it's for children, adults can also find it interesting.
Now I'm just starting to learn German, so what would you suggest as a perfect German book for beginners like the Little Prince? Edited by alfajuj on 21 August 2008 at 6:55am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| karashi Tetraglot Groupie Japan Joined 6568 days ago 81 posts - 81 votes Speaks: French*, English, Japanese, German Studies: Russian | Message 11 of 22 21 August 2008 at 4:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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Why don't you read the Little Prince in German? I have read it in German, Japanese and Spanish at my beginner stages, and I always find it nice :)
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 Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6427 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 12 of 22 21 August 2008 at 11:29pm | IP Logged | ||
Thanks for the suggestions. Regarding the original red-and-green text edition, I've been trying to locate the original edition, but apparently it's out of print, and considering my rather tight budget I can't afford to take a risk of by a cheap book that's actually in horrible condition. :( Could anyone tell me how different the new edition is from the old edition?? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| shadowcalm Triglot Newbie Taiwan Joined 5966 days ago 29 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Latin, Ancient Greek, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 13 of 22 22 August 2008 at 6:03am | IP Logged | ||
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The original edition of "Die Unendliche Geschichte" uses two colors: red for happenings in the human world and green for what takes place in the realm of fantasy. Since the action often moves between these two places, the different colors help the reader to keep the action straight -- and just plain look cool, too. There are 26 chapters in all. Chapter one starts with the letter A, chapter two with B, etc. Each of these initial letters is elaborately decorated. In the later edition, however, both the colored script and the beautiful initials are missing, but the text is otherwise unchanged.
I remember that my copy of "Momo" is printed in something like tan. I picked it up at a book sale a number of years ago but haven't touched it. What did you think of it? As for saving on the budget, you also could consider some much older but free works on the net, such as "Der Struwwelpeter" (Heinrich Hoffmann), "Max und Moritz" (Wilhelm Busch), "Peterchens Mondfahrt" (Gerdt von Bassewitz), "Nussknacker..." (E.T.A. Hoffmann), or fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Some of these are not actually children's novels, but they have been favorites of kids throughout the years. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6076 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 14 of 22 22 August 2008 at 8:18am | IP Logged | ||
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hmm...sorry, but I wouldn't recommend Max und Moritz (1865). Der Struwwelpeter is from 1858. Those books in their original text may be free but the speech (not to mention subject matter) is outdated. An example would be the verb "flicken" (Max & Moritz "Dritter Streich"). Up for darning socks, anyone? ;)
My daughter recommends this site. (lol) Okay, okay, you're not interested! Just a different look at the language and how it can be used. Fun for reading what girls are thinking about... Here's a general list of books kids read in school. Click on the ones with Leseprobe for reading excerpts. It looks like some of the fairy tales are available in PDF format. You can also check Amazon.de and type in "Kinderbücher, ab....Jahren". Read the "Rezension" if you want to know what people think of the book. EDIT: when you get out of the kid's books I can give you a few more tips for reading if you want..;) I've just finished Karaoke from Wladimir Kaminer. He's a Berlin author who is Russian but he writes incredible German. He's famous for his "Russendisko". Edited by Sunja on 22 August 2008 at 8:54am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6076 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 15 of 22 22 August 2008 at 9:48am | IP Logged | ||
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I went through my above-mentioned book list and there's not much to try out in terms of reading, so if anybody is interested I also found Leseproben Online - Schmökern in Büchern, . It's set for "Kinderbücher" but you can click on any category and then on "hier geht es weiter" for excerpts from the books. There's a lot to read!
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| Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6427 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 16 of 22 22 August 2008 at 10:56am | IP Logged | ||
Thanks for the book suggestions. I'll take both your and Sunja's comments into consideration and decide. As for the red-and-green text, yes I know the different uses of the colours, and yes I know about the illustrations. I have the Korean version of the original book! :) But you answered my question. So I guess I'd prefer to get the old edition since the new one doesn't have any of the cool features that make the book what it is.. :) I felt Momo was really touching. It was really interesting for me, because when I read it around 7 years ago in Korean, I only felt it was a nice bed-time story. But now, reading it again as a lost teenager in its original language, I see the deeper meaning of the story and think I "feel" the story. It feels really weird actually! :) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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