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Best program for a birthday present? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Daciana Newbie United States Joined 5052 days ago 8 posts - 9 votes Studies: Romanian, English* Studies: Spanish, Russian | Message 1 of 8 29 July 2010 at 9:42pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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My brother really wants to learn German, and his birthday is in a week. I would really like to get him something that isn't too expensive, but has the whole package.
Living Language has a nice package, but is it efficient? He is autistic also, so I would prefer something a little more entertaining. It isn't a must though. Any suggestions? Thanks! :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| johntm93 Senior Member United States Joined 5138 days ago 587 posts - 746 votes  2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 2 of 8 29 July 2010 at 9:55pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Assimil German Without Toil (or With Ease, but I'm using Without Toil so that's why I'm recommending it)
Edited by johntm93 on 29 July 2010 at 9:56pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5163 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 3 of 8 29 July 2010 at 10:03pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I do not have the German programme by Living Language, though I do have the basic Spanish version, as well as Beyond the Basics for both Spanish and Italian. I personally do not care for the book setup so much, as I feel that it does not give very good explanations on the grammar points. Then again, my study style prefers to learn the grammar from the beginning, as opposed to learning it only after learning phrases first, then grammar. I really haven't used the CDs though, so I cannot comment on the quality of those. The dictionary is also a nice bonus though.
I think Living Language is a nice package, since it contains a dictionary, audio, and a book, but as mentioned earlier, I just don't like the book setup terribly much. Maybe get it as well as a second grammar/reader to compliment it? My brother is also autistic, and is kind of interested in languages though has not done much real study since college. It'll be interesting to see what other members suggest, as I might use that for my brother too. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6168 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes Speaks: English* | Message 4 of 8 30 July 2010 at 10:13am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I think the way to go here is with Assimil:
Assimil German With Ease (with CDs) on Amazon
Only $33, he'll learn reading, listening, speaking, and if he wants to practice it, writing.
It's got short compact lessons, engaging and often funny dialogs to learn, and cartoons.
Some people recommend the older, discontinued version of Assimil called "German Without Toil," but I doubt you want to give a ratty, yellowed, dog-eared used book for a birthday present, and the audio for it is very hard to find. He could always get it (or other courses) later. If you need this in a week, you'll probably have to turn down Amazon's free shipping option, because it may not arrive in time. And you probably won't find it on the shelf at local bookstores (I don't know why this is). I think German With Ease is the ideal item to get in this case, and let's face it, if he's like most first-time "sounds like something fun to do" language learners, he'll probably lose interest after the first chapter or two of ANY course. ;-) Edited by TerryW on 30 July 2010 at 10:37am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Daciana Newbie United States Joined 5052 days ago 8 posts - 9 votes Studies: Romanian, English* Studies: Spanish, Russian | Message 5 of 8 02 August 2010 at 4:12am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Terry, are you sure that is the book with CDs or just the CDs?
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| TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6168 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes Speaks: English* | Message 6 of 8 02 August 2010 at 11:05am | IP Logged | ||||||||
See the text further down that page "Product Description Learn modern German in 100 lively and entertaining lessons. . . . Book & 4 CDs (total running time: 130 minutes). ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------- Product Details Audio CD: 416 pages " Also, the picture of it shows Book+CD diagram on bottom of back cover. Also, same page shows "French With Ease (Book+CD) at the exact same price. Also, the page shows "ISBN-10: 270051050X" which matches the ISBN on my book+CD binder case. To confuse you further (sorry!), if you check buy.com, they have it at the same price but the title says"German With Ease (Paperback)," but on that same page has a link "Also Available: Paperback $19.86" for a brand new copy. The picture at buy.com is the older physical format (same content) with the rigid book cover and red ribbon bookmark that a lot of people like better than the newer "cheaper" physical format shown on the Amazon page. Could be that they have some older copies in stock, or could be book only and they're using the wrong picture. You'd have to write them (buy.com) to see if it is book+CD: German With Ease on Buy.com 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 6957 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 7 of 8 02 August 2010 at 12:03pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I have bought Assimil French, Italian and Chinese from amazon.com and they were all complete courses with book and CDs.
They each cost about $33. Edited by fanatic on 02 August 2010 at 12:04pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Daciana Newbie United States Joined 5052 days ago 8 posts - 9 votes Studies: Romanian, English* Studies: Spanish, Russian | Message 8 of 8 02 August 2010 at 9:48pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I will order it today. :)
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