Learn German with Stories: Dino lernt Deutsch - Simple Short Stories for Beginners

by André Klein

This collector's edition comprises episodes 5-8 of the Dino lernt Deutsch story series for German learners: "Ahoi aus Hamburg," "Plotzlich in Palermo," "Walzer in Wien" and "Zuruck in Zurich." With a fistful of German learning experiences under his belt Dino follows his heart's desire, visits friends and family back in his home country only to delve right back into the beautiful and bewildering world of Switzerland and Austria where German suddenly seems like a completely foreign language again ... Follow Dino on his adventures through four different European countries, immerse yourself in North Sea breezes, a Sicilian wedding, Viennese coffee culture, Swiss mountain air, and improve your German effortlessly along the way!

Genres: German Literature, Language

539 pages, Paperback

Published July 16, 2017

About the author

André Klein was born in Germany, grew up in Sweden and Thailand and currently lives in Israel. He has been teaching languages for more than 15 years and is the author of short stories, picture books and non-fiction works in English and German.

Reviews

[Emily Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read and good practice

My whole family reads this series together out loud to practice for our trip to Germany... It is a step up from duolingo and easier than the Momsen & Baumgartner series.

[Jeremy Kong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading the earlier books in this series (1-4) when I was first learning German (around A1). Since then I passed my B1 exam and would say I'm towards the tail end of B2 now; this edition of the book was more challenging, though by this point it was very light reading. Nonetheless, it's good for slightly more advanced beginners (probably A2 or low B1?) and I also learned a few interesting words and phrases, such as Chuchichäschtli, Papierkram and Jedem das Seines.

I don't know how accurate "simple short stories for beginners" is as the series definitely gets harder with each book. I'd have had a lot of difficulty with this book if I read it at A1, I think.

The plot took an interesting and more unexpected turn in book 6 (discussing refugee smuggling and the plight of asylum-seekers); it was a fair bit darker than what I remember was in books 1-4. This only seems to last for one book though, and things become lighter again in books 7 and 8. Having visited both Vienna and Zurich before, these were also interesting as I could picture what Dino and his friends/companions were getting up to fairly easily.

[Matthew H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. My reading speed and comprehension improved a lot by the end of it. Does require a bit of googling simple grammar rules and translating words as you go along (I recommend reading an ebook version for this reason), but that is to be expected. You will increasingly be able to accurately guess new words’ meanings from their etymology and context with a bit of patience.

[DavidO · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but...

I love the stories. Not sure how useful it is to throw in regional dialects when I haven't learned "proper" German. I wish it were written a bit more simply as I generally have to look up about 1 word per sentence, which gets exhausting.

[Vadym Ozarynskyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting enough for me to read. And this was the first book that I’ve read auf Deutsch
So recommend if you search something to read to learn German.
I learn German from 0 so it was complex enough for me