Short Stories in German for Beginners

by Olly Richards, Alex Rawlings

An unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories for young and adult learners.

"I love Olly's work - and you will too!" - Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers

Short Stories in German for Beginners has been written especially for students from beginner to intermediate level, designed to give a sense of achievement, and most importantly - enjoyment! Mapped to A2-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference, these eight captivating stories will both entertain you, and give you a feeling of progress when reading.

What does this book give you?

· Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller - making reading fun, while you learn a wide range of new vocabulary

· Controlled language at your level, including the 1000 most frequent words, to help you progress confidently

· Authentic spoken dialogues, to help you learn conversational expressions and improve your speaking ability

· Pleasure! It's much easier to learn a new language when you're having fun, and research shows that if you're enjoying reading in a foreign language, you won't experience the usual feelings of frustration - 'It's too hard!' 'I don't understand!'

· Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, in a stress-free way

Carefully curated to make learning a new language easy, these stories include key features that will support and consolidate your progress, including

· A glossary for bolded words in each text

· A bilingual word list

· Full plot summary

· Comprehension questions after each chapter.

As a result, you will be able to focus on enjoying reading, delighting in your improved range of vocabulary and grasp of the language, without ever feeling overwhelmed or frustrated. From science fiction to fantasy, to crime and thrillers, Short Stories in German for Beginners will make learning German easy and enjoyable.

Genres: German Literature, Language, Fiction, Short Stories, Germany, Ebooks, Education

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Pip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read but seriously odd stories.

Story 1- Daniel travels to Berlin with his neurotic sister who is too scared to get on a bus to a distant restaurant. Daniel falls asleep on the bus and wakes up in Frankfurt. Not knowing how to get back, he spots a delivery truck going back to Berlin. He asks if he can travel in the back and they agree. Hidden inside is a stowaway, an absent father who is trying to find his son called Michael who lives in Berlin . Based solely on that vague bit of information , our plucky hero concludes that this must be the Michael that he is staying with. They all meet up; everyone is happy. Not least Michael's dad who can now sponge off his son having not even been willing to pay for a bus fare in 20 odd years.

Story 2- Sylvia goes for a walk in the wood with her friend , Jochen. They find a derelict and dusty old hut then Jochen goes missing after a sighting of a yeti like creature. Sylvia , who clearly does not react quickly to danger, goes back to the hut and has a nap then goes into town to buy a coffee. She realises that none of her friends are at home so, bizarrely, concludes that the yeti must have eaten them. She goes back to the hut and all of her friends are there saying that they're looking for Jochen who called for help before his phone died. Sylvia goes looking for the yeti and then gets attacked by it. Turns out it was her dad in a costume the whole time. Her family and friends have renovated the manky, old house as a birthday gift for her and Jochen was in on the 'joke' to terrorise her and make her think her friend was dead. What a treat. At least she got a hut in the middle of nowhere out of it where she can avoid her horrible friends and family from now on.

[Samichtime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great as an ebook because it let you click the key words and get the instant translation! 💃Wish this feature was on every language book 🥺

[Irena Pasvinter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, as the beginners' reading books go. I actually listened to the audiobook version. The stories are not especially interesting although moderately entertaining, as much as the limited vocabulary and grammar allow. I think the book fully answers its purpose.

I'll be sure to read the intermediate level German stories from the same series (soon to be published).

[Laur En · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich habe deutsch an der Universität gelernt. Aber habe ich leider seitdem viel deutsch vergessen. Ich habe dieses Buch gekauft, um deutsch zu lernen. Ich mochte die Fragen zum Leseverstandnis am ende jedes Abschnitts. Ich werde höchstwahrscheinlich mehr von diesen Büchern lesen.

[nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe meine A2-Prüfung bestanden. Also, ich fand dieses Buch gut und einfach zu verstehen.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very well put together for what it was. I read the first couple stories pretty quickly, then set it down for a long time, and then finally got back to it. Some of the stories didn’t have a ton of momentum to keep me interested, others were more fun. I’m looking forward to getting the intermediate book and seeing if that one is more interesting, since the grammar won’t be as limiting.

Review in English for the monolinguals among us (😳sus)

[Oscar Emilio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Está bien para practicar el alemán. Yo creo que con un A2/B1 llega para seguir la historia. Lo mejor es que hace mucho hincapié en el "präteritum" y ayuda a adquirir vocabulario.

Las historias no son lo mejor que he leído, pero supongo que al tener que utilizar expresiones y vocabulario sencillo, no da para mucho más.

Para lo que cuesta el e-book, más que recomendado si quieres practicar un poco el alemán.

[Іван Синєпалов · Rating 4 out of 5]

Говорити про художню цінність цих оповідань безглуздо: її там нема і бути не може. Це дуже, дуже дивні історії. Трошки навіть божевільні. Якщо читати цю книгу як звичайну збірку оповідань, то і враження будуть такі самі дивні.

Але це передусім книга для вивчення німецької. І в цьому контексті вона мене порадувала. Нова лексика вводиться поступово: спершу з перекладом, а в наступних розділах уже вживається як знайома.

Не знаю, чи багато нових слів та виловів я заберу конкретно з цієї книжки. Мабуть, без повторення, як на Дуолінго, все швидко забудеться. Але читати було просто, майже ніде не спіткався.

Автор стверджує, що ці оповідання розраховані на рівень A2-B1. Я поки що не кваплюся обнадіювати себе тим, що знаю німецьку на рівні A2, а тим паче B1, але проблем з читанням майже не виникало, і це неабияк радує.

[Nadina · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I would really give this a 4.5, but and going for 5 rather than 4 because I have very few problems with it.
I speak German, and can read and write it quite well, but I do have my doubts at times, largely because I don't practice enough, and there are definitely words I don't know.
I picked this up because I wanted to practice my reading with a book that was not translated from english and was not too complex. I also liked that it had quizzes at the end of each chapter.
Though I didn't use them I also liked that it had a summary at the end of each chapter, and (an element I did use once or twice) a vocabulary list for the chapter.
I liked that they were short stories, and even though they were a bit cheesy and not necessarily top quality short stories, they were perfect for the purpose of the book. Giving just enough detail and being simple to understand.
Over all I got a 97.75% on the book. The first story I got 1 question wrong, which was probably due to overthinking, and the second to last I think I was quite tired while reading it and therefore not fully comprehending. I tried to answer the questions without looking back at the text, so I am in general proud of my self. Why do I share this? As being more familiar with German than a beginner or early intermediate learner, it seems like it is the right difficulty for the target of late beginner to early intermediate learners.
I think it is a great book to sit down with and practice with. I would definitely recommend it to someone learning German and wanting to work on reading comprehension.

[María De Felipe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must say the short stories in this book are terrible, and most of them very creepy. However, they are great for improving your German! I loved the summary and vocabulary list at the end of each chapter, they truly solved many doubts. I’m already planning to by the “intermediate” version since my German is slowly progressing and this kind of books are very nice for after-class training. Definitely, I recommend it to anyone who’s getting started in the difficult and painful world of German language.

[Liz Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me three years but I finally finished my first book in German! This collection of short stories is pretty strange and silly but it helped me learn German and I had fun. There’s a few typos or errors in the book but those are easy to look past. German grammar is tough stuff.

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe dieses Buch nach Short Stories in German for Intermediate Learners gelesen—es gab dafür am Bibliothek eine Warteliste.

Die Geschichten sind...okay...manchmal ein bisschen eye-roll-y (sag mir bitte, jemand, wie man das auf Deutsch sagt!). Aber die Geschichten selbst sind nicht so wichtig. Was ist wichtig:

You must accept that you won't understand everything you read in a story. This is probably the most important point of all! Always remember that it is completely normal that you do not understand all the words or sentences. It doesn't mean that your language level is flawed or that you are not doing well. It means you're engaged in the process of learning. (x–xi)

Die Geschichten kann ich vergessen; die 'Moral' muss ich mich erinnern.

[Scot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps the most boring stories I have ever read.
And the words that are chosen to be glossed make no sense: they will pass over a quite complicated German word or phrase, while at the same time telling the reader what "dumm" means (the book is directed towards anglophones). The only positive about this book is that it actually is at an appropriate level for beginners or lower intermediate, just as it says on the tin. This book will challenge your tolerance for boring stories, not your German. Check out Dino lernt Deutsch for a beginner's simple but charming little readers.

[AK]

Unfortunately didn't finish this before it had to go back to the library. The book is not for beginning learners of German, but those who've studied the language long enough to not need any guidance with basic grammar, but perhaps have not read much in German yet. The stories are short, the comprehension questions at the end of each story are, uh, comprehensive. I have to say, I find André Klein's Learn German story collections to be more engagingly written, but this book will certainly get the job done.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a German teacher, I read this to see how useful it would be in class. Overall, I really like it! I think it will be useful for my mid-level classes. I’d caution anyone that, opposed to what it says on the cover, this book is NOT for beginners. There’s a banner on the back that says for high beginner or low intermediate learners which is more accurate, but the cover is misleading. The book has several stories divided into three chapters each. Each chapter has its own glossary, summary, and questions for understanding.

[Chamsae · Rating 3 out of 5]

After years without using German, I thought I'd start reading again in this (beautiful) language and decided to go for something easy. This book served that purpose well. It was extremely easy to read, but the stories were quite odd. It isn't bad per se, but definitely a graded-reader type of reading (first time I'm experiencing that type of reading). I will probably read the Intermediate tome now, before going back to real native content. Overall a great stepping step towards native content and/or a good confidence boost for anyone who might doubt of their abilities in German (like I was).

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did I like these stories as works of fiction? Not really. But that's not why I read the book. It was satisfying to read a book in German that was at my reading level. And I was more than halfway through the stories before I caught on to the fact that vocab words from earlier stories were being used casually in later stories. That sort of purposeful repetition was helpful and I appreciated that it didn't feel completely like the writers were shoehorning particular words into the narratives.

[Sumirti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich lerne gerade Deutsch. Ich habe dieses Buch gelesen, um das Sprechen und Schreiben auf Deutsch zu üben. Ich mag dieses Buch. Die Geschichten sind einfach und meist aus dem Alltag. Ich habe viele neue Wörter auf Deutsch gelernt.

Dies ist meine erste Buchrezension auf Deutsch. Ich bin viel gluecklich. :)

-----
My first book in German - July 2017.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich war ziemlich glücklich mit diesem Buch. Es war genau an meinem Niveau, aber ich habe viele Worte auch gelernt. Das Buch sagt, dass es Niveau A2-B1 ist. Ich weiß es nicht, weil habe ich die Prüfung nie versucht. Trotzdem hat das Buch gefällt mich.

[Kiera Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very good. It is only in german and has comprehension checks after each chapter. The first story is about two siblings who are german exchange students in London. The book goes through all of their adventures trying to learn english.

[Alix 🌻 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great work !!
Obviously the stories are not the most important, since it’s for very beginner and for learning purpose. The stories are varied and quite fun, it’s such a pleasant way to learn !

[David Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard work at times. I mean, okay, German is hard enough at beginner level, but it wasn't helped by the fact that some of these stories were downright ludicrous. It was a good vocabulary builder, anyway. Although it's a bit annoying that there's often a case difference in the hyper-linked words that makes each click far more work than it should be. I expect this is by design, to get me to think flexibly about words... but I just got frustrated by not being able to find the word I'd clicked to find.
I got a lot out of my own highlights and flashcards - certainly a decent way to learn, if time-consuming.
The most beneficial thing to do would be to start again from the beginning, aber das Leben ist zu kurz.

[Petar Vukoja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prima, sehr hilfreich um B1 zu bestehen.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diese Geschichten haben mir sehr geholfen, mein Deutsch zu verbessern! Sie waren abwechslungsreich und interessant. Ich hatte das Gefühl, Forschritte zu machen. B1, los geht's! Ich denke, ich bin bereit, Kindergeschichten ohne Wörterbuch zu lesen.

[Animekh Misra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book with Higher-A1 skills. I use Duolingo everyday, and decided to explore.

I read it at a slow pace- one sub-chapter a day. Eventually, the fluency came, but it was not easy. The eight stories were fun to read.

Vielen Dank für das gute Buch. Ich werde es in Zukunft zum Üben noch einmal lesen.

[gunna]

these stories were so weird 😭

[Granger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baby’s first ever book in German! It’s meant for learners, says it’s like “A2-B1” level. I am SO PROUD OF MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!! Already bought and started the intermediate version. Guys, I’m like, reading stories in German and UNDERSTANDING

[Susannah Brown-Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

a modern classic

[Esme Aguayo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Para practicar esta muy cool, fácil de leer pero las historias no son interesantes.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful to build new vocabulary.
I need to read it again to practice what I learned.
The stories had quite an odd plot.