German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German

by April Wilson

German Quickly:  A Grammar for Reading
German, is a thorough, straightforward textbook with a sense of fun. It teaches the fundamentals for reading German literary and scholarly texts of all levels of difficulty.  It can be used as an introductory text for scholars with no background in German, or it can serve as a reference text for students wishing to review German.  The grammar explanations are detailed and clear, addressing common problems students encounter while learning to read German.  The book includes thought-provoking and entertaining reading selections, consisting mainly of aphorisms and proverbs.  There are also 12 appendices, including a summary of German grammar, a partial answer key, strategies for learning German, and an extensive humanities vocabulary. 

April Wilson has been offering German reading courses to graduate students in the University of Chicago community since 1972.  Her courses have an excellent reputation for providing students with the essentials of German grammar, quickly. 

430 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

For April Wilson, author of McIntyre-series etc, use two spaces to get theright author (April^^Wilson)

Reviews

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply excellent for seminarians wishing to pick up German as a research language, and quickly. Worked through this independently in about two months or so. I memorized the vocabulary for each section first and then proceeded to read a chapter and translate the exercises. Lots of Nietzsche which was super fun for me.

[Noah Buresh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was quick, and it was German.
My personal subtitle for this book: "Fighting for My Life for 15 Weeks"

[Tyler Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prior to using Wilson's textbook I had never taken a German course in my life. However, I had already learned other inflected languages which made it much easier to pick up German without an instructor to help clarify the different noun cases and verb tenses. Working through the text at the pace outlined in one of the many appendices, I gained German reading competence that allows me to read complicated texts with the help of a dictionary.

The book will not teach one how to speak German, but it is specifically designed to teach one to read German. Each lesson is clear, includes practice translations of increasing length as the the reader gets further along. It also includes a key for grading your own work. The practice translations range from funny stories and proverbs to excerpts from Nietzsche and the Bible.

If you need a book that will introduce you to reading German this is the book.

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing. Numerous people who had to learn German for reading recommended it to me as the best book out there. I was not let down at the least. It's hard to imagine that an in-depth book with emphasis on grammar and syntax could be both this engaging and clear. I've spent time with two other resources for learning to read German; one was engaging but not very in-depth, and the other was equally in-depth as this one but not fun at all and less clear (Jannach's German for Reading Knowledge).

The ordering of the chapters is unique and great. It is not "linear" by topic. We are first introduced to the basics of tenses, articles, sentence structure, for example; and then we go into other topics such as adjective and adverb constructions; and then we revisit elements of sentence structure, which only make more sense now given that we have covered these other topics. The other resources I've looked at confined themselves to presenting topics "linearly," but which ended up being less effective.

Also there are many useful exercises, and they are engaging and sometimes hilarious. A nice mixture of intriguing proverbs, quotes from famous literary and philosophical figures, and bits from an ongoing, hilarious fictional narrative consisting in these exercises about a love affair.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful for learning the basics to work German translations. Contains a dictionary (towards the back)of commonly used words, specific to the humantities. Includes practice sections too. Good tool for students.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most helpful book for learning to read German that you can use. I don't mind technical terminology, but Wilson manages to arrive at the same clarity and precision that other grammars seek WITHOUT distended grammatical conversations and overly technical jargon. And (this is the best part perhaps), the book is just plain fun. Wilson writes with wit and whimsy, a difficult task in a language grammar. By interweaving the innocent Victorian romance of Fräulein Meier and Der Briefträger into the text, she pulls you through chapter after chapter of grammar. At the end, she translates selections of Mark Twain's justly famous essay "The Awful German Language" - a nice treat for any anglophone who has made it through the book.

With the aid of this book and one other (Manton's "Introduction to Theological German," see my review), I passed my reading competency exam for Princeton Theological Seminary. If you are truly trying to learn German quickly, I strongly recommend the one month reading schedule outlined in Appendix A. See also Andy Rowell's blog on Theological German: http://www.andyrowell.net/theological...

Viel Glück!

[Zachary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pitiful, awful. The numerous copy-editing errors (that for some reason the publisher decided to correct with only an inserted "errata sheet" rather than a reprint) alone make this more than a sub-par introduction. As for the work itself, it is helpful only as a back-door entrance into the language--which is about as grotesque as it sounds. The author uses non-conventional terms and paradigms in a way that will cripple most language learners. (e.g., the declensions are set in order of Nominative Accusative, Genitive, and Dative--this makes all of her charts near useless).
With that said, the approach is fantastic. A much better book could be written using the same shortcut approach. I'd wager it'd make far more money than Wilson, as well.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I'm pretty sure I passed my language exam. So the book did its job. This is a good book if what you want to do is read German for research in the humanities (or for general interest reading in things like newspapers). There are several errors, many (but not all) of which are in the errata provided with the book. Most (but not all) of the exercises are included in an answer key in the back -- so you could use this to self-teach if you wanted to. Lots of helpful material in the appendices. The repetitive vocabulary lists (which don't indicate which words you've seen before and which are genuinely new) are a bit annoying.

[Christopher Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic way to learn to read academic German. I was wading through encyclopedia articles by the end of one semester.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most helpful, comprehensive, clearly articulated German grammar that I have found. A resource I devoured in preparation for a proficiency exam, yet will return to often throughout my career.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Be prepared to translate many, many proverbs no one uses. There are also some factual errors, and the text is missing letters.

[C.J. Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sufficient.

What you think of this book depends on what the word "quickly" means to you and just how much you need to learn German. I think most can get through this in 3-4 months relatively easy and 1-2 months if you're able to devote a lot of daily time to it. I believe this book was written for doctoral students who need to pass proficiency exams for reading German. If used rightly, it should serve the reader well to that end (though I often needed further explanation from Anja on YouTube - check her out!). Your humanities vocabulary will need to be pretty well-memorized for the grammar rules learned in this book to be put to useful practice in a timed exam. While I do feel that I can now translate German fairly well with the use of a dictionary, I'll find out soon enough if I can actually pass a timed, proficiency exam.

Formatting and layout are pretty poorly done. The editor could've done better. It is not reader-friendly. It is mostly just running text, page-to-page, with no sufficient headings (instead, bold font is used to mark off new sections).

[Allen Radtke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is for those who want to be able to translate from German into English, principally for academic purposes. It's well organized, and things are laid out clearly. However, this seems to be intended as a reference work as much or more than as a book of instruction in German, per se. Having read this once, very slowly and in close detail from end to end, and having learned what it contains and where things are located, it will have utility in future for learning to read at a more advanced level of German. Readers should also beware that this book is peppered with errors, some of which can be quite confusing, but most of which are mere errors of omission or spelling. This is, in my estimation, not a book for someone wanting to learn German, but suffering from weak reading and interpretation skills. It assumes the reader has a fairly decent command of English grammar, sentence structure, etc. A healthy dose of stubborn dedication to the task doesn't hurt, either.

[Justin Dewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is accurate. This is a great book to help you learn to translate German in a short time frame. I didn't like the amount of vocabulary Wilson expected you to pick up in each chapter. Towards the end of the book I felt discouraged and struggled to know if I understood the grammar concepts because of the huge amount of vocab she threw at me. A couple chapters also seem like they are in odd places.

[Claire Mummert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book to help you learn German for reading. I really loved the ongoing story of Fraulein Meier and the Mailman. The only thing that keeps this from being perfect is that she frequently uses the word "excited" using erregen which generally has a sexual connotation while the verb for "excited" aufregen is more excited in the sense of enthusiasm. Our professor kept making us cross out the word and write the correct one throughout the text.

[Chandler Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

dieses Buch ist sehr gut! A fantastic introduction to German grammar and vocabulary. I just wish that I didn’t have to fly through it for my German class that I took this Summer. Will be a handy reference for any future readings I do in academic German. I also appreciate that the translation exercises throughout the book are usually proverbs at quotes from famous German academics. That made translation work feel more rewarding.

[Jacob Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, modern grammar book with the expressed purpose of reading literature, philosophy, theology, etc. No idea why such a thing is so hard to find. Humanities vocabulary list at the back is particularly good. Saving so i can remember to buy it down the road when I have room and money to be buying grammar books.

[Daniel Crouch · Rating 3 out of 5]

If it weren't for some subpar formatting, I would give this book a higher rating. It covers the major topics of the language with the speed that the title suggests and makes the experience enjoyable with creative practice sentences.

[Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second time through this book and it's a great refresher. Most helpful chapter is on overloaded adjectives-managing German's lengthy sentences is a chore, but with Wilson's explanations and examples, most sentences have now lost their impenetrability.

[FL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't say this is as much a "read" as "work-through" book, but it got me from not knowing any German at all to passing a grad school reading proficiency exam, in about 6 months (plus another month of translation practice). So, the book succeeded at its purpose.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and accessible (as much as German can be), though I would have preferred a bit less of the dire warnings of "learn this grammatical rule or you will never understand German." Babies learn German. Grownups can too, even if we make a few mistakes along the way.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few errors and unclear passages. But the most delightful example sentences of any language textbook I’ve ever used!

[Timothy Decker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I'll be reviewing this throughout the rest of my life!

[Cmoreglass]

I've gone through the grammar very quickly. A small vocabulary is a great obstacle for my learning german. So I'm learning on Duolingo now, struggling to remember more words.

[Nathan Nadeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great simple introduction to German for reading

[Keith Pinckney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A SLOG but we finally made it through!

Ich weiß nichts!!

[SSVicious · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good book for a graduate student looking to pass a reading exam. The vocabulary is particularly good for those studying the humanities. I've had two years of college German prior to reading this book, but I had forgotten a good deal of it. In addition, most of the first two years of college German is dedicated to practical German and communicating in German, so it is not incredibly helpful for reading scholarly literature. In that regard, this book helped immensely. I can read journal articles decently (with the aid of a dictionary). Literary work is still incredibly hard to read after this book.

This book will not help you communicate in German. It really is just for reading German (which is why I used it, even though I intend to work on my communication skills). You will not practice writing. You will practice translation. The reading selections are decent (and come from a variety of "scholarly" writings, but with quite a bit of literature).

Why the 3 stars? My biggest problem with the book was the introduction of vocabulary over the course of the chapter. At the end of the chapters there are word lists, but they often don't contain all of the vocabulary used in the chapter. This isn't bad in the beginning, but by the end of the book you are learning complicated grammatical structures AND trying to learn the vocabulary at the same time. I understand that this book is about learning to read/research in German. That is fine for the translation exercises, it gives you dictionary practice. But for example sentences, it is really distracting to have to move back and forth between the provided translation and the German equivalent.

With my prior knowledge of German I was able to make it through this book in about a month, studying about 2-3 hours a day. I used Anki on mac for flashcards of the vocabulary.

Due to the way that vocabulary is introduced, I figured out "my" best process around the middle of the book. Before I began to read a chapter I would make flash cards of the vocabulary list at the end of the chapter. Then I would learn the vocabulary. This helped quite a bit before doing the exercises or examples. Then I would read the chapter. As I read, I would highlight words that were not in the list (and also never provided in earlier chapters). Then flashcards again. Then move on to the next chapter. I will reread the book quickly to brush up on the points, and also translations of the earlier chapters should be easier to understand now that I have the full picture.

As I said, I have prior German experience. This helped with my rapid pace through the book (30 days with weekends off). The vocabulary I gained was extensive and I already knew a good deal of the grammar or only needed to be refreshed.

There is a "humanities-oriented" vocabulary list in the back of the book that I have only perused and it looks like it will be very helpful. So it is a DEFINITE plus.

I do have a few worries, however. I noticed that some of the vocabulary was not quite accurate (in the chapters, I don't know about the extra dictionary). This was due to prior training in German and I realized it around the middle of the book. From then on I checked the words with other dictionaries and occasionally found discrepancies. Not too often, but enough to make me worry. Sometimes the word provided in this book was not exact enough for what the word actually means. Or I found a translation that was easier to remember/memorize because the one provided by the book was not clear.

The other thing to be careful of are words that mean something in English, but have a specific context in which that word is used. For instance: die Gabe. This means gift. But it really means gift in the idea of a talent. A physical gift that you give someone is Geschenk. But for a good part of the book I thought they were synonyms because the translation given was simply gift. Perhaps I should have paid more intention when it was introduced, but either way, it's something to look out for when making flashcards.

I will be moving on to another "German for Reading" book. I have heard that the Jannach book is not good. The number one book recommended is Sandberg's book which is out of print. It goes for 200-300 on Amazon. Thankfully I found a copy for cheaper. Having looked at it, it seems to fix the problem of vocabulary introduced at the same time as the readings and looks to be a much more solid book. I have not used it yet, so this may be inaccurate, but I have looked through it enough to believe that it will be a solid add-on to this book's use.

If you are looking to learn to communicate, this is not the book to start off with. As a resource for graduate students it is possibly the cheapest solution that is worthwhile to use. I recommend it if you are on a budget (and you probably are if you are a graduate student).

[Jessica DeWitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book for the person, particularly the humanities academic, who needs to brush up on their German. I studied German for seven years (it was my minor in undergrad), but neglected it for four, leaving me unprepared for the required language exam for my History PhD program. I took the exam initially without preparing and failed. However, I am pleased to report that after going through the chapters and exercises in this book I passed and can once again read German rather easily.

I would not recommend this book for those with no German background because it hops rather readily into complicated vocabulary and grammar.

Yes, as others have pointed out, there are some typos, but nothing that really takes away from the exercises. There are some annoying points. The Frau Meiers/Brieftrager sentences get old. And it is problematic that only some of the answers are in the back. It is difficult to know if you're doing things correctly when there is no way to check yourself.