Becoming fluent in German: 150 Short Stories for Beginners

by Philipp Eich

Learning German  may seem like a difficult task. Especially when it comes to the nature of the German language.  The good news  is that’s just a false presumption. Every language can be learned if you know the right technique and the right information.    It is proven  that the easiest way to learn a language is to hear it in action. Hearing a natural   german conversation is the best thing you can do, it’s like listening to a story. Natural is the keyword in that sentence. A natural approach to learning the language is the fastest and simplest approach to do it.   Why do you think  you hear people learning a language extremely fast when they move to another country? Because they hear it naturally, every day.    Learn German with stories  . Maybe the easiest language learning system ever created. How does that sound to you?   People listen to other people’s stories. The human mind is programmed to like stories because that’s what our life is. A story. And because of this very reason, I’ve crafted stories that will easily cut you months of struggling to learn German. There will no longer be a “struggle”.   Moving to Germany just to learn German is not a solution  . That’s why my book “brings” Germany to you. It brings stories to you. Learning German with my stories will grab your mind into believing that you will actually “live” into German conversations. When you’re reading a story, you feel like you’re there. The same concept applies to learning German with stories. About  my  learning German with stories book  : The  Benefits  of using my Learn German with my stories (  the easy way  )

Genres: German Literature

163 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 20, 2020

Reviews

[Billy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't find many of these stories interesting, so I don't think I learnt as much as I thought I would have if I found most of them engaging.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Diese Geschichten waren für mich wirklich langweilig 😴

[Logan Teder]

I began reading these in earnest while working through a CEFR A1 word list deck on Anki. I would go through one to three a day. The first few took some time, but I soon gathered a steady pace. It seems all of the 150 stories follow a very consistent format. Each uses simple sentence structures. Length is always short enough to infer the meaning and content of each sentence. The glossaries at the end of each story don't seem to correspond to the difficulty of the words within.

In about a month I completed A1 and added an A2 deck. At this point it became difficult to motivate myself to continue reading this book. I read through the first 44 and skipped around the remainder to make sure I wasn't missing something.

To its credit, I think the variety in topics works well. Maybe some wilder ideas could have been explored. It's good for reading aloud. I think the best improvement would be to gradually increase the story length over the course of the book, maybe having 50 at most.

It's perhaps best suited to someone that learns very methodically or at a slow pace, with much regularity and a unique sort of patience. Reading one or a few each day is good practice, but once you get through most of A1 the meanings of unusual words are easy to infer. Well, it's cheap enough to be worth trying for the first few weeks of intensive study.

I'll probably read one or two occasionally. But officially I'll call it quits here. At this point I know there are better resources out there for me.

[Samichtime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories and definitely a2. I like that the acknowledgements were kept in German to show the reader how much he’s progressed! 🥳

[Leanne Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been a a useful resource to learn German. I am my own worst enemy sometimes and self-sabbotaged making progress with this at points in my learning. However, setting mini goals and reviewing stories once language was more familiar meant it became a useful bridging tool once I allowed self doubt to move over. still a bit tricky in places as the nature of German grammar and expression is for all of us learners, but very highly recommended.

[William Turner · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first story is nice
The next 49 are incredibly boring
And half of them have weird police-propaganda undertones
I will not continue

[Ayse Serra Isil · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was such a great book to read. Easy to follow. There are reoccuring words which help me to see whether I successfully retrieve the words. It lasted more than I expected but such a great experience after all. Would be perfect if it has Anki List of the words as well.
Thank you Philipp

[MS E FARRER · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really useful book to help with learning German. It covered many different situations and had useful help with the vocabulary. I have bought another book by this author so that I can continue to improve.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and Useful

I am working on my German, and found this book to be very helpful. The stories were written at a level that I could understand, and I liked the glossary at the end of each story that helped to introduce new words. Can’t wait to read the next one!

[Hind91 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!!
I highly recommend to anyone trying to improve their german by reading.
Big thanks Philipp Eich.

[daniel canales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for beginners

Perfect for those starting to learn german. 150 short and easy to understand stories filled with useful vocabulary. Totally recommended!

[Javier González · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing book!

[Joseph Hirsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Becoming Fluent in German” claims it offers 150 short stories, and while each “story” is usually only a single paragraph, somehow it’s enough. There’s a theory among linguistics currently popular that the paragraph, instead of the sentence, is the locus of important structures related to thought and human expression. And while getting into those details would be a little too involved for a review of what’s essentially a workbook, it’s still worth noting the idea, as the paragraphs chosen here are well-crafted.
Each story/paragraph/chapter (call them what you will) deals with a different theme, character, or situation. Some describe moving from one city to another; others describe visiting fairs, traveling abroad, or starting new relationships. A couple lean toward the surreal, describing the details of dreams or coincidences. There’s nothing too unheimlich, though, or deep, and no character featured in one story carries over to the next.
After each story/paragraph/chapter, there’s a small Wortschatz/Vocab section, featuring phrases, idioms, and words used in the text perhaps unfamiliar to the beginner-intermediate German student. This is followed by a short series of questions to test one’s comprehension and retention of the story material.
Nothing earthshattering or groundbreaking here, but the brevity of the pieces probably makes it ideal for teaching precocious gradeschool students, on-target high-schoolers, or college kids who need some remediation. It’s a sad fact, but “the crisis of competency” rearing its ugly head in various realms from STEM to engineering, is showing up in the language arts. Throw in internet and smartphone-fried synapses and SSRI-rewired dendrites and you’ll be lucky if you can get some of your less inclined/motivated students even through the paragraphs. Sad but true. Recommended, regardless.

[Serdar Poirot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almanca öğrenmek isteyenler için kısa kısa 150 tane hikaye içeren oldukça güzel bir kitap. Her hikayenin sonunda öğrenmeyi pekiştirme için bazı sorular bulunuyor. Ayrıca hikaye içindeki bazı kelimelerin İngilizce anlamları da veriliyor hikayenin sonunda. Cüzdan kaybetme, yolculuk gibi bazı konular birden çok kez anlatılsa da genelde sade hikayelere sahip. Almanca öğrenmek isteyenlerin mutlaka okuması gereken kitaplardan biri.

[JP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for its stated purpose.

[Nicolas Galler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gut um Leseverständnis zu verbessern

Das Buch was einfach zu lesen für einen Anfänger und es hat mir bei meinem Deutschlernen sehr geholfen. Vielen Dank für dieses Buch.

[Alayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely little stories

I really enjoyed reading these short stories and they have definitely helped me to improve my German vocabulary and grammar.

[Arszania]

Boring