Learn German With Stories: Sturm auf Sylt – 10 Short Stories For Beginners (Dino lernt Deutsch - Simple German Short Stories For Beginners)

Dino lernt Deutsch #12

by André Klein

In this sequel to Lockdown in Liechtenstein , Dino joins a motley crew of travelers on a meme-fueled pilgrimage to the northernmost German Island of Sylt. Disillusioned by a post-pandemic world and growing financial woes, punks, nerds and slackers from all over the republic have banded together to crash the favorite holiday spot of the super rich and famous. When Dino and his new-found friends cross paths with a local entrepreneur they are plunged headlong into a world of pecuniary promises, but all that glitters is not gold. Explore the Island of Sylt, learn about local sights, culture, cuisine and improve your German effortlessly along the way.

Genres: German Literature

179 pages, Paperback

Published October 16, 2022

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

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final chapter in the Dino saga. Possibly my favorite book of the series.

[Dr Dabbler · Rating 4 out of 5]

André Klein does it again, providing entertaining reading in German for those keen to improve their skills. I wouldn't call this volume a beginner volume anymore. The author has stated that throughout the series he is slowly ramping things up from CEFR A1/A2 in Volume 1 to B2 in this volume.

I like following the adventures of Dino, who seems to be an innocent drifter in life, and the author puts contemporary issues into the stories, such as refugees in an earlier book, the pandemic lockdowns in the previous volume, and now post-pandemic issues here. The first few stories/chapters in this volume cruise along, and then things get pretty tense in the last few.

Once hooked on the Dino series, one feels obliged to improve one's German just to keep reading them as they get more challenging. What a nasty teacher trick!

[Nancy Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the long-awaited next adventure of Dino, a relatable character who kind of suffers from "failure to launch" and uses the time finding himself to travel all over Germany and Austria, and even to Lichtenstein and Italy (Dino's home country). In this story he travels with some buddies by train to Germany's northernmost island of Sylt. Although none can afford posh accommodations, they manage to enjoy themselves sleeping on the beach in "Strandkorbe." They meet up with some high tech entrepreneurs and get entangled in a financial crisis. I found this story to be as enjoyable as the earlier tales of Dino and a great way to learn more German. The glossaries are extremely helpful, as well as the comprehension questions at the end of each chapter. Andre Klein is very good at making learning German fun. Another five-star book. And we hope for more!

[Ian Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm on my third reading of this book now - I think it's my favorite of all the "Dino" stories. Every time I re-read these books I get more from them. When I first read Sturm auf Sylt, I found it a little too difficult for me, but on second reading, a lot more words have filtered into my long-term memory, and this time it was a breeze. André Klein's writing style just gets better and better, and I fell in love with the cast of characters. I didn't want this one to end: I really wanted to spend more time with the bottle-deposit-obsessed punk Dörte and her gang of misfits.

I do wonder why the book doesn't include the lyrics to the famous "Westerland" song by Die Ärzte: "Diese eine Liebe wird' nie zu Ende geh'n. Wann werd' ich sie Wiedersehen? Oh ich hab' solche Sehnsucht. Ich verliere den Verstand. Ich will wieder an die Nordsee. Ich will zurück nach Westerland." I'm guessing copyright issues. Still, every time I read the book that song plays in my head.