The Everything Essential German Book: All You Need to Learn German in No Time! (Everything® Series)

Of the dozens of language books I've used in the past to supplement my beginning language learning of several different languages, I consider this one the absolute best I've used. It was exactly what I wanted, an explanation of basic grammar, with just the right amount of examples, for a beginner in the language. Because it is not an exhaustive grammar book, and written in an extremely readable style, it is a joy to read, and extremely helpful. My learning process of late is usually a combination of starting with Pimsleur, if available, especially if the Unlimited app is available, and later supplementing it with LingQ, italki tutors, (insert language)Pod101, JTLanguage (disclaimer--I wrote this one), TPRS books, and whatever good teachers or material I can find on YouTube. It's frustrating that some sources like Pimsleur expect you to infer the grammar, so this is a great resource to let you go back and actually understand better what you were supposed to infer. I see that there are other "Everything Essential" books. I'll check them out. It would be nice if Mr. Swick, for other languages that he doesn't have expertise in, could supervise others who do to create books in this same style and format, as he obviously has the know-how for it.

This 2013 Book clearly presents the basics, such as German pronunciation, the four cases, common verb tenses, modal verbs, separable prefix verbs, adjective endings, indirect objects, word order, numbers, and subjunctive. This is a succinct first German book good for self-study. Type size and good paper are very readable. Book is 5.25 inches wide, 8.5 inches tall, and .75 inch thick, with 256 total pages. Book has Answers in the back to its exercises. Book has good coverage of basic information in a readable, fast format, using explanations, sentences, exercises, and tables where useful.

Good content for self-study German. It is perfect if the quallity of paper can be improved.

I appreciated the author's approach of comparing characteristics of the English language with that of German, so the new grammar and vocabulary did not seem so unusual. I also liked the conversational style which made for easy reading.

This explains a lot of the grammar encountered in the German language in easy to understand language. The clues for determining the gender of nouns is great.

One of the better German books I've had to work with.

Essentially, the text of this volume is good and very helpful. Thus far (not finished yet) I would give the writing 5 stars. However, the paper quality is near to being newsprint and the the print itself is way too light. They must have been saving the ink for something else. If you get the book cheap, it is worth it but the exact same volume in hardback with readable type and good paper would be great and very useful. Too bad the author used cheap materials for his book. Three stars is the best I can do.

I bought this book two years ago in hopes of re-learning my high school German. I just picked it up and began to learn...and this is an exemplary book. Easy to learn, well-paced textual materials, and good exercises. It doesn't overwhelm, but progresses at a pace that keeps you engaged. German can be a difficult language with many exceptions to the rule...but this book definitely helps. Glad I bought it!

Its a good book for beginners. And could be very good secondary book. I do not mean it's bad book to be primary book. I just thought from where I at level it looks like bit pacey and hence falls in-between Beginners-Intermidiate level. . There are other Ed Swick books which are beginners kind off and also intermediate to advanced level. Also there is second edition of same book. Which is bit costly and I went for this lower price edition book. Only one chapter completely missing and one is available in bits and pieces in first edition. So its upto you which edition to go for. (And second edition comes with audio CD and this one is not supplied with one, hence the cost,rest material is more or less same) . Book is fairly small in size and easy to carry around. . Book was packed well and bookmark was provided. Though book mark was not traditional one but advertisement from Amazon to buy Kindle which I didn't like. Provide proper book marks. . Delivery was good and quick by Amazon. Recommended (as per student/readers requirements)

very helpful

I loved the book, I found it very helpful and easy to read. I do wish it had a bit more with regards of grammar. But still very good for a beginner or even for an intermediate German speaker level. I have learnt a lot and found some helpful tips. I would suggest this to be used a secondary book whilst learning the Grammar of the German language. But i am glad to have this book in my German language learning collection.

I bought this book, having found it previously at my local library. I have been doing an on-line course which is good but missing easily referenced and essential grammar information which I have found in this book.

im satisfied