German language textbook: which one is better to choose? Study guides for learning German Study guide for students in German
Ural Socio-Economic Institute of the Academy of Labor and Social Relations
Department of Foreign Languages
WIR LERNEN DEUTSCH SELBSTSTÄNDIG
A manual on the German language for independent work of students
Chelyabinsk
Wir lernen Deutsch selbstständig: A manual on the German language for independent work of students / Compiled by: L.P. Borovkova; UrSEI ATiSO.
– Chelyabinsk, 2009. – 108 p.
IN The manual outlines basic grammatical information in the discipline, which students of all forms of education can study independently in preparation for tests and exams in the German language.
The manual contains educational material on grammar, exercises for consolidating grammatical material, tests, topics for oral expression, texts for independent reading and translation.
The materials of the manual can be used in teaching the discipline “German” for all forms of education.
The textbook is developed on the basis of State educational standards.
State Pedagogical University Semenova L.A., Art. Lecturer, Department of Foreign Languages, USEI
© Ural Socio-Economic Institute of the Academy of Labor and Social Relations, 2009
© Borovkova L.P., 2009
Preface
This manual was developed on the basis of state educational standards and is intended primarily for distance learning students who study German mainly on their own. It consists of two parts and includes grammatical material necessary for completing tests No. 1 and No. 2, training exercises for all grammatical topics, tests, texts for oral expression and questions for them, texts for independent reading, a table of the most common forms of strong and irregular verbs.
The manual will help the student prepare for tests and exams established by the foreign language curriculum, obtain the necessary information from authentic texts and use it for real communication.
The materials in the manual can be used by teachers and students of all forms of education, since the manual contains many interesting and educational tasks: for example, degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs in proverbs, subordinate clauses in economic concepts, informative texts, samples of writing business letters and biographies in the form tables and free presentation.
§ 1. Proposal
As in Russian, sentences in German are divided into declarative, interrogative, imperative (imperative) and exclamatory. In German, each of these types of sentences is characterized by a special word order.
Word order in an independent declarative sentence
A declarative sentence contains information about some facts. The sentence can be affirmative or negative.
In a declarative sentence, there is a distinction between direct and reverse word order. With direct and reverse word order, the predicate (its conjugated part) comes in second place.
In direct word order, the subject precedes the predicate, that is, it comes first. In reverse word order, the subject is placed immediately after the predicate (its conjugated part). The first place in the sentence in this case is occupied by some minor member of the sentence.
Direct word order:
Wir blieben einen Monat in Deutschland. – We stayed for a month in Germany.
Reverse word order:
In Hamburg kam der Zug mit Verspätung an. – The train arrived in Hamburg late.
Word order in a question sentence
With an interrogative sentence, the speaker asks for some information that he does not have.
In an interrogative sentence without a question word, the predicate (its conjugated part) comes first, the subject follows. To answer such questions, use ja (yes) or nein (no).
Studieren Sie Finanzwesen? – Ja, ich studiere Finan zwesen. Nein, ich studiere
Finanzwesen nicht.
In German, when answering a question with a negative, one of two negatives is used (nein or doch), depending on whether
whether what is being asked in the question is confirmed or not. In Russian, “no” is used in both cases, cf.:
Kannst du nicht Klavier spielen? |
Can you play the piano? |
|
- Doch, ich kann. |
No, I can. |
|
- Nein, ich kann nicht. |
No, I can't. |
In an interrogative sentence with a question word, the first place is taken by the question word (wer? who?, was? what?, wo? where?, etc.) in the second place is the predicate (its conjugated part), followed by the subject:
Wo studieren Sie? - Where are you studying?
Wann hat der Unterricht begonnen? – When did classes start?
Word order in an exclamatory sentence
With the help of an exclamatory sentence, the speaker expresses his feelings (joy, fear, annoyance, etc.). The word order in these
Word order in an incentive (imperative) sentence
An incentive sentence expresses a request, demand, order, prohibition, etc. In the first place in the incentive sentence there is a predicate verb in the imperative form.
Entschuldige bitte!
Kinder, geht in Schwimmbad
Machen Sie bitte das Fenster zu!
Machen wir Schluss
– Excuse me please!
– Children, go to the pool!
– Please close the window!
– Let's finish!
Exercise 1
Determine the type of sentences and translate them into Russian.
1. Die Verkäufer bieten einen günstigen Preis.
2. Testen die Fachleute das Auto?
3. Was senden die Mieter dem Hausbesitzer?
4. Regele deine Stuerangelegenheiten selbst!
5. Jetzt zweifle ich an der Wahrheit seiner Aussage nicht.
6. Schnallen Sie sich bitte an!
7. Vor wem hast du Angst?
8. Der Deutschlandfunk sendet in deutscher Sprache und in 14 europäischen Fremdsprachen.
9. Bestellen wir dieses Buch telefonisch!
10.Darf ich Sie zum Mittagessen einladen?
11.Wie glänzt die Sonne!
12.Das ist aber viel Geld!
13.Was Sie nicht sagen!
Exercise 2
Make sentences from these words. Translate into Russian.
1.studieren, viele Studenten, jetzt, am sozial-ökon omischen Institut. 2.die Studenten, lernen, Deutsch, gern?
3.von Beruf, bist, was, du? 4.langsam, sprechen, bitte, Sie! 5.heißt, wie, spassibo, auf deutsch? 6.wünsche, dir, ich, alles Gute. 7.zahlen, wir, jeden Monat, Steuern.
8.mit diesem Bus, fahre, zum Bahnhof!
9.den Text, wiederholt, noch einmal, die Studentin. 10.du, warum, antwortest, nicht?
Exercise 3
Insert the question words given below the line. 1… machst du denn?
2... alt bist du?
3...gehst du? Ins Kino?
4... willst du jetzt schon gehen? Wir haben noch Zeit!
5... einen Pullover soll ich anziehen?
6... Buch willst du lesen?
7... Bücher soll ich ausleihen? Drei oder vier?
8... fängt der Film an? Um acht Uhr?
9...hat hier seine Brieftasche liegen lassen?
10...dient ein Messer?
11...grüßt du denn? Dieses Gesicht kommt mir gar n icht bekannt vor!
12...bist du denn begegnet?
13... Pullover ist das? Peters oder Karins Pullover?
14...gehört die Jacke da?
15...Kleid gefällt dir besser? Das rote oder das b laue?
17...kommt der Zug an?
18...sagst du dazu?
19...komme ich am besten zum Bahnhof? Mit dem Taxi oder mit der
20...kommt dieser Brief? Aus England?
woher, wie, wo, wieviel, was, welches, warum, wem, wen, wozu, was für,
wann, wer, wohin, wessen.
§ 2. Noun
As in Russian, every noun in German belongs to a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine or neuter. A feature of the German language is the presence of an article - a word accompanying a noun.
There are definite articles: der, die, das and indefinite articles – ein, eine, ein. For the plural of nouns of all genders, the article die. The article plays an important role. He declines and thereby indicates the gender, number and case of the noun, the familiarity, and uncertainty of this noun for the speaker.
There are four cases in German:
1. The nominative case (der Nominativ) answers the questions wer? who?, was? What?
2. The genitive case (der Genitiv) answers the question wessen? whose? whose? whose? whose?
3. The dative case (der Dativ) answers the question (wem?) to whom? 4. The accusative case (der Akkusativ) answers the question of whom? (wen?), (was?) what?
Declension of the article |
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Singular |
Plural |
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for all births |
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def. undefined def. cont. def. undefined |
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Note: The indefinite article does not have a plural form.
Types of noun declension
Depending on the case endings in the singular, there are three types of declension of nouns:
Strong declension (ending -(e)s in the genitive);
Weak declension (ending -en in all cases except the nominative);
- noun declension feminine (no case endings).
Declension of names |
||||
nouns |
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bowing |
declination |
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female |
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Strong declension of nouns
A sign of strong declension of nouns is the ending -(e)s in the genitive.
All neuter nouns and most of the masculine nouns belong to this type of declension:
cases, except for the nominative.
TO This type of declination includes only masculine nouns:
Animated ending in -e: der Rabe, der Knabe, der Genosse;
- group of nouns: der Held, der Herr, der Mensch, der Hirt, der Bär, der Narr, der Tor;
- Foreign nounsorigin with suffixes:-ant, -at, -ent, -et, -ist, -ot, -nom with emphasis on this suffix.
Weak nouns are declined as follows:
Declension of feminine nouns
The sign of declension of feminine nouns is lack of endings in all cases. All feminine nouns belong to this type of declension. They bow as follows:
Plural of nouns
Most German nouns form their plural using suffixes that distinguish this form from the singular form. Sometimes the addition of a suffix is accompanied by an umlaut of the root vowel a, o, u, au. In some cases there is no suffix, but there is an umlaut. Along with this, there are nouns whose plural form is no different from the singular form, except for the article.
Depending on the presence or absence of a suffix, there are four main types of plural formation:
I – with the suffix -e, often with an umlaut of the root vowel; II – with the suffix -en, without umlaut;
III – with the suffix -er and umlaut;
IV – without a suffix, sometimes with an umlaut.
In addition to these four types, there is also a special type of pluralization of some nouns using the suffix -s.
I type of plural formation
WITH using the suffix-e plural form:
a) most nouns are masculine (with or without umlaut):der Arzt doctor – die Ärzte, der Sohn – die Söhne.
This group also includes masculine nouns of foreign origin with stressed suffixes -ar, -är, -ier, -eur, -al, -og, -at, etc.: der Dekan – die Dekane, der Dialog – die Dialoge.
b) group of feminine nouns (with umlaut): die Hand – die
Hände, die Wand wall – die Wände.
c) many neuter nouns (without umlaut): das Jahr – die
Jahre, das Heft notebook – die Hefte.
Many foreign neuter nouns also belong to this group: das Problem – die Probleme, das
They say that a book is a source of knowledge. Of course it is. But do not forget that a book can also become a source of headaches and obstacles if you do not approach the choice of literature for learning seriously and responsibly. We will talk about how to choose the right German language textbook in this article.
Finding a German language textbook is as difficult as finding a good German teacher. Not because there is no choice. Quite the opposite: almost every reputable German publishing house has now published about a dozen books on learning the German language. Moreover, most of them are compiled quite well.
Such literature is not written by random people at all. As a rule, its authors are well-educated Germans who are also experienced teachers.
The point of their entire professional life, which takes them at least 8 hours a day for 5 days a week, is to help you become smarter people than before.
And for this, they have in stock many techniques and rules developed over the years, which they willingly implement in such books to make your learning process as effective as possible.
Good German textbooks are usually not cheap. You definitely don’t need to buy everything. The money you save is much better invested in a few private lessons with a good tutor. This will definitely be more useful.
On the other hand, there is no universal book “for all occasions” in life. Firstly, it all depends on your level of knowledge of the German language. What is your current level: beginner, intermediate or advanced? Our teacher will help you answer this question during a free trial lesson.
It would be unwise to buy a book for a high level if you cannot yet distinguish the nominative from the accusative. But there is also no point in choosing an overly simple textbook - it simply will not bring any benefit.
Secondly, after finding out your level of knowledge, it is important to determine for what purpose you are learning German. Do you need to pass an exam at a certain level? Do you want to learn how to maintain a basic everyday conversation with a German?
Do you need it for a tourist trip or business communication with a business partner? Or is your task simply to improve your knowledge of German grammar? The choice of textbook will also greatly depend on this.
Finally, it is important to consider the age of the student. Among the German language textbooks there are books for schoolchildren and books for adults. In principle, you can learn from both. But when a forty-year-old person discusses a children's text read from a corresponding book with a teacher in class, this may not be very productive.
German textbook: first purchase
It’s good to start “collecting” literature for learning the German language from dictionaries. Firstly, a good copy can serve you for many years and outlast all the textbooks, from which a diligent student will quickly grow out of it, like children’s clothes. Secondly, choosing dictionaries that suit you is not so difficult, since there are relatively few truly good books in this category.
In the process of learning German, you will need two types of dictionaries: bilingual and explanatory. For some other language, perhaps, you can get by with just a bilingual dictionary. But not in the case of the German language. To bring your knowledge to at least an average level, one way or another you will have to actively use an explanatory dictionary.
The fact is that a huge number of words in this language simply have no Russian analogues. How, for example, would you translate the word “place” into German? This can be done in different ways, depending on the context in which it is used.
It corresponds to four analogues, which have different meanings: Stelle, Stätte, Platz and Ort. To use these words correctly, you need to turn to an explanatory dictionary and look up their meaning.
This kind of literature also comes in two types: for German-speaking people and for foreigners. The first option, of course, is much better, but it is only for “advanced users”. The "Lite Version" for German learners contains simpler wording so that it is easier to understand for people with limited vocabulary.
If you are not looking for easy ways and want to immediately purchase an explanatory dictionary for Germans, then in this case it is better to choose books from the Duden publishing house. They are so well done that German law recognizes their dictionaries as official reference books. The Duden Universalwörterbuch dictionary, which contains more than 120 thousand words, is enough for even the most demanding student for all occasions.
Bilingual German dictionaries
In addition to an explanatory dictionary of the German language, it is also useful to buy the “traditional” version with translation into Russian and (or) vice versa. The choice here is not very dense. Although recently a lot of similar literature has appeared, published by both Russian and German publishing houses.
Let us warn you right away that most of these books are of rather mediocre quality. If you do not want to use a dictionary with errors, it is better to opt for proven copies compiled back in Soviet times. This literature was made conscientiously, was repeatedly checked and went through many editions.
In our opinion, there is no point in buying a dictionary with less than 15-20 thousand words. It is better to immediately buy a good book that will last for the entire period of learning German.
This can be considered a large German-Russian dictionary edited by Lane and Maltseva. It contains 95 thousand words, and this stock will last you for a long time. If you also need a reverse translation, then use Lein’s Russian-German dictionary with 53 thousand words.
Classic German textbooks that everyone knows
There are plenty of good German textbooks on the market today. It’s best to choose the one that, firstly, suits you, and, secondly, you like. In most cases, the highest quality copies are published by German publishers. But, as a rule, they can be found on the Russian market without any difficulties.
The permanent leader in the sales market of German textbooks in Russia is the manual “Themen neu” (or “Themen aktuell”, if you buy a new edition). You can start with them starting from the Grundstufe level (entry level).
These books are intended primarily for those who want to work more with German texts and authentic vocabulary. If you study this literature well for some time, your active vocabulary will reach a completely new level.
Please note that the manual will have the greatest effect if you study it in a group or with a tutor. If you plan to educate yourself, it is better to choose other literature.
Another good textbook that is very popular in American schools today is a manual called “Komm mit!” In the USA it competes equally with Themen neu and Themen aktuell, and teachers in this country tend to choose one or the other textbook, depending on their own preferences. In addition, very often both books are used together.
With "Komm mit!" It's very easy to learn German vocabulary. The material in the textbook is presented in a simple and playful manner, and the materials and phrases used in the book are as close as possible to “real German life.”
It is better to buy it with additional materials. In particular, you will probably need an audio CD, since it is impossible to learn correct German pronunciation from the pages of a “paper textbook”.
If you want to improve your knowledge of German grammar, then we advise you to pay attention to the textbook with the cumbersome title “Lehr- und Übungsbuch der deutschen Grammatik”. It is much easier to identify it by its characteristic yellow cover.
The Hueber publishing house also came up with a shortened name for it: “Die neue Gelbe” for the old edition and “Die Gelbe aktuell” for the new one. This book is also written entirely in German and is best used by students with intermediate to advanced levels of German grammar.
For the same case, there is another textbook called “Deutsche Grammatik”, which is published by Langenscheidt. This manual presents grammar in a very consistent and comprehensive manner. As an appendix, there is a book with exercises, by performing which the student can consolidate his knowledge of grammar.
Let us immediately note that they are quite complex and are intended for students with an advanced level of knowledge, despite the fact that the book itself states that they are also suitable for “intermediate students”. But if you want to finally understand German grammar once and for all, then this book is a must for you.
German textbooks for children
If you need literature for children, you can pay attention to the textbook “Das neue Deutschmobil”. It is published by the German book company Klett. This manual corresponds to the Grundstufe level and is designed with an emphasis on a children's audience.
The material in it is presented in a fun and entertaining way, but the quality and information content do not suffer at all. "Das neue Deutschmobil" can be used in preparation for the Goethe Institute exams. In addition to this workbook, it also comes with an active vocabulary dictionary, a writing exercise book, and audio materials.
Tutorials and self-study of the German language
It is almost impossible to master the German language alone. As a rule, people rush to learn a foreign language on their own, trying to save money or wanting to master it as quickly as possible, say, in a few weeks or two to three months.
We hasten to disappoint you, because classes with a good German tutor, during which both the teacher and the student give their best, will save you much more money and time than if you try to learn on your own.
Those who want to master the German language alone at supersonic speed will fail with a 98% probability. Unless you are a polyglot and by this time have managed to master at least 15-20 more European languages. But in this case, you would hardly start reading this article.
A teacher is also not needed for that person who is comfortable deepening his knowledge of the German language by enjoying reading Goethe's Faust in the original. But auxiliary textbooks are also unlikely to be of use to him.
Buying almost any of today's "super effective" German tutorials is actually a waste of money. It is much better to purchase another dictionary or German grammar book instead.
As a last resort, such a manual can be used as a supplement to the main textbooks. But before you buy it, it is better to consult your teacher. Our tutors can also give you advice on choosing a German language textbook. Sign up for a free trial lesson and find out for yourself.
Currently, there are a huge number of textbooks on the German language. First of all, it is necessary to separate textbooks intended for studying the language with a teacher, and textbooks for self-studying the language.
1.
2.
Everyone knows very well that the people of Germany are a nation that is very careful about everything they do. For this reason, their life and culture are seriously ordered. This principle also applies to how people from other countries should learn their native language, German. The process of learning a language, according to the Germans, should consist of three levels: Grundstufe - basic, Mittelstufe - intermediate, Oberstufe - highest. After completing each level you must pass an exam. Its results show the degree of knowledge achieved, for which a proper certificate is subsequently issued. Those people who want to work in German companies, live or study must know this, since the only document that confirms your knowledge of this language is one of these certificates. Exams are held at the Goethe Institut both in Germany and in any other country. Anyone can try their hand at passing this certificate exam; however, training at the Goethe Institute is not a prerequisite. Thanks to the established form of dividing knowledge into certain levels, it is very easy for those who want to learn German to find literature that will help in solving this problem. All textbooks intended for foreigners to learn German are deliberately designed in accordance with the requirements that apply to any level of study. It should be noted that such a unit is based on significant practice of teaching German to foreign people over a long period of time and is considered very successful and productive.
The literature on learning the German language, which is developed by Russian compilers, usually does not sufficiently consider real-life cases that happen to people everywhere in Germany. In addition, many of them do not have the division of knowledge into levels described above. This factor must be taken into account when choosing a teaching aid. Therefore, we recommend using books whose authors are German compilers.
