Author: Andy Rowell

There a number of German grammars to consider:

But the latest resource is from June 2021 is:

Handbook of Reading Theological German
by Christopher Ryan Jones and Katharina Hirt

(1) April Wilson, German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German.  It is the textbook for about half of German reading courses.  It is the one I highly recommend.  See my review below.

(2) Hubert Jannach and Richard Alan Korb, German for Reading Knowledge, there is now a new edition known as Richard Alan Korb, Jannach’s German for Reading Knowledge.  It is the textbook used in the other half of German reading courses.  I have used it extensively and do not recommend it.  See my review below.

(3) Karl C. Sandberg and John R. Wendel, German for Reading; A Programmed Approach for Graduate and Undergraduate Reading Courses.  It is very good but out of print. It can be found at some libraries.

(4) J. D. Manton, Introduction to Theological German: A Beginner’s Course for Theological Students. The previous generation of scholars used this book but it hasn’t been updated since 1971.

(*) Helmut W. Ziefle, Modern Theological German: A Reader and Dictionary is not a grammar.  It is a collection of short German theological readings.  But it does not give the English translation “answer” which is annoying when you are studying by yourself.  It has a few multiple choice questions with which to quiz yourself.  You can only use this book after you have finished working with a grammar or you will be annoyed.  The dictionary is wonderful for learning the theological meaning of a word.  (See my review below).

German Quickly Review

During the summer of 2007, I started out with no German, worked through German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German by April Wilson in 30 days, used no other resources, and could read German with a dictionary at that point.

I followed the 30 day schedule on page 265 of German Quickly.  It took me about 2-4 hours to do one day’s work, plus another 1-2 hours studying vocabulary.  I tried to learn more vocabulary than just the starred * required words but I think looking back I would have been better off learning the * required words perfectly.

I made flashcards on flashcardexchange.com for all of the vocabulary words.  If you get a $20 lifetime subscription at flashcardexchange.com you can download and print out flashcards for all of the words for free–my gift to you.  Or you can do online quizzing there for free without buying any subscription.  On that site, search the tag “quickly” for all of the German Quickly flashcards.  Or search for “German Quickly” with the title search. See my page on Tips on Vocabulary Memorization

This book is specifically designed for people learning to read German.  You will not learn to hear or speak it.  There are other resources like Rosetta Stone software and Pimsleur German I Comprehensive CDs for that.  See my page Audio Resources and Computer Interactive Software

I should also mention that it is easier to use a book like this if you have already learned another foreign language in the past because you will be more familiar with English grammar. But most graduate students will already have done so.  This grammar covers a lot of ground.  It assumes you are beginning with no German and equips you with a detailed understanding of German grammar.  The pace is quick especially in contrast to Rosetta Stone (computer software) and Pimsleur (audio) which feature a huge amount of repetition and review.  Because of this quick pace, it is very difficult to remember after chapter 36 everything you learned earlier.  Therefore practice translating with regular referral to the grammar will be required after finishing the book.

What sets Wilson’s book apart is her thorough explanations and most importantly, sample sentences that are thought-provoking and humorous.

Most major universities and seminaries do offer reading courses in German which, (like this book), just teach you to read German.  See my page Courses in North America

The author of this book, April Wilson, has for many years taught University of Chicago students to read German.  Obviously, if you have the choice, I would recommend taking a course because it is difficult to have the self-discipline to tackle learning a language by yourself.  But if you are like me and want to learn to read German during a time when no class is being offered, this is the book.  Or if you are a professor and looking for a textbook for your German reading course, I would highly recommend the book.  See the various syllabi–almost all of who use Wilson’s book–at my page Courses in North America

April Wilson used to email the full answer key to people and a list of corrections. She apparently no longer does that. I have been providing this service to people for a number of years. I have decided now that other people have posted the answer key online that I would as well so that I no longer have to respond to email inquiries regarding this.

Download Answer Key – German Quickly by April Wilson.pdf (160.6K)

Download Corrections – Germany Quickly by April Wilson.pdf (136.8K)

I also audited a German reading course at Duke called GERMAN 201: GERMAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH I.  We used German for Reading Knowledge by Hubert Jannach and Richard Alan Korb.  We worked through two lessons per week.  There are 30 lessons in the book and so the class is two semesters long.  This is also the book that my friend used at Boston University last spring.  I would not recommend the book over German Quickly.  It has less explanation than German Quickly and you have to look up lots of words in the back of the book to do the exercises.  The exercises also do not systematically test what you learned in that lesson.  For example, there are lots of past tense verbs used in the practice sentences before we have covered that in the explanations.

Below I have pasted my reviews of German for Reading Knowledge (which I do not recommend) and Modern Theological German which is useful for its theological dictionary and somewhat useful for translation practice.

German for Reading Knowledge Review

Here is my Amazon.com review of German for Reading Knowledge by Hubert Jannach and Richard Alan Korb.

There are better options out there, October 1, 2007

By
Andrew D. Rowell (Durham, NC) – See all my reviews

Though I have heard this text is being used for German reading courses at Boston University and I took a course with this text at Duke University, there are better options available. I used April Wilson’s German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German on my own and found it much more user-friendly and systematic. Wilson teaches German reading courses for University of Chicago graduate students.

In the very first lesson of German for Reading Knowledge, there are a number of words that are untranslated which you have to look up in the back of the book or another dictionary–not exactly a warm welcome.

The chapters cover more than one grammatical concept. They don’t have titles which would indicate what the chapter covers. The practice sentences do not cover all of the material presented in the chapter. The reading selections don’t cover things related to the chapter at all. For example, in the first chapter, past and present tenses are used when those have not been covered yet.

Both this book and Wilson’s are broken up into 30 lesson programs. (Wilson’s book has 36 chapters but she recommends a 30 day program on page 265).

Professors, don’t require this book. You can do better. Look at the Amazon reviews of the hated technical Reading German: A Course Book and Reference Grammar, the out of print but useful German for Reading;: A Programmed Approach for Graduate and Undergraduate Reading Courses and the encouraging reviews of German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German.

Students studying on your own, go with German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German. See the reviews on it at Amazon including mine. Or go with a totally different kind of CD-Rom resource that teaches you how to hear, speak and write German in addition to just reading it such as Rosetta Stone.

Students who are required to use this book, hang in there. It does the job. Be glad you are not using it on your own. There are flashcards available that other people have made at http://www.flashcardexchange.com/search?t=2&q=german+for+reading+knowledge&search=Search

Modern Theological German Review:

Here is my Amazon.com review of Modern Theological German: A Reader and Dictionary by Helmut W. Ziefle

Will not teach you theological German but readings and dictionary are somewhat useful, October 1, 2007

By
Andrew D. Rowell

The book jacket of this book is patently untrue. It says, “This work provides a useful introduction for seminary and graduate students who desire a reading knowledge of the German theological vocabulary.” On the contrary, this book provides theological readings for people who already know German and provides a dictionary of twenty thousand theological terms. If you need to learn theological German, get German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German.

Pay attention to the subtitle of this book. It is indeed “a Reader and Dictionary.” It provides selections from German theologians and gives you some hints on how to translate them. It does not provide an answer key so you will not know if you have done them correctly. There are multiple choice questions after each reading which allow you to check your grammatical accuracy on a few points. These questions however will be useless if you don’t have a basis in German grammar. Furthermore, the multiple choice questions are of limited use because for your exams and work, you will have translation to do. Multiple choice would be far too easy–someone else has already looked up all the vocabulary words for you! I enjoyed translating Barth and Bonhoeffer but I was less familiar with most of the other writers.

The dictionary is on the one hand too large and on the other hand incomplete. It includes 20,000 theological words, far too many to memorize. But it does not include many normal nontheological words so you will need another dictionary in addition to this one (such as Oxford German Dictionary or Collins German Unabridged Dictionary, 7th Edition). The dictionary might of use to you in translating some particularly odd theological terms. I had it on hand for my theological German competency exam.

If you want to learn to read theological German to pass a competency exam, you will need a book that teaches you the basics of reading. The best in my opinion is German Quickly: A Grammar for Reading German. There are 25 reviews posted on Amazon about it.

Finally, do not be deceived by the fact that the book was apparently revised in 1997. It is the same book as was originally published in 1986 but just combined with the 1982 dictionary. (I am almost sure this is correct but I am happy to be corrected by another reviewer if I am wrong about this).

If you already have a grasp of German grammar, Modern Theological German will be of some use to you. Get it at the library.

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The following books are also noted as helpful supplemental books for learning grammar.  Read Amazon.com reviews for more specific advice about their usefulness.

Theological German: Advice and Resources Homepage

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What other books would you recommend for learning theological German?

Note from August 2021: This webpage was created in 2009 and has only been sporadically updated since then.

I highly recommend Rosetta Stone software.  I think this is probably the very best place to start learning German since you need no German to get started.  I also recommend Pimsleur CD’s (or tapes) for the car.

We would all love to speak German but theological students usually do not spend time learning to speak it.  Rather they just learn to read it.  This is similar to the biblical languages Hebrew and Greek which are usually read and not spoken.

But language professor Randall Buth at the Biblical Language Center recommends learning Hebrew, Greek, and German by speaking and hearing it.  He warns that if you don’t cement German in your subconscious with pictures and hear it, you will forget it.

A grammar like German Quickly is specifically designed for people learning to read German.  You will not learn to hear or speak it.  I would highly recommend supplementing that learning with computer and audio resources.

I used Rosetta Stone, the heavily marketed computer interactive software, after using a number of textbooks and taking a number of classes.  I was very impressed with it.  It is wonderful to actually learn how to say things correctly and it is enormously helpful for gaining familiarity with the language.  It is very intuitive and well-done.  The order and photos and variety and functionality are first rate.  I was not expecting such professionalism.

It took me about a month to do Level 1 and another month to do Level 2.  Wikipedia, “Level 1 . . .takes about 24 hours to complete following Rosetta Stone’s recommended course.”  That sounds right to me.  With a strong familiarity with the software, I then motored through Level 3 in only two weeks and Level 4 in three weeks and Level 5 in five weeks.

I would recommend starting with Rosetta Stone and then moving on to classes or German Quickly.  By the end of level 1 or the beginning of level 2, you will begin to be confused why some adjectives have different endings or some other grammar question.  Rosetta Stone tries to teach you the right answers through immersion but it is difficult to pick up on these details.  You will be hungry–I know this sounds crazy–for a grammar book like German Quickly.  The grammar book will be a joy because it will relieve your confusion.  In comparison to German Quickly, Rosetta Stone does not cover a lot of ground quickly.  But what you do cover, you really learn and it is much less painful than a book.  It is extremely helpful for gaining a working knowledge of the language.  But eventually, you will need to study grammar in a class or with a book to read academic writing.

In December 2009, Rosetta Stone added levels 4 and 5 so that now you can buy all 5 levels together for $699 and free shipping (which comes in only 2 days despite the estimate of a week on the website).  Remember each level takes about 24 hours (which took me about a month each at about an hour a day).  They also have offers sometimes for $125 off when you order all five levels.  There is also a “Six month no-risk money-back guarantee when you buy CD-ROM products direct from Rosetta Stone.”

Rosetta Stone also comes with Audio Companion CD’s (like the Pimseleur ones described below) that you can play in the car or on your MP3 player to reinforce what you are learning with the computer software but they are mind-numbingly boring whereas Pimseleur are fun and conversational.

Unfortunately, I do not believe Rosetta Stone or TELL ME MORE GERMAN is available from libraries.

• • Consider also TELL ME MORE German Performance (10 levels from Complete Beginner to Expert) though I tried the “Free Trial” and was not as impressed with it as I was with Rosetta Stone.

• There are also audio resources to supplement your retention of the language that are available at both university and public libraries.  I have used Pimseleur German tapes and CD’s in the car and they have been very helpful.  I would highly recommend them for improving your familiarity with the language, speed, conversational skills, and your intuitive grasp of the language.  They are very well done.  Rosetta Stone is a far more serious program but you need a computer and it is expensive.  For the car, I highly recommend Pimsleur and you can probably get it from your library.  They include lots of repetition.  Only part of it will apply to reading academic German works but the short words (for example, the German words for too, I, you, but, and, not, no, yes) which are so easy to forget will be reinforced.

• See also Eric A. Taub’s article, “The Web Way to Learn a Language” New York Times (January 28, 2010).  Taub describes a number of resources.  He incorrectly suggests the Tell Me More has voice recognition when Rosetta Stone does not.  He writes, “One of RosettaStone’s main competitors, TellMeMore (tellmemore.com), believes it has an advantage because its software not only teaches words and phrases, but includes a speech recognition component that analyses pronunciation, presents a graph of speech, and suggests how to perfect it.” Rosetta Stone products have outstanding voice recognition including the features he mentions.  Otherwise, his article is a nice overview of a number of products.
• Deutsche Welle is sponsored by the German government and seeks to promote the German language and has a number of free resources.  I listened to the 26 episodes of the Radio D podcast (series 1) while I painted a bathroom.  It begins basic but ramps up quickly–probably too quickly–but still might be useful as a supplemental resource.  The stories are interesting.  See also the Deutsch Mobil for mobile phones.
• The BBC, sponsored by Great Britain, also offers free German language learning resources.
• Babbel (out of Germany) is another new option for learning languages.
• LiveMocha is another new startup.
• MIT OpenCourseWare material available for studying German and French.
• Randall Buth, mentioned above, recommends the out-of-print Learnables Basic Structures German Level 1 Set Book & CD.
• There are also free old Foreign Service Institute training German tapes available online in different places like here.  But they are a bit dated.

Conclusion regarding Audio Resources and Computer Interactive Software: I have loved Rosetta Stone.  Language learning is too annoying and difficult at the best of times to mess around with inferior products.  But Rosetta Stone is expensive.  If you are a casual learner, try some of the other options and report back to us.  But if you are more driven or desperate, do Rosetta Stone.  I also highly recommend supplementing your learning with Pimseleur which is great for the car.

Theological German: Advice and Resources Homepage

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What other audio resources and computer interactive software have people you know found successful?

Note from August 2021: This webpage was created in 2009 and has only been sporadically updated since then.