Rating: 
Summary: Excellent despite a few minor flaws
Review: Of course, everyone learns a bit differently, but I, for one, like the fact that all the dialogue is spoken quickly from the get go. Having lived abroad (France & Russia) I can attest that hearing the language spoken slowly during your studies only handicaps you severely later on. Much better to dive in and get used to it. The object is to communicate with Germans, regardless of their accents, speed of talking or diction.Also, there is plenty of English during the oral translation drills. It is just that the tape does not waste your time doing a spoken English translation of the initial dialgue. Again, it is better to just listen in German and not let English become a crutch. My only complaint is that the book is rife with typograpical errors. Intitiallly, when you do not know the language, you can get a bit confused. Later on, it is just annoying. However, this program is so good, that I still feel it warrants five stars. Alright, maybe four and one half.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent despite a few minor flaws
Review: Of course, everyone learns a bit differently, but I, for one, like the fact that all the dialogue is spoken quickly from the get go. Having lived abroad (France & Russia) I can attest that hearing the language spoken slowly during your studies only handicaps you severely later on. Much better to dive in and get used to it. The object is to communicate with Germans, regardless of their accents, speed of talking or diction. Also, there is plenty of English during the oral translation drills. It is just that the tape does not waste your time doing a spoken English translation of the initial dialgue. Again, it is better to just listen in German and not let English become a crutch. My only complaint is that the book is rife with typograpical errors. Intitiallly, when you do not know the language, you can get a bit confused. Later on, it is just annoying. However, this program is so good, that I still feel it warrants five stars. Alright, maybe four and one half.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent language program with a few flaws..........
Review: This 15 CD program provides all the necessities for becoming competent in the german language.Native speakers provide the opportunity for pronunciation and listening comprehension practice.Grammar essentials are also present. However,I do have two criticisms,one major,one minor. First,the accompanying book is RIFE with spelling and typeset errors,which can be confusing. Secondly,some of the phrases in the drills are rather silly. Would one ever REALLY say"I have many pretty french newspapers"?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent despite a few minor flaws
Review: This is the absolute most straightforward way to learn. I have looked at literally dozens of different programs and systems none of which can even come close to competing. I also speak French, Spanish and some Italian and Portuguese and have studied those using their respective programs. I read here that someone said they preffered the Mastering Italian better than the Mastering German and I would like to put in my word about that. The German program does require more effort. But it pays off, by the 6th tape you will find yourself speaking better than the majority of third and fourth year college students as opposed to the Italian where they actually waste a great deal of time on the tapes actually reading the English that has been written there. You will find no such waste of time on the German. This is clearly the only way to learn German short of travelling to Europe.
Rating:
Summary: The Absolute Best
Review: This is the absolute most straightforward way to learn. I have looked at literally dozens of different programs and systems none of which can even come close to competing. I also speak French, Spanish and some Italian and Portuguese and have studied those using their respective programs. I read here that someone said they preffered the Mastering Italian better than the Mastering German and I would like to put in my word about that. The German program does require more effort. But it pays off, by the 6th tape you will find yourself speaking better than the majority of third and fourth year college students as opposed to the Italian where they actually waste a great deal of time on the tapes actually reading the English that has been written there. You will find no such waste of time on the German. This is clearly the only way to learn German short of travelling to Europe.
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