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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent text with not-very- useful tapes
Review: A most comprehensive text of twenty-four units, each containing basic sentences, applicable grammar and various kinds of drills for reinforcement. Many of the drills give you English sentences on one side of the page and the translation to the German on the other side. I found it very useful to look at the English sentence, try to translate it into the German and then check my translation with that of the book. However, there were no directions anywhere on how to use the audiotapes. The tapes have German speakers speak the sentences and the drills, but I see no way to use them independently of the book other than to hear how the words are pronounced. If someone had spoken the drills in English, allowed a moment for me to translate into German, then have the German speaker give the correct translation, I would be able to use the tape without the book in front of me. However, this is not to be. The book has helped me a great deal. Unfortunately, I can't say as much for the tapes.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent text with not-very- useful tapes
Review: A most comprehensive text of twenty-four units, each containing basic sentences, applicable grammar and various kinds of drills for reinforcement. Many of the drills give you English sentences on one side of the page and the translation to the German on the other side. I found it very useful to look at the English sentence, try to translate it into the German and then check my translation with that of the book. However, there were no directions anywhere on how to use the audiotapes. The tapes have German speakers speak the sentences and the drills, but I see no way to use them independently of the book other than to hear how the words are pronounced. If someone had spoken the drills in English, allowed a moment for me to translate into German, then have the German speaker give the correct translation, I would be able to use the tape without the book in front of me. However, this is not to be. The book has helped me a great deal. Unfortunately, I can't say as much for the tapes.
Rating: 
Summary: Simpy the best there is!
Review: I have spent many years searching for ways to bring my German proficiency as close to total fluency as possible. When I found this package I thought I'd give it a try. Five years later, I still use it to keep my skills fresh. Barron's drill approach is the best way, in my opinion, to gain confidence in speach and comprehension. I spent four years in Switzerland on business and had very little difficulty adapting to my new life thanks to my ability to communicate effectively. I would suggest this to anyone who already has a solid foundation in German, but is looking for that extra something.
Rating: 
Summary: Old School Still Works
Review: Purchasing both Level I and II gives you 24 ninety-minute cassettes of audio which is quite a value if you like old-school "overlearning" type of instruction (i.e. rote memorization, repetition practice, lexical drills). It's a dated approach but does work well. The dialog portions are repeated with the student playing different roles in the dialog so the tapes do repeat themselves but are nonetheless a good value for learning German on your own. You'll spend triple the amount getting equivalent instruction from Pimsleur.
Rating:
Summary: Old School Still Works
Review: Purchasing both Level I and II gives you 24 ninety-minute cassettes of audio which is quite a value if you like old-school "overlearning" type of instruction (i.e. rote memorization, repetition practice, lexical drills). It's a dated approach but does work well. The dialog portions are repeated with the student playing different roles in the dialog so the tapes do repeat themselves but are nonetheless a good value for learning German on your own. You'll spend triple the amount getting equivalent instruction from Pimsleur.
Rating:
Summary: The best that I've found
Review: With two days notice, I had to go to Germany on business for a period of 9 months. I only knew at most 10 German words and none of its grammar, so I bought several books before I left. The books I bought were OK but not that great. I came home for a week and bought Barron's Level one. I liked it so much I then bought Level II. I'm almost done with it, and my vocabulary is easily around 1200 words. I've spent about 2 to 4 hours a day, taking about 4 or 5 days a chapter, studying (I'm currently on chapter 19). If you stick to the repeating drill approach that's in the book, and constantly review the previous basic sentences, then you should have no problem remembering new words that arise.My only complaint is that it is a little outdated, and some phrases that I try to use are not understood by the natives here. The only example of this that I remember is from Level 1 (halten used as subscribing to a paper). This could also be that the book seems to be more Northern Germany (uses sonnabends), and I'm in Southern Germany. But I still highly recommend both levels.
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