Der treffende Ausdruck

Rating:
Summary: Reliable German Text
Review: The second edition of this third-year college German textbook has added communicative activities to its basic format of (mostly literary) readings and grammar review. It does not yet reflect the German spelling reform ("Rechtschreibreform"). As a fairly traditional textbook that reviews grammar accurately, initiates students into the finer points of German usage, and leaves the teacher free to supplement the textbook information with classroom activities of his/her own choosing, this is still one of the best.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent - Both as a Textbook and as a Reference Book
Review: This was my textbook for fifth and sixth semester German. I thoroughly enjoyed using this textbook for several reasons: (1) The reading passages at the beginning of each chapter are sufficiently advanced to challenge students in the third year, but are not so advanced as to make trying to read them futile. (2) The "Grammatik" (Grammar) sections are nice, in that they succinctly lay out the finer points of grammar using both text and example sentences. (3) In the "Das passende Wort" sections, readers are taught the differences in context among many German verbs and nouns - especially helpful when German has several different words for a single English word.
My only complaint with this book is that, as a student, it would have been helpful from time to time to have more examples here and there of some of the trickier grammar and context material. Overall, excellent!