For a first-year class, less information could be provided. They could easily be used for an intermediate level course. The "Grimms Grammar" explanations tend to be very thorough and detailed. The text and website were created as one. The structure for each chapter is the same, so it is easy to find the section one is looking for. I like the fact that the overview of each chapter can be seen as one page with links. Since the materials are from 2010, coverage of contemporary topics would be the responsibility of the teacher. The "Grimms Grammar" website cleverly uses German fairy tales to contextualize the grammar. This book/website has been active since 2010 but it is designed to be timeless. Its grammar coverage is extremely comprehensive and could also be used with intermediate students. Reviewed by Wendy Westphal, Associate Professor of German, Marian University on 1/8/21 I was hoping that the second edition would bring more innovation and not just updates. Just to include Austria and Switerland in the questions ("If you could travel to a city/region in Germany/Switzerland/Austria. Unfortunately, this book follows the old way of including an extra chapter on discussing the two non-German countries (although in an interesting way). It is established practice to to include the cultures of Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein (D-A-Ch-L)equally and interwoven into the curriculum. Then again, if one would use authentic resources, the production of such videos would be unnecessary.įor a language textbook, the grammar is, as expected, flawless. To produce the videos requires a huge amount of work. THe book follows the classical way of organizing the different topics and linguistic features.Įverything looks quite professional. One can, of course jump around but it would require additional resources beyond the textbook. Well for a first-year language textbook, that's not really an option as one chapter is based on the previous one.
The explanations are clear for the students and use early on to the target language.Įverything is very consistent across the book. I am sure plenty of instructors still teach like this and will be happy with the book, but this approach is on its way out.
Also, the work with vocabulary lists and the authors' suggested approach of "Listen-Repeat-Write-Translate" seems outdated. However, I wish there were more so that the label "authentic" was superfluous. It is difficult for a first-year textbook to use ALL authentic resources and work with those alone. However, the book seems a bit stuck in old established ways and would benefit from some new ways as encouraged by ACTF, especially comprehensive input. The usual linguistic and cultural topics are present and progression is logical. The textbook compares very well to any for-profit publishing house textbook (pictures, videos, graphics). Reviewed by Marcel Rotter, Associate Professor of German, University of Mary Washington on 7/11/21
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