Languages > German

Advantages: easy to use, all subjects covered, up-to-date
Disadvantages: no good for basic grammar

--Hammer’s German Grammar and Usage-- In the last week I’ve been spending more time using Ciao, having a look around, and generally becoming more familiar with the site and everything it offers. There seem to be great opinions on just about everything under the sun, from makeup to music, condoms to curries. This section is looking more than a bit neglected though, so I thought my next op should go here! Hammer’s German Grammar ...
...for German grammar at this level. I bought it a year ago when I’d just started university, as it was one of the books recommended by a lecturer. I think it cost about £20, maybe a bit less. There were other grammar books on the list, but some looked too basic for what I was looking for and some were written in German, which just seemed like unnecessary work for me! I also prefer this book because the layout is clear and well organised, so I ... Read review

Advantages: helps a lot to find expressions and eqivalents
Disadvantages: not up today

...to write about it now: Cassel's German-English English-German Dictionary. More than 1 kg of weight, it keeps on 1580 pages India paper a treasure of words I‘ll soon need a magnifying glass to read them and would need more than one life to learn them all by heart. Published by MacMillan Publishig Co. Ltd. 1978 in New York, it was originally planned for english native speakers who want to learn german, so it‘s different from dictionaries ...
...after the Vorwort/Preface, you‘ll find the key to german pronounciation in phonetic transcription following Siebs‘ "Deutsche Aussprache. Reine und gemäßigte Hochlautung mit Aussprachewörterbuch, Berlin, de Gruyter 19. Auflage 1969. But „no printed description of sounds can teach pronounciation" when these sounds are unknown in your mothertongue. Excursus There are three sounds unknown in English: „Ä", „Ö" und „Ü" ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent overall
Disadvantages: Assumes previous knowledge of German grammar

...that case may I suggest Hammer's German Grammar and Usage? This surprisingly light 541 page volume set me back only around £20 and is really popular so should be no bother to track down. Written now by Martin durell and updated in 1996 to incorperate the spelling reforms of 1998, it is clear and every point is well explained, with both English and German examples. The body text is thankfully in English, and while at first glance all that can be ...
...will show what a useful tool this is. Designed for hardcore grammatists, ie degree students, it is probably the most popular grammar reference amongst students due to its comprehensive cover of the language and its user-friendly format. The contents and index pages are both very in-depth, and covered in this book, amongst other things, are: *nouns *gender *cases *personal and other pronouns *articles *adjectives and adverbs *numerals *modal ... Read review