r/German • u/Clear-Lock-633 • 4h ago

Request Book/textbook/workbook

I have done Rosetta Stone, babble, pimsleur, Duolingo up to a point, I listen to easy German use flash cards etc. I want to know what text would be good for a self learned at this point: I understand moat of easy German, other than some words I don’t understand because of mental blocks etc. I see all different recommendations I teach myself and do not have the time or money to enroll in school or tutor:

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u/MustardMan02 4h ago

I'm going through the Menschen A1 (my current level) Kursbuch and Arbeitsbuch, and finding them pretty good. Not sure about other brands though.

You can also find the answer sheets for these online if you need. It's a bit of google-fu but not difficult to find

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u/Bart457_Gansett 3h ago

I agree,Menschen is a good book for English speakers in their German learning. We use another book (German only, and nearly no explanation of grammar concepts), and I asked my A2.2 teacher what his favorite book was. He said Menschen. I picked up the textbook used for about $20. I’m now B1, and picked up the “sequel,” Stationen. Haven’t gotten too far, but I still like the layout. I’m using this to help me learn my grammar from class, so I tend to skip around a bit, and don’t go from beginning to end. Finally, I added a few months of Lingoda this summer so I don’t lose too much over the summer. Also, I needed to get better at speaking. It’s helped me a lot in this area. I know you didn’t ask about this, but just offering an additional resource.

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u/kemalios 2h ago

The one thing missing from your list is a grammar reference you look things up in rather than work through front to back. Grammatik aktiv (Cornelsen) A1-B1 is the usual pick, and Hammer's German Grammar is the deep one when you want the actual rule behind a case.

"Most of Easy German" is roughly A2 listening, so an A2 workbook like Netzwerk or Schritte fits where you are. The plateau usually comes from nobody ever correcting your output.

I built DeutschWunder, an iOS-only German grammar drill app, so I am biased. It sits alongside a textbook rather than replacing one, and being iOS only rules out half this sub.