Learn German: By Reading Fantasy (German Edition)

By: Mozaika Educational, Dima Zales

Narrated by: Lidia Buonfino, Emily Durante

Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Do you want to master German? Do you like fantasy novels? Are you tired of reading boring textbooks in order to learn German?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, this is a book you should consider. We introduce a one-of-a-kind learning tool that will enhance your reading comprehension, improve your German vocabulary and grammar, and let you enjoy reading a fantasy novel from a USA Today best-selling author in the process.

©2014 Dima Zales (P)2014 Dima Zales

A creative approach to language acquisition

Where does Learn German: By Reading Fantasy (German Edition) rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

4th

What other book might you compare Learn German: By Reading Fantasy (German Edition) to and why?

I can think of no other comparison as far as language acquisition. It is similar to some romance novels.

What about Lidia Buonfino and Emily Durante ’s performance did you like?

The narrators were enthusiastic and skilled at creating different character voices.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

Learning a language through reading is a unique idea I have never seen before.

Any additional comments?

"Learn German: By Reading Fantasy " is a creative approach to language acquisition."

I have never seen language acquisition done this way. The author uses a fantasy romantic adventure novel as the format for learning. For those who enjoy romance novels and fantasies, this is a fun way to get acquainted with a second language.

The audiobook features a friendly dramatic reader narrating each chapter. The chapters are each read in German first, followed by English. Readers are able to listen to the accent and unique sounds of each language. I think this format would benefit readers acquiring either language. Perhaps a combination of listening to an audiobook along with reading the ebook may help further the knowledge of either language.

There are hours of content in the audio book, presenting a huge opportunity to learn many fun new words! I would imagine with enough practice, time, and patience, this book would assist in learning languages. This is a really neat idea!

Works if you do DE ENG DE

Any additional comments?

It works well if you listen to the chapter in german, then english, then german. Which is actually what they suggest. Of course I'm not getting everything...but I'm learning how to get the gist, which is huge!

Not for beginners

As a new German student I bought this hoping to improve my German through this but it looks like it will be quite a while before this book is useful for me.

Learn German: By Reading Fantasy (German Edition)

Very useful and practical way to improve basic German language skills.
The pronunciation and intonation are native and authentic.

Excellent

What did you love best about Learn German: By Reading Fantasy (German Edition)?

It served both as an excellent learning tool and an interesting story.

Any additional comments?

I bought this as a tool to work on my listening comprehension for German. When I first discovered that each chapter is followed by the English translation, I was at first a bit disappointed as I originally thought this would be a full 17 hours of just German. However, since my German is only good enough to get the gist of the story, I figured I'd listen to the English translations as well to keep everything in context and to see if I was right in my understanding.

By the third chapter I found myself totally captivated by the story (and I'm not really into fantasy type stories). Certain characters grew on me while I started to really dislike others. It was a real treat to be able to work on my German comprehension while also being able to enjoy the story in detail with the English translation after each chapter. I should also note that both the German and English narrators were excellent.

The story had a pretty wide open ending so I'm really hoping that the author will make a sequel to this (it may already exist, I haven't checked).

It was well worth the money, great story and excellent tool for German learners in the B1+ intermediate-advanced area to challenge their comprehension skills.

Language learning has never been so much fun

What made the experience of listening to Learn German: By Reading Fantasy (German Edition) the most enjoyable?

The Sorcery Code/Der Zaubercode is a Fantasy story combined with a language learning course. The audiobook consists of both the German and the English version of the story. In my opinion, mixing language learning and Fantasy proved a very good combination - it so much more motivating than reading through your standard workbooks for German, which often have boring stories. Here you have a great story, read by narrators with pleasant voices in a way that is easy to follow along and keeps you interested. As a native speaker of German I can tell you that even if you are not that much into Fantasy literature and still want to learn German, you should consider taking a look at this. The vocabulary used in the book is not too difficult and also very useful in all kinds of situations.

Fantastic Fantasy and Fantastic German!

I am about 20% of the way through the audio book and I think it’s fantastic. The story is, in my opinion, truly captivating and I’m excited to hear more. Furthermore, Lidia Buofino's voice is very pleasant and her acting skills superb (5+ stars!). These positive qualities should sweeten the deal for anyone grappling with German.

In addition, the German translation is of very high quality. This is an authentic text and I would therefore recommend it for intermediate to advanced learners.

As a learner of German myself from the United States and as an educator with an advanced university degree in TESoL, I can affirm that the pedagogical concept of this language tool is sound. The combination of the e-book with the audio files is perfect for those with verbal, aural and visual learning styles. Even those with more kinesthetic tendencies can benefit from the suggestion laid out in the section “Audiobook Companion” of speaking along with the text.

In addition, the recommendations provided at the beginning of the audiobook to listen to the story again and again and take note of improving comprehension are helpful and motivating.

Overall, the marvelous story, the professional narration and the well founded educational advice make this a worthy investment for anyone who would like to expand their understanding of the modern German language.

Great learning benefits

What made the experience of listening to Learn German: By Reading Fantasy (German Edition) the most enjoyable?

This audio/textbook - Learn German: by Reading Fantasy - is the ideal learning material for fantasy fans who are interested in improving their skills in German language at the same time. The educational strategy consists of 'immersing' the learner in the story in the simple, well written and pleasantly narrated target language, and only after that, the learner is invited to listen and read the same part of the story in his native language. By daily practicing the listening and reading to the right extent (one to two chapters a day), I can well imagine the learner being able to fully get the main ideas of most sentences, and the daily struggle and efforts will soon show results, by helping the learner to hear out specific, new words and select them for the unconscious memorizing process. However, I have to say that the language level may be too difficult for pure beginners, and I assume that this book is intended for people who have already acquired some basics in German, because I believe only then, the quick learning potential can be exploited at full extent. Furthermore, the learner is not invited to speak and discuss the story in German, as far as my view on this goes, I think it would be a great idea to assure an internet platform for instance, where readers can exchange their impressions and theories about the story. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the method of combining interests (fantasy) and learning (German) is a great educational idea, and great learning benefits can therefore be promised.

Great narration, but the story didn't interest me.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I didn't like the story, it came off as being distastefully suggestive to me and I just couldn't get into it. Please note that I've read plenty of suggestive books without a problem, so it's more a matter of presentation than content.

Has Learn German: By Reading Fantasy (German Edition) turned you off from other books in this genre?

I'd definitely be willing to listen to another book for German comprehension, perhaps short stories read in German with English translation, but I wouldn't go for another fantasy title like this one. -- And definitely not another book by this author, in any language.

Which scene was your favorite?

I didn't have one. I couldn't get that far into the book.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Absolutely not.

Any additional comments?

The German level in this is quite high. I'm a beginner and I'd venture to guess that this is mid- to high-intermediate -- at the very least. The German narrator is absolutely fantastic -- wonderful, clear pronunciation and dramatic, beautiful pacing. I could listen to her for hours -- she is literally the best narrator I've ever heard (in any language). I didn't even mind that the German level was so far above my current comprehension level. It was really the fact that I found the content distasteful that lead to my returning the book without finishing it. Note that the narrator that does the English is also good, though she does tend to come off as a bit campy or silly when doing the voices for the other characters. I wasn't bothered by it really, but I thought I'd mention it.

Fully Enjoyable

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to work on their German language skills. After not practicing German for a couple of years, I was having trouble in the first chapter, but luckily it was followed up by the English version! By chapter 5 my skills had come back considerably with almost full comprehension by the end of the book. One difference- I listened to the German, then English, then German chapter again, and then moved on to the next chapter.

What did you like best about this story?

I fully enjoyed the story. It was easy to follow, and exciting.

Have you listened to any of Lidia Buonfino and Emily Durante ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The German performance is very good. The English version is slightly robotic sounding, but not distractingly so.