From watching your videos I feel confident I know exactly the resources to start with if I ever decide to study German! I don't intend to study German, but then I never intended to study Farsi either... Great reviews! A lot of language textbook reviews don't give a great sense of what the book actually brings to the table, but that's the most important part! As much as I like knowing whether a person likes or dislikes a textbook, the WHY is what makes the review.
Just bought Complete German and German Tutor today because of your review! Can't wait to pore over them next year as my New Year's resolution! Thanks so much!
Thank you for doing a German review. I did the teach yourself complete a few years ago and loved it. I got it with the mp3 downloads. I added the German tutor to my Amazon queue.
I’m on Chapter 6 and absolutely loving this book. I spent about a week doing research trying to find the perfect Textbook for me and your review helped SO MUCH. This textbook is exactly what I wanted. Thank you!
Good review. Thanks for posting. I almost passed on this book because of the Complete Romanian book , it was really lacking. I have just started the Complete German book and so far I really like it.
Because I heard you loved so much the German so much, I want to buy the Complete Spanish one because I'm at a point where I feel like I need structure. I heard controversial things about it, anyone had used it and liked it in the comments?
I have been learning from a 2007 copy of Complete German (before it was called "Complete" and it was just TY German, same content bar reference to levels and some art though) for two months (I am halfway) and this video was very useful for keeping faith in the course. In language learning you can often feel like you aren't inproving even when studying a few hours every day but knowing it helped get you where you are has allowed me to stick with it and I can now read the Olly Richard short story book, something I couldn't have done two months ago. I also ordered the tutor book on your recommendation and it is my next main material after Complete. This video really helped me get to where I am and I am keeling ongoing until I am somewhat fluent.
I've been really busy with my Spanish now that classes have restarted, but your videos lately have been tempting to get into German! Haha ¡Muchas gracias por el vídeo maravilloso! 💖
Thanks a lot for this video Abigail! Quick question, how many years did it take you to finish each one of those books?. I'm starting to consider starting with German this year :), thanks in advance ! have a nice day overthere!
Hi! I don't remember exactly how long each of these took me as I used most of them years ago now, but I can say none of them took a full year. I think they each took around 3-6 months, but it's also important to note I was using other resources as well and taking breaks from studying because of school so they don't necessarily need to take that long! Good luck with your German if you decide to get started!
I couldn't disagree more about the smaller vs the larger book shapes. 😀 The smaller ones were impossible to lie down flat on a table. I was over the moon when they started using the more "workbook" like format.
One book that has been helping me was willkommen 1. It's by Heiner Schenke and Paul Coggle. It has 2 cds and a dvd. There are two books- a course book and an activity book. I have not seen the ones you mentioned in the video, but I familiar with the TY series. I have mixed feelings about that series though. While the texts generally are pretty well written, the audio sounds as if it were recorded under sometimes. This one was strongly recommended by guy I know who tutors on the side. I always recommend highly that people use headphones while doing these so you have direct contact w the audio vs just playing it in your room. I find I tend to phase it out when it does that. But that's just me. Other people may have a different opinion. Very informative video though. Thank you for sharing.
I got the complete book for catalan, and i havent really dove into it yet, but like it so far. Im not sure how good it would be for a total beginner, but the lessons I've done with my other resources made the lessons I did in the book feel less daunting.
Just recently came across your channel. Very good review of these books! I have the Teach Yourself Russian Complete and your video made me want to go on Amazon and check to see if there was a Russian Tutor book, and luckily there was, so I ordered it. I’ve been looking for something more intermediate, and this sounds perfect for the level I’m at and where I want to get. I’ve tried going through the Teach Yourself “Stories” book for Russian, and I feel there are definitely some gaps in my knowledge that I could really work on.
Since you really liked the Teach Yourself Complete German course, Teach Yourself Further German, if you can find it, will increase your vocabulary EXPONENTIALY!! I was fortunate enough, many moons ago, to get both the book and the accompanying cassette tapes. It follows the same format of the Teach Yourself German course which I also like about it. There are several used copies of the Further German book on ebay, but I don't know if any of them comes with the tapes. However, it seems you like the format of the Teach Yourself series and if your looking to increase your vocabulary, this may be the ticket. Alles Gute!
Nice video . I'm not interested in learning German . I wonder what complete polish is like . I've just started polish tutor and quite like it so far as it talks about cases, verbs etc Anyone else learning polish ??? I'm so waiting for a Bulgarian video update 💖✌ PS see you next Wednesday can't wait !!
Sooooooon And I could see the Polish Tutor book being useful! The German case descriptions helped me a lot, so I could see them being helpful for Polish too.
Good day to you miss. I have finished Complete German and Assimil German. I am working through Enjoy German at the moment. I plan to acquire Assimil Perfectionnement Allemand and German Tutor. Do you have further recommendations for German books? Cordially, Mr G Wolfe.
Useful video! Many thanks to the author of the channel for the recommendations! The problem with many people is that they want to take a "magic pill" or get "secret knowledge" and immediately have skills and abilities. However, the truth of life is that knowledge, skills, and abilities do not come by themselves. You can't learn a foreign language without doing anything, without wasting your time and effort, just like you can't learn to ride a bike lying on a comfy couch, listening to lectures and watching videos about "modern methods of learning" on a bike. To really learn something, you have to really practice every day. You're going to fall down while you're learning, and you're going to get bumps - that's normal! The ups and downs of learning are an integral part of our lives. Motivation from success and depression from failure will always be your study companions. However, every student has problems in his or her studies that he or she lacks the knowledge to solve. It can be: poor memorization of words; no progress in language learning; the student can speak, but does not understand speech by ear; misunderstanding of grammar; incorrect pronunciation, etc. Agree that a problem you don't know how to solve is very demotivating. In order to find the answer to our question we have to spend a lot of time to read videos, articles and books by polyglots. In today's world, we have to solve problems as quickly as possible. I don't have time to study and analyze a huge amount of information. My goal is to master the basic knowledge of a foreign language as quickly as possible and already start earning money effectively in the international arena. I settled on the practical guide by Yuriy Ivantsiv " Polyglot's Notes: practical tips for learning foreign language". This book is always in my bag. If I have a problem while learning a language, I quickly find the answer in this book. There are many different techniques and tips for learning a foreign language in Polyglot Notes. I have made my own individual schedule and plan for language learning. Now I know what I am going to study, how I am going to study, when I am going to study and what results I am going to achieve. No problem could stop me! With an effective language learning plan my professional skills are more and more in demand internationally every day. Friends, don't stop there! Everyone has talents that millions of people around the world need! Learn the language and make your ideas and dreams come true! Thanks to the author of the channel for the informative and useful video! Your videos motivate me.
You should really make videos where you speak all these languages that you have been learning. I only found one video where you spoke German and it was heavily edited
I haven't taken the Goethe B1 exam, but I would suggest looking up some practice tests and trying them out to see if it seems like you're good to go after Complete German or if you need supplemental resources! I also would practicing reading/listening/writing/speaking outside of just the book, I found that type of preparation really helpful when I took exams for Spanish and Italian!
If you're looking specifically for a textbook as opposed to novels I would probably recommend looking for a textbook used in universities for German degrees or advanced courses or a textbook targeted at CEFR test takers. I don't have any specific titles to recommend at this moment though, sorry!
I never made it all the way through Complete Spanish because it was from the library. I liked what I did, but it was the very beginning of my very first language learning journey outside of school. I have heard people say it isn't one of the better Complete books. I might check it out again to see what I think of it now. As always, thanks for the great video!
I did a little bit of Complete Spanish years ago and I don’t remember loving it, from what I remember it felt like it stayed with basic concepts for too long and I felt like I wasn’t advancing as quickly.
I decided to get the Complete German book from watching this and your old video on the Complete German book. You give the best German learning book review for self learning and really demonstrate what it was like to went through with the books, which I appreciate so so much. From many hours of researching online and digging through reddit for self learning tips, I was still very lost and confused from the number of resources and material out there and your videos really help clear things out for me. Thank you again for your helpful and amazing review.
Maybe someone else will pop in with their opinions on it but I personally have never used it! I definitely stuck more with the Teach Yourself books while studying German