Learn German With Stories: Café in Berlin - 10 Short Stories For Beginners: 1 (Dino lernt Deutsch - Simple German Short Stories For Beginners)

This is really very good. I wasn't quite sure where to go next after beginning to learn basic German via "Dummies German All-In-One" and I thought it might be good to read some stories. I stumbled on this book by Google and the reviews seemed positive, so I downloaded it. To be honest, I was worried that I might not have enough German to be able to makes sense of whole pages of German text (daunting!). But it's written at just the right level and with a very helpful vocabulary at the end of each short chapter. Rather than being a chore, I enjoyed reading about Dino's life in Berlin. There's a humour in the text that made me want to read more and I found myself able to comprehend more and more as I read through it. The stories are short, but I think that's good at my level - each is a long enough read but not so long as to get bogged down in. As soon as I finished this book, I wanted to get the second one in order to keep on reading, which is in itself a pretty good recommendation. In short, thoroughly recommended!

I would consider myself somewhere between a continuing beginner and an intermediate learner of German. I have done a lot of reading - articles from magazines, excerpts from books, books designed for learners. However, I have always had to keep a dictionary to hand and stop to check vocabulary almost constantly. This means it takes a long time to read and it is a bit defeating. Also, even with a dictionary to hand sometimes it can be difficult to get the exact meaning of some words and phrases. This book is so different. It is perfect for my level of understanding. I can read a whole story and understand it without referring to the dictionary. And, when I have read the story, I look up any new words or phrases which I haven't been able to guess the meaning of. It is a great way of improving reading flow and learning vocabulary. The content is also good - telling the tale of a young immigrant looking for work and learning a new language. There is, in addition, some insight in to the German way of life and what life is like for immigrants. I would thoroughly recommend this book.

Great short stories, funny and simple but with lots of useful vocabulary. Ideal if you already have very basic German, like me. Only 4 stars because it's not that easy to refer to the word translations in the e-book version: their font is very much smaller than the main text, and there are no inbuilt links/dictionary to click, so lots of flicking through virtual pages.

I started to learn German at home with a teach yourself book by trying to remember a list of useful phrases/words. At the beginning it was reasonably easy but 6 months later I found going over and over the same words was less and less inspiring. I came across "Cafe in Berlin" by accident and decided to give it a try. The 10 chapters are each 2-3 pages long and each is a self contained story but they also build to create a single simple and amusing story. Important or commonly used words in a chapter are in bold and in a dictionary at the end of each chapter. The stories are long enough to paint a good picture but not too long that they become too much to remember. I started to learn German in Sept 2013 and by Apr 2014 had learnt just enough vocabulary to allow me to start reading this book. I was very slow reading the first chapter but as many of the same words are used in each chapter I found I was reading the chapters faster and faster as I went through the book. Although many words are repeated the sentences are not so that you get to repeat words over and over without the boredom of trying to memorize the same sentences. Since starting to read this book I'm amazed at how much my vocabulary has increased in just 4 weeks. I bought the paperback version which, with quite large spaces between the lines, allows you to pencil in either definitions of hard to remember words or their phonetic pronunciation which I think is a big advantage over an electronic version. As I have started to remember these words I've removed the penciled notes to make sure I'm not reliant on the crib notes. Overall a great addition to a basic teach yourself book.

Just what I have been looking for. Most of the ‘beginners’ German short story books are too advanced for beginners at A1/A2 level. This bridges the gab - but is not a children’s book! It is entertaining and the story is genuinely amusing and would be entertaining in English. The translation assistance is absolute genius. After each story, there is a page of key words and phrases that appear in the story. These are highlighted in the text. By reading these you do not need a full translation as long as you know a few basics. I read through the key words before I read the story. Because the chapters are very short it’s really not a chore and you want to read the next chapter. I read the first book in a hour and immediately ordered the next 11. I learnt more German per minute than I ever have on Duolingo or anywhere else. You probably benefit most with a Duolingo score of 20-40 before tackling the first book. I assume the books get a little tougher as they go along. I will find out. He should definitely keep writing these. Very talented writer of simple stories. And he drops in lots of phrases and vocab that I know are going to be of practical use. And I should add, it’s not 10 short stories. It’s one story with ten chapters. Each chapter is a different ‚story‘ but they are linked. This makes it far more engaging than ten unrelated short stories.

I have been learning the German language myself for just over a year now and this book of short stories is at my level! They are written in a simple style but in a most amusing manner. They are not childish but describe the day to day events in the life of a young man moving to Berlin and learning the language. At the end of each story the vocabulary is highlighted and explained - not in the middle of the txt which would be annoying. There are some question at the end which perhaps aren’t necessary. More importantly I have the audio version which I can read along with, or just listen to - I find it more difficult to understand German just from the audio so this is also most helpful. All in all I really like this book- Cafe in Berlin and I have ordered the next two in the series.

I am being coached on a one to one basis by a native German speaker. My enthusiasm sometimes gets ahead of me. I purchased one or two books which my coach was not happy about. The reason being that they employed future perfect and past tenses. Her opinion was that I was not ready for such complexities in the language. Or maybe she just thought that I was a bit thick! I purchased Café in Berlin, which I can fully comprehend. I can also reread chapters without becoming bored because I know that my comprehension of the story and the language is becoming greater. At the end of each chapter there is a mini dictionary which translates words which the beginner would be unlikely to know. There are one or two words which the author assumes that the student will know, but who is right? I will certainly purchase other books in this series and, when my tutor allows, I will move on to more complex stories. In summary, if you are new to the language and want a simple introduction to German writing, I commend this book to you.

I am using this book with a U3A group that is trying to improve on German and it is just the right level. The stories are quite amusing too - they remind me of grotty student flats when I was at University in the early 1980s. The only criticism of the book that I have is that it gives translations for vocabulary but does not explain sentence structure and tenses used. I think that the book is ideal as a companion for learners of German who want to get a sense of how German is spoken every day. However, to learn properly you also need a book that assists with grammar and my bête noire which is word order !

I am extremely impressed with this collection. Through the 10 books the writer took me from almost zero German to a pretty good level of reading comprehension. The books follow a carefully graded progression in terms of vocabulary and grammatical patterns. Each book centers around a different city in Germany, and thus the reader learns the most salient features, cultural aspects and language peculiarities of places like Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, etc. Then there's the story line: Dino's adventures in each city are not only engaging but funny. As the reader reaches book 6, the language gets a bit more complex and the adventures also become, at least for this reader, more interesting. The chain of events slowly start introducing some more serious socio-political situations resulting from Germany’s past and present. Dino’s girlfriend, for example, works as a reporter in a refugee camp. They also help Fadiyah, a Syrian refugee make it from Sicily to Munich where her brother works. I also bought the 10 books read by the author. That proved to be invaluable help while learning how to pronounce what I was reading. I normally listen to the author’s reading while I drive. Some other readers have mentioned the glossary at the end of every chapter. That is a great time saver, but I have also been using the Google translator as extra help. Because I have written in between the lines the translation of all the new words, I recently decided to acquire the eBook version of the 10 books. That way I can read the stories without any translation and thus test my knowledge of the language I’m learning. An interesting grammar point. I have learned that the past tense in SPOKEN German is normally expressed as the Present Perfect in English. That is, instead of saying “I went there,” German speakers prefer to say “I have gone there” [Ich bin dort gegangen]. That trick worked for me very well. However, while reading Dino’s adventures I learned that in WRITTEN German, apparently the real past tense is most frequently used. So it was time for me to start learning all the past tense forms of all the verbs I knew. Until then I was happy to say: “Dino has eaten a Pizza,” [Dino hast eine Pizza gegessen] with these books I learned that in writing it’s more common to write: “Dino ate a Pizza.” [Dino aß eine Pizza]. I am lucky to have a friend who speaks very good German. With him I can discuss the stories and thus practice conversation. In short, This is an excellent way to learn German reading comprehension in a challenging and intelligent way. Very soon I’ll be ready to start Andre Klein’s next collection of stories.

This book is perfect for people that are learning german. It's really easy to read, most of it is present tense and you learn lots of vocabulary and idioms. At the end of each chapter there's an english translation of the highlighted words and phrases. The story is funny and entertaining. And if you buy the audio book too is amazing to practice your pronunciation.

Enjoyed the ease of reading and learning with the Kindle version. The story is engaging with a lovely storyline and some light humour.

This is really an excellent book for anyone looking to expand their German vocabulary. Each short story is full of phrases and specific words that are defined at the end of the chapter, which makes understanding the language a breeze. The stories are also funny and interesting, which makes it a real page turner. As difficult as the German language can be to learn, I found this book really helped me understand and appreciate the language to a whole new level.

C’est un bon livre si vous débutez en allemand. Phrases simples et faciles à comprendre. Cependant il faut qu’auparavant vous ayez les bases en allemand