Hello! I need some recommendations, please.

[n107]

I am a complete beginner to the German language but I'm eager to start studying. The reason for this desire is... unknown. Every so often in my life I get the urge to do something that I never would foresee me wanting to do and it always leads me to new and amazing experiences. For example, one day I suddenly felt compelled to study Japanese for no reason. Now I'm in my seventh year of living in Japan. I don't question the little voice that drives me to undertake these endeavors as I've learned to sit back and see what fate has in store for me.

Now, it would appear, as if I'm to study German. However, I need some help (obviously). Unlike when I first jumped head first into Japanese, I'm having a difficult time finding a good self-study text/workbook. Whereas there are a multitude of easily found and recommended texts for Japanese, I really haven't seen anything stand out in my search for a German source.

So if anyone here can tell me of any good books aimed at the self-learned, I'd be grateful for any recommendations. Are there books that many people find indispensable? Are there any to avoid? That is what I'm looking to learn from all of you experts here.

Also, though I've found a number of online learning sites, I'm a much more old fashioned person who needs a book that I can touch and carry with me all day. The internet is fine for augmenting my studies but I need a tangible object to really get the most out of my undertaking.

Thanks for reading this far, if you did. And thanks in advance for any assistance.

-n

[Heide]

Willkommen im Forum!

The only book I can recommend for a beginner is "Schaum's Outline of German Grammar" by Elke Gschossmann-Hendershot. It briefly explains all kinds of grammar and contains a lot of exercises. However, I'm not sure if it contains enough explanation for a real beginner. It's not expensive and you can take a look at it here (http://www.amazon.com/Schaums-Outline-German-Grammar-Gschossmann-Hendershot/dp/0070251347/ref=sr_1_21?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312722708&sr=1-21). There are also some user reviews, so you can decide if it would be right for you.

I hope some others who have used different self-learning text books will give you their opinions.

You can always supplement what you are learning in a book here in the forum. We can answer your questions and give you more detailed explanations about the grammar and vocabulary. :)

Viel Glück und viel Spaß beim Deutschlernen!

Gruß

[n107]

Thank you for the welcome and suggestion.

As you're the only person to offer a suggestion, it seems just as I feared that there really aren't any solid books out there for studying German. This certainly puts a huge hurdle in the way. I suppose I'll be spending a lot of time trying to find something workable. I'll definitely take a peek at the one you recommended.

Thanks.

[Heide]

Thank you for the welcome and suggestion.
As you're the only person to offer a suggestion, it seems just as I feared that there really aren't any solid books out there for studying German. This certainly puts a huge hurdle in the way. I suppose I'll be spending a lot of time trying to find something workable. I'll definitely take a peek at the one you recommended. Thanks.
You may be right about the books. I've never seen anyone write about a perfectly wonderful book. :)
You can take a look at this thread (http://www.aboutgerman.net/AGNforums/showthread.php?6415-Guten-Tag%21). You can also take a look at the reader reviews of books sold by Amazon.com. They have quite a few under "German language learning" and I've often found those comments helpful.