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s/o online German - materials?


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I'm teaching a beginning Spanish class at a local homeschool place, and decided to use the Avancemos text, which I've actually quite liked.  At least so far it presents things in a logical way, and there's lots of built-in review of vocab and grammar as they teach new concepts.  It's got some very good online components too, including lots of audio practice for the kids between classes (important when I'm only teaching 2x a week) and lots of extra optional material to customize lessons.  I have to say I like it a ton better than other school texts I've seen.

 

There's been some potential interest in my starting a German class too, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what materials to use.  The company that makes Avancemos doesn't have a German text.   :(  I know of all the European stuff, but it's all in German (fine for me, but super-intimidating for beginning students), and they also tend to go very fast and don't have a lot of review/repetition.  My local high school uses Komm mit!, but apparently that's out of print.  I can still get some of the old texts and even the online stuff (I already own a copy of the first two levels and the workbooks), but they haven't updated the stuff in years (the audio doesn't seem to work on my computer, and the videos are from around 1980 one of the browser suggestions is Netscape!...)  And the audio and assessment tools are very limited.  It was really designed to be used with a CD, but they're hard to get your hands on now, and if you do, they're $$$$.  

 

So I'm just wondering if anyone's kid has taken a course that has really good materials?  I've heard of Deutsch Aktuell, but looking at a sample it's not blowing me away.  Also having a hard time locating any pricing - looks like they're in process of rolling out a new edition with lots of fancy new stuff, but it doesn't look like it's actually for sale yet?  Anything else I should be looking at?  Any great classes that have had great texts or materials that I could get, or are others mostly making up their own stuff?  I have a ton of disparate materials, but it would be nice to have something that's systematic and where I don't have to reinvent the wheel.

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My kid is using Komm Mit. I hate that text. It is the worst foreig language text I have seen. Granted I have been spoiled by diversity of available French materials.

I have no suggestions, but if you want to see the sample of Komm Mit, I can email you the pics of a chapter.

 

Yeah, I have levels 1-2 of Komm mit.  I don't love it, but I also don't love what I've seen of Deutsch Aktuell.  There really are way better texts for Spanish and French.  :glare:

 

What parts of Komm mit is your kid using?  Does he have or use the grammar or practice workbooks - there appear to be both available - I have copies of the grammar workbooks (grammatikheft) but have no idea what's in the practice workbook (übungsheft).  Is he using any online components, or how does he access the audio?  When I try to use the embedded audio in the online text, it tries to launch iTunes on my computer.  Ugh.

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I will add that only other company I know that publishes German texts is Vista Learning.i don’t know if it’s any good though.

 

https://vistahigherlearning.com/students/german-programs?gclid=CjwKCAiA6qPRBRAkEiwAGw4Sdg7JTgnf5ptzvPWGrJRbYwfRuGQ5x4CnOL89JhHddlCVwN8PfjoazBoC878QAvD_BwE

 

I didn't know about those - I'll check them out, thanks!!

 

ETA: Do you have any idea what level texts these are?  Are they for college or high school?  They seem awfully expensive!  :glare:

 

ETA2: And no table of contents or scope & sequence or sample pages, or a hint of what might be included with the mysterious Supersite code?  Boo.  Pretty covers, I guess?

Edited by Matryoshka
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Yeah, I have levels 1-2 of Komm mit. I don't love it, but I also don't love what I've seen of Deutsch Aktuell. There really are way better texts for Spanish and French. :glare:

 

What parts of Komm mit is your kid using? Does he have or use the grammar or practice workbooks - there appear to be both available - I have copies of the grammar workbooks (grammatikheft) but have no idea what's in the practice workbook (übungsheft). Is he using any online components, or how does he access the audio? When I try to use the embedded audio in the online text, it tries to launch iTunes on my computer. Ugh.

He is taking the class with CLRC.

They go over the main Dialogue that appears in the beginning of each chapter in class. All the audio exercises are assigned by the teacher who posts the audios. The part that I hate is those audios are really difficult for somebody who is starting out. I would rather have an audio and text to go with it so we could study and practice as opposed to just guess and turn in the answers (often wrong).

Grammar workbook is assigned and we like that. Those exercises seem to be straightforward so far. Basically our study sessions right now seem to be that workbook and quizlet for vocab, instead of what I would prefer to be more reading of the text, listening audio along with the reading.... i don’t know. I am not explaining this well, but the text is just awkward.

We haven’t done the practice workbook, but I suspect some of the quizzes assigned by the teacher are from that booklet.

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I didn't know about those - I'll check them out, thanks!!

 

ETA: Do you have any idea what level texts these are? Are they for college or high school? They seem awfully expensive! :glare:

 

ETA2: And no table of contents or scope & sequence or sample pages, or a hint of what might be included with the mysterious Supersite code? Boo. Pretty covers, I guess?

I think they are high school level and yes, the prices are ridiculous.

 

If you follow this link, you can see samples

 

https://vistahigherlearning.com/secondary/languages/german

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I think they are high school level and yes, the prices are ridiculous.

 

If you follow this link, you can see samples

 

https://vistahigherlearning.com/secondary/languages/german

 

Thanks for the link to the samples. Looking at them, I do like the Mosaik book tons more than Komm mit or Deutsch Aktuell.  But ouch, the prices.

 

ETA: Just ordered the Practice workbook for Komm mit - just to see what the heck's in it and if it somehow could make that old program more workable.  But I'm still wondering how to deal with the audio files.  How does the teacher assign them to you?  Do you have an online license, or ?  Is it just my computer that won't play them (I can watch the old videos fine, they're just grainy).

Edited by Matryoshka
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Dd Abandoned Berliner Platz Neu.

The workbook is in the back of the textbook so one has to flip back and forwards.

The idea should be that after exercise 1 in the textbook one make exercise 1 in the arbeitsbuch but these are not connected to each other. So that felt pretty jumpy. As it is geared to adults she considered some of the topics boring. We did not finish chapter 1.

 

She would like a solid grammar + exercises though, and more writingexercises

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My dd did three years of online German, but she never had any textbook or printed materials.  It seemed like the teacher was just putting together her own materials.  That's probably not helpful!  It was a great program though, through IQ Academy.

 

 

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Thanks for the link to the samples. Looking at them, I do like the Mosaik book tons more than Komm mit or Deutsch Aktuell. But ouch, the prices.

 

ETA: Just ordered the Practice workbook for Komm mit - just to see what the heck's in it and if it somehow could make that old program more workable. But I'm still wondering how to deal with the audio files. How does the teacher assign them to you? Do you have an online license, or ? Is it just my computer that won't play them (I can watch the old videos fine, they're just grainy).

She uploads them as mp3 files on canvas.

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Thanks for the link to the samples. Looking at them, I do like the Mosaik book tons more than Komm mit or Deutsch Aktuell. But ouch, the prices.

 

ETA: Just ordered the Practice workbook for Komm mit - just to see what the heck's in it and if it somehow could make that old program more workable. But I'm still wondering how to deal with the audio files. How does the teacher assign them to you? Do you have an online license, or ? Is it just my computer that won't play them (I can watch the old videos fine, they're just grainy).

Both of my kids have used Vista books for their Spanish classes. Yes, they are expensive, but it seems like everything is when you are outsourcing for high school. Anything with an online component is going to be pricey, but I think there are enough benefits to it when learning a foreign language that it is worth it.

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Klett publishing has a couple high school texts.  Portfolio Deutsch and Deutsch Echt Einfach.  (Bottom of the page.  https://www.klett-usa.com/German/9738)

 

I didn't love Deutsch Aktuell when I used it in college.  

 

I think it would be fine to use an all German textbook as long as you are able to help them over the humps on directions for assignments and other sections.

 

There is a series of German grammar drill books in the Practice Makes Perfect series.  I think Ed Swink is the author for most of them.  I haven't had a German learner if a few years, so I can't speak to how troublesome it would be to align these with a textbook.

 

ETA:  I can only get the Portfolio Deutsch samples to open when I click on the links in the sidebar, not when I try the links in the middle of the page.

Edited by Sebastian (a lady)
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I teach younger kids, but I like the German courses I’ve used so far. The kids haven’t complained about the books being in German. I am going with Planet Plus for my older class this year. I’m going through it now with a high school student I tutor. So far, so good. The website has printables and audio.

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Dd Abandoned Berliner Platz Neu.

The workbook is in the back of the textbook so one has to flip back and forwards.

The idea should be that after exercise 1 in the textbook one make exercise 1 in the arbeitsbuch but these are not connected to each other. So that felt pretty jumpy. As it is geared to adults she considered some of the topics boring. We did not finish chapter 1.

 

She would like a solid grammar + exercises though, and more writingexercises

If you find what you are looking for, let me know. We couldn’t manage at home with these courses either. I borrow a few other homeschoolers to teach a class and that seems to go smoother. It at least makes it not so boring.
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