German Survival Guide: The Language and Culture You Need to Travel with Confidence in Germany and Austria (Paperback)
June 21, 2009 by Traveler
Filed under Travel Austria Guides
Product Description
German Survival Guide is a down-to-earth, bare-bones introduction to German that aims to make a trip abroad as smooth and enjoyable as possible. This information-packed mini-course concentrates on preparing readers to travel in Germany and Austria in a limited time by focusing on what is most useful or interesting to travelers and cutting out unnecessary vocabulary and grammar.
This Survival Guide helps readers communicate in the German language and culture. It prepares travelers for what to expect and how to deal with it, what to say and when to say it. It’s like three books in one–a phrase book (so you know what to say), a grammar book (so you know how to say it), and a culture book (so you understand daily social expectations)–all focused on a traveler’s needs.
Learn how to greet people and introduce yourself in German, how to line up lodging, order food and pay properly, how to shop and ask for directions in German, how to drive a car or take the train in Germany and Austria, how to get help in an emergency or talk about your family or discuss the weather, and much, much more!
Get key insights into German and Austrian social conventions: why not to use first names, how not to look like a tourist, how to tip, how to have good table manners, how to be a gracious guest, how to act on a nude beach.
Discover the fine points of ice cream parlors, grocery stores, train stations and the Autobahn. Read how to handle tricky room windows and grumpy bathroom attendants. Learn insider German words so commonly used that you will want to know them even though you don t have to.
This book is packed with culture notes, study tips, travel hints, and reality checks galore. It includes optional exercises for practicing material from the lessons, German-English and English-German dictionaries, and inside-the-cover Survival Summaries travelers can use on the spot. In addition, German pronunciations are written throughout the book, so users always have guidance on how to pronounce new words and phrases. Includes an extensive index to help readers find the topics they want, fast. All this packed into one volume small enough to tuck into a bag and take along.
About the Author
Elizabeth Bingham has made a specialty of preparing travelers for trips abroad. She has lived and traveled extensively in Germany and Austria and has a Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education. She has also written Italian Survival Guide (9780970373441).
The ultimate compliment you can pay a travel guide? “Works as advertised”. I’d argue the same goes for this survival guide of Germany and to a less extent, Austria.
I acquired a handful, really just a small amount of German as a result of this book, but I used it all for twelve days, and it made a world of difference. The cultural notes, however, were of even greater value: *when* to use phrases is integral to knowing *how*.
My only two concerns, a half-star I withhold for each: the two-cassette method of delivery and a too-small glossary/ vocabulary/ dictionary. Pack a CD with the book and it’s a five-star value; pack another forty pages of German-English word translations and it’s official.
However, if you’re serious about German, get the FSI course; if you need a German-English dictionary, pick up a Collins Pocket Gem. Tschüs!
Mrs. Bingham’s German Survival Guide is definitely not just another guide listing numerous tourist attractions, because it deals with an essential part of travelling abroad – language – and how to use it in order to make your trip enjoyable. Your memories of travelling abroad should not be limited to the number of sights you have seen, but should include memories of different cultures and ways of life, people or food. The basic knowledge of a foreign language certainly helps! This Survival Guide offers everything you need to travel to Austria or Germany, all situations you are likely to come across are covered, like greetings, introductions, transportation, food, shopping, lodging, emergencies and sightseeing. Basic German grammar is explained well, all the necessary vocabulary is provided, there are useful exercises to test yourself, and at the end of the book you will find a very useful dictionary and a survival summary. The book is well-researched and shows the author’s profound knowledge of the German language and Austrian and German culture. This aspect is very important, because one can’t stress the importance of knowing a few basic things about a foreign culture enough. I am convinced that this Survival Guide is a useful companion on your trip abroad, so take it along!
I have never been to germany although one day I really hope to go. My husband is german and his mother does not speak a lick of English. This desperate daughter-in-law was saved many embarrassing and fustrating moments by this book. It is a handy size to keep in the car or in a good size purse. I had to live with my MIL for a couple months and weeks at a time and this book has helped me communicate with her on many levels about many necessary topics, especially when my husband wasnt always around to translate or got tired of it.
Granted it doesnt have every single thing about germans in it but it sure has made my life easier.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A concise and useful guide
Last summer my family and I traveled in Germany, Austria, and several other European countries, and I wish that we had had a guide such as the German Survival Guide with us…
5.0 out of 5 stars
German Survival Guide
I am very impressed by the information in the German Survival Guide. I took German in college several years ago and had forgotten most of what I had learned, so the guide is a…
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely!
Ideal for anyone contemplating a precarious excursion to Germany.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Traveling overseas is finally easy
Elizabeth Binham’s book German Survival Guide has finally made learning a foreign language easy enough that anyone can travel.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A simple, effective, basic course
Elizabeth Bingham’s German Survival Guide is the most user friendly introduction to German language and culture available to the tourist or business traveler today.