Customer Reviews

Rapid German: Volume 1 (Unabridged)

I thought my days of learning a new language were long gone. I have been listening to this audio CD for 6 months whilst driving, and I have absorbed the entire CD.

I disagree with the other reviewers that the music is boring! This music is deliberate, it goes to the beat of the words that you are learning to, and this is why you are able to recall the sentences easily. You learn a "song" and you just "sing" it back. It's so much easier to remember a song than sentences, same as you can remember stories better than facts. "Facts tell, stories sell" and it's certainly true in this audio CD.

I enjoyed learning from the Rapid Chinese CD a few months back and so knew what to expect when this arrived. This is a very similar presentation, with the same 10 track titles: I would like...; To order; Have you ...?; To the airport; Numbers; days & times; Is there ...?; Directions; Where, when & what time?; Problems, problems!; and Do you speak English? In fact they have mostly the same phrases. Ordering a bottle of wine somehow seems more natural for German that it did for Chinese!

The way it works is there is a native German-speaking woman and a native English-speaking man. The English comes first then the German. As the track titles above suggest the 10 lessons cover useful phrase book stuff, at the most basic level. All the time there is a music track playing - easy to listen to. I do not know if the music helps memorizing the sentences but it does make the CD easy to have on in the background while working or doing other things. There is a handy 20 page booklet with the CD, which shows all the phrases on the CD, as well as describing the theory behind the learning method.

I did 'O' level German at school, which seemed to be all about learning the 16 words for "the". Thankfully not a mention of that here: ein/eine/einen/zum/zu/der/das/die/etc. are all introduced in context without being pointed out. After my German exam (I passed by the way) all I could speak in German was gutentag and "der das die die, dem dem den den", which does not get you very far. Listening to this CD course, in every school lesson, would have made a lot more sense. And we could have played cards while doing it. (Sadly the only class we actually got away with playing cards in was sociology.)

If we are looking for downsides the CDs are maybe a bit pricey, and are quite passive: no quizzes or chances for active usage of the language. But that is fine, it would not be easy to have on in the background if it was like that. Just do not expect this can be your only tool to learn the language.

Overall I like these EarWorms CDs and they will be my first choice when I want to learn the basics of a new language.

Rapid German Volume 1 is superb. Here I am, one week after first listening to it. And I can instantly recall and say loads of different phrases in German. Not just words on their own. Phrases. Complete sentences. It took me years and a trip to Paris to be able to have such confidence in my French. Yet, here I am, able to speak phrases in German. I have tried other language learning products/software. With those products comes all the anxiety of making sure you remember the phrase, get the pronunciation right and remember the word order. This approach to language learning gets rid of all the anxiety, nerves and frustration normally found within the learning process. I have detailed experience in accelerated learning and still, I have not seen anything as good as this product.

I purchased this CD on a bit of a whim, not 100% what to expect but very pleasantly surprised! This product really works and I'd recommend to anyone!

The two presenters are easy to listen to and present the language in a structured and logical way making your introduction and first steps to learning German with EarWorms very quick and fun. Supported by some really quite good music I found myself talking to my girlfriend (who speaks German) in no time at all!

Well worth a purchase, money well spent and amazon have it at a great price.

Auf Wiedersehen!

I love my earworms German CD. I listen to it when I am driving and it's brilliant!! I also play it on my MP3 player whilst in the gym - the perfect combination - getting fit and learning at the same time.

I have never learned well aurally, In one ear and out the other, but this seems to have stimulated a new learning style I never thought I would cope with, I think that it will in fact help in many other ways too. I have noticed a difference in my own job of training. I can remember peoples names so much better now. I definitely think it's triggered something in my brain.

It is quite amazing that when the phrases come up in every day English, the German equivalent pops into my head at the same time - like 'Warum nicht' 'Why not' and the pronunciation seems to come automatically. I can actually hear the voices on the tape. The Phrase book that comes with the CD is also very helpful. I carry it around in my handbag, it helps to see the words as well.

I thought I might get fed up with the music and the voices, but in fact you just become even more familiar with them as time goes by. Sort of as if you actually have got to know them personally.

I look foward to buying the Volume 2 - I will wait and continue to chirp along with my volume 1 - thinking I am better than I really am!!

My only concern is what I will do once I have mastered both CD's - what sort of learning should I go on to from there.

This is a very good tool for learning a fairly broad collection of basic words and phrases in German. I've found it very easy to pick up a reasonable number of words and phrases and be able to stitch them together in different ways simply by listening to this CD while going to work or pottering around the house.

It takes the format of an English-speaking man and a German-speaking woman who repeat a number of phrases several times over a music track (I hesitate to call them "tunes"). Each of the 11 tracks includes a number of words and phrases an a broad topic, such as "Directions" or "Asking for Something." I don't know the science behind it, but I imagine the music is intended to help you relax and the repetition (which is more or less in time to the music) helps fix things in your brain. It's all done in a very gentle style - the music is pretty innocous and the tone of the speakers' voices is soothing and more or less conversational.

The only downside is the quality of the music. I guess that in order to make it relaxing and ensure its appeal to as wide a range of people as possible they've had to make the music as bland as possible. It's not quite as bad as lift muzak, but it does sound something like the soundtrack to a cheap holiday show. Music purists will probably find it unbearable, but the purpose of the CD is to help you learn German rather than break new musical ground, and it fulfils its purpose very well. I've certainly found it much more succesful than the majority of the book/ tape combination packs I've bought for other languages in the past.

I have been living in Austria for a short time. I did not speak German at all when I arrived. It has given me the courage to talk, instead of just listerning. It is the most natural way to learn a language. I listern in the car, whilst ironing. It is ausgezeichnet.

I can honestly say that this new learning system really does work!
The children love it too, I play it in the car on the way to school and they just enjoy the music (unknowingly learning some German words from it)! A brilliant idea, so simple and so effective...why didn't I think of that?

Perhaps I just don't learn this way. The music did nothing for me, and I can't think of any phrases "anchored into my long term memory". Perhaps I don't play it enough.

The CD is fine if you want to learn stock phrases like "I would like to order...", "Have you got..." "Is there...." but what do you do when someone responds in German.

I want to learn German so I can ask, understand the answer and respond. It will help you "get by" but not to have a conversation - go for broke and get Michel Thomas instead.

My husband and I have been really impressed with this Cd. I've listened to it in the car for the last month and have just returned from a weekend in Germany. I was amazed at how much I could say.

Since then we've also bought the French, Mandarin and Italian one!