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II. Elementary German Textbook (College) Moeller, Jack, Winnifred R. Adolph, Gisela HoecherlAlden, and Simone Berger. Deutsch heute: Introductory German, 9th ed. Boston: Heinle Cengage Learning, 2010. Cloth, 560 pp.: textbook $144.49, e-textbook $80.49, e-chapter $11.49 ea. «www.cengage.com/german/deutschheute»
[Ed. Note: The first eight editions of Deutsch heute were published by Houghton Mifflin.]
The new edition of Deutsch heute basically continues its previous methodology and structure with mostly subtle changes and updates. This book is produced for two semesters or three quarters of beginning college/university German language; it also seems that it could fit into a high school German curriculum. It contains an introduction and 12 chapters (thematically spanning how one presents personal information to information on Austria, leisure, modern life, Switzerland, post-1945, professional life, and multi-cultural society). Each chapter's goals (Lernziele) encompass: specific functions (Sprechintentionen), integrated readings (Zum Lesen, Leserunde), vocabulary, grammar, focus on aspects of the country and its people (Land und Leute) and video spots. Extra components to the book, for teachers and students, include companion website(s), a Heinle Learning Center (iLrn), a workbook and lab manual or QUIA online activities, an accompanying Student Activities Manual (SAM) or text audio CD (and manual), and a DVD of the video spots (as well as an annotated Instructor's edition).
To begin with, compared with the eighth edition, the most notable and dramatic changes are visual. Throughout the book, continued updated visual displays and presentations of pictures, activities, vocabulary lists, and overall structure are notable, perhaps making this new edition a bit more inviting and easier to navigate quickly and pointedly. Chapter subheadings, reading sections, and many activities have been slightly...