Einfach Deutsch lesen: Foto ohne Namen - Kurzroman - Niveau: mittelschwer - With English vocabulary list (German Edition) Paperback – December 2, 2017

If you are like me, and are so-so at German, but want to improve, Angelika Bohn's books are the ones you want to read. For comparison purposes, I tested at B1 level German a couple of years ago. I do not really study German, but I want to get better at it, so I look for German things to read that are near my level, and watch German TV shows with the German subtitles turned on, in hopes of improving my German in a painless way. For those who may not know about the foreign language levels, B1 is above beginner level, but not nearly good enough to, say, pick up a copy of Der Spiegel and read it through as if it were in your native language.At some point in learning a foreign language, you want to move on from the kinds of text you get in German textbooks; you want real stories with interesting characters, and stories that make you want to turn the page. I look forward to one day understanding German well enough to be able to read some of the great German authors in German but, at my level, it really disrupts the flow when I have to look up several words on nearly every page. What would be perfect would be for there to be some literature that falls in the Goldilocks Zone between "Tag, Anna! Wie Gehts?" "Es geht mir gut! Und dir?" "Danke, auch gut." and Kafka. This is where Angelika Bohn comes in, and she just nails it. I have read all three of her books in German for English speakers (Der silberne Kugelschreiber, Falsche Adresse, and just now, Foto ohne Namen, and all three of them are expertly aimed at a particular level of German proficiency. Even though the first two were a bit below my level, I still really enjoyed them, because they were good, page-turning stories, and, as a bonus, at times the reading flow was so good that it seemed as if I were reading in my own native language. Pretty cool! And, even in those stories there were occasional words that I did not know, so I gained some vocabulary and figures of speech even in the A1/A2 (Silberne Kugelschreiber) book.Speaking of vocabulary, Bohn will cleverly use key words, which are put in bold print and defined (in English) at the end of the chapter the first time they are used, and then these words will re-appear over the course of the story, so that after a few times the word and its meaning begin to stick in your memory. This author really knows what she's doing, pedagogically, AND she writes good stories that are fun to read. I have read a ton of books that are stories written for learners of German; 'Lernkrimis', etc., and in this genre, Angelika Bohn is writing books that are the gold standard of how to do it. I look forward to her next one. Maybe a B2/C1 book?I realize that I have not said anything about the plot of Foto one Namen, but you can get an idea with the Amazon "Look Inside" feature. Briefly, it is a combination mystery/ love story-within-a-love-story kind of tale that takes place mostly in Munich, with a backdrop of the newspaper biz. As I said before, it's a good page-turner, so the German learning happens without you even realizing it.BTW, if you are looking for a magazine that falls into the Goldilocks Zone like Angelika Bohn's books do, I can heartily recommend Deutsch Perfekt, published by Spotlight Verlag. A very well-written magazine with all sorts of interesting articles about things happening in German-speaking countries, with a mix of articles classified as easy, medium or difficult (A2, B1, or B2-C2, or thereabouts), and the definitions of difficult words are given below each article, but in German.

An excellent book with vocabulary helps that has unexpected plot twists and an ending that ties everything together. It's great to have books like hers to improve your German!

This is the second book of Angelika Bohn that I have read. The story is interesting, easy to follow, well-written, uses German words which I didn’t know but which were clearly explained in the accompanying vocabulary. I feel that Angelikas’s books are particularly good because they present different levels of difficulty which go from A1 to B2-C. A definite plus for German learners!

I've been learning German for five years now but don't feel very confident speaking the language, perhaps because I'm an older learner (70). I found this book very enjoyable and at the same time I could see that it recycled useful, everyday language at B1 level. I'm pretty good at deducing the meaning of unknown words but when I wasn't sure, the translations at the end of each chapter were very useful indeed. The author has managed to create a useful pedagogical text but one which doesn't feel like a boring teaching device because it's a fun story that grabs the reader's attention and makes you want to continue reading. That's very important for me. I felt better about my level of German when I finished the book, too. Thank you, Angelika Bohn. I shall try more of your books.

This is an engaging story that features not only a good mystery, but also an evolving relationship between the main characters. Ms. Bohn has the knack of keeping readers on their toes and incorporating a wealth of useful German words and phrases. The B1/B2 level was just challenging enough without being discouraging. My experience with the German language includes only one formal class that I needed for my PhD in Classics, but I have sung in church choirs all my life (Bach, Hindemith, Beethoven, Brahms, et al.) and traveled frequently to Germanic lands. I sincerely hope Ms. Bohn writes more stories at the B1/B2 level.

Naturally I read this book to improve my German but I found it so well written that it would captivate my interest even in English! Angelika Bohn is a superb storyteller and her level of the language is very well crafted to the level she advertises. Challenging but not impossible. I learned so much (partly thanks to translate.google.com!) Now to read a few of her easier books to relax and then onto the B2 one, "Cafe Leo." Thank you, Angelika! Bitte! Schreiben Sie weiter!

Erstaunliche Geschichte. Ich hoffe, die Autorin wird solche Geschichten auch für Deutschlerner auf C-Niveau schreiben. Sehr empfehlenswert für Liebhaber der deutschen Sprache.

As a casual learner of German as a hobby I find Angelika Bohn’s books manageable in grasping the essence of the story line while not bogging down with too much new vocabulary to block the flow. Her books allow a peek into the German culture that I find educational and fascinating.