German B1 + B2 level readers

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sillygoose1
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German B1 + B2 level readers

Postby sillygoose1 » Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:51 am

I've come across a copy of Metamorphosis - Die Verwandlung - by Franz Kafka on which cover there is a symbol indicating B1 with vocab notes on each page. I'm sort of looking for the same concept for other books. That is, native German literature that is somewhat simplified in graded reader form. Or even something that helps me decide which books I should be reading in each level.
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Re: German B1 + B2 level readers

Postby Teango » Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:33 am

Simply type something like 'deutsche "Lektüre" B1' into Amazon.de or 'Lektüre B1' into Amazon.com and you can find several other suitable titles, e.g:

Amazon.de: 1-16 von 91 Ergebnissen in Bücher : ""deutsche Lektüre" b1"

Amazon.com: 16 results for "Lektüre B1"

There are also plenty of other websites out there that have a specific search function for reading level, language, and genre, e.g., Ernst Klett Sprachen (just double-check they can deliver/upload to your country first).

And here is a list of German novels for B1 level and B2 level and upwards:

German readings for varied language levels - B1

German readings for varied language levels - B2

Viel Spaß!
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Re: German B1 + B2 level readers

Postby brilliantyears » Thu Aug 20, 2015 7:16 am


I checked this list because I'm interested in B1/B2 level literature too, and I just have to comment. The description for Krabat is missing (there's a description for a different book in its place) but I can highly recommend that book. It's one of my favourite books ever and very readable for those who want to read German at B2 level. It's a fantasy novel for young adults, but it's pretty much a classic and I'm sure everyone will enjoy it. It's about a 14-year old boy who becomes an apprentice at a mill, but (of course) it turns out it's not a regular mill.

(Sorry for side-tracking a bit!)
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Re: German B1 + B2 level readers

Postby Speakeasy » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:01 pm

I have well over 150 German Readers. Since an inordinately large number of them are written for young-adults, which really means for the age group 12-15, I would recommend the following collections:

La Spiga Modern Languages
La Spiga Modern Languages publishes graded readers in several languages. http://www.laspigamodern.com/ The collection includes original short stories for young adults at the A0-A1 level. At the more advanced levels, B1-B2, the stories are simplified versions of 19th century classic literature and are directed more at the adult reader. At the advanced levels, C1-C2, the stories are the original texts, either complete or abridged, of 19th century classic literature. About 20% of their readers include a CD recording of the texts. To keep the prices down, the books are printed on heavy newspaper-quality paper. Prices are about 10 $US.

Eli Publications
Eli Publications http://www.elireaders.it/index.php?opti ... 14&lang=en offers graded readers in several languages. One feature that I appreciate is that they recently introduced a series of readers for adults. The texts tend to be simplified versions of 19th century classic literature and the books are include a CD recording of the texts. These books are printed on high-quality paper and include original artwork and a bit of information about the author and the culture at the time the original book was published. Prices are about 25 $US.

Routledge Modern German Reader
The Routledge Modern German Reader is scheduled for publication in 2016. You can view the List of Contents (subject headings) on the Routledge website: https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138898035. Based on my experience with their Dutch reader, I anticipate that the German reader will begin at the B1 level and take the student very rapidly into C1-C2 territory. I am looking forward to its release and, at the projected price of 44 $US, I am convinced that it will be worth every penny.

Dover Publications: Dual-Language Readers
Penguin Parallel Text
These bilingual readers are often in the C1-C2 range; however, you might wish to add them to your list for future consideration. The stories range from 19th century literary classics through 20th short stories. The books are printed on heavy newspaper-quality paper. Prices are about 10 $US. You can find them quite readily online and in bookstores.

Linguaphone German Advanced to Expert (Aufbaukurs)
This is NOT a graded reader, it is the Linguaphone German course for students wishing to advance to the C1-C2 level. I mention this course because of the high quality (and difficulty) of the materials. If you are presently at the B1-B2 level, I suspect that you are not yet quite ready; however, you might wish to add this course to your list for future consideration. You can order the course from Linguaphone U.S.A. (Elite Commerce): http://www.linguaphonelanguages.com/ I find that the regular price of 350 $US is a little unreasonable. However, Linguaphone frequently offers "refurbished" courses for about half-price which makes them "just" reasonable, meiner Meinung nach.

VERY EASY Native Materials
You might wish to start working on some simple native materials. Working with a local newsstand/bookseller, I bought the monthly issues of "Meine Geschichte" over the period of a year. The short stories and articles are written in the style of "Readers Digest" and might not be particularly stimulating. However, they represent an inexpensive means of reading simple contemporary German texts and of improving your vocabulary. There are literally dozens of similar publications available at very low prices.
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Re: German B1 + B2 level readers

Postby Montmorency » Fri Oct 09, 2015 8:20 pm

These are quite good:

https://www.eurobooks.co.uk/languagebooks/series/ERGE

Only up to B2 though, apparently. (And the range doesn't seem as wide as I thought I remembered it).
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Re: German B1 + B2 level readers

Postby Elexi » Fri Oct 09, 2015 9:56 pm

I would second the CIDEB books from Klett - I have found them very useful.
Also, as Speakeasy says, the Linguaphone course - both of them.

http://www.klett-sprachen.de/cideb-lese ... &niveau=A1
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Re: German B1 + B2 level readers

Postby Soclydeza » Sat Oct 10, 2015 12:23 am

Check out Der Zaubercode
http://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Developm ... 910&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-German-Read ... by+reading

It was written originally as a native German story, meant for actual German readers, but they expanded it and turned it into a dual-language book, having each chapter in both German and English. I believe they say somewhere that it's in the B1-B2 range, though I would say it's well within B2, maybe even approaching C1 (but I'm not an expert on CEFR). It doesn't have any grammatical notes, but it does have an audiobook component (that is also in both German and English) and it's pretty long so it should keep you busy for a while. I'm not sure if this is what you were looking for, but I thought it was worth mentioning since I find it to be a nice gem for both reading and listening.

(for French learners, they have it in French as well).
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Re: German B1 + B2 level readers

Postby Speakeasy » Sun Nov 01, 2015 1:49 pm

Recently, I purchased a couple of French-German bilingual readers from a bookstore in Montréal that specializes in language-learning materials. I was not previously aware of the publisher, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that they have a very broad collection of readers in several languages, as well as other publications. Here is the LINK to their website: http://www.dtv.de/ To access the list of bilingual readers, locate the light-blue shaded area in the right-hand area of the screen and click on Zweisprachig: http://www.dtv.de/zweisprachig_27.html The English-German readers are under the heading "Englisch" and the readers are grouped by level, without differentiation as to the pairing of the languages, at the bottom of the "Themen" selection function.
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Re: German B1 + B2 level readers

Postby aokoye » Sun Nov 01, 2015 6:13 pm

Speakeasy wrote:Recently, I purchased a couple of French-German bilingual readers from a bookstore in Montréal that specializes in language-learning materials. I was not previously aware of the publisher, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that they have a very broad collection of readers in several languages, as well as other publications. Here is the LINK to their website: http://www.dtv.de/ To access the list of bilingual readers, locate the light-blue shaded area in the right-hand area of the screen and click on Zweisprachig: http://www.dtv.de/zweisprachig_27.html The English-German readers are under the heading "Englisch" and the readers are grouped by level, without differentiation as to the pairing of the languages, at the bottom of the "Themen" selection function.


Yeah DTV is actually one of the largest German paperback publishers so they have a very large catalogue of books. I didn't know they did parallel readers though. I don't do well with parallel texts but I'm sure I know people in my German classes who do.
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Re: German B1 + B2 level readers

Postby Soclydeza » Mon Nov 02, 2015 2:48 am

Speakeasy wrote:Recently, I purchased a couple of French-German bilingual readers from a bookstore in Montréal that specializes in language-learning materials.


They.... they have these?
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