German For Dummies, (for Dummies (language & Li... -

Karl opened the book and was immediately greeted by a friendly cartoon man named Hans. Hans didn't judge Karl for his inability to pronounce "ch" or "ü." Instead, Hans whispered secrets of the Umlaut —those two little dots that turned a "u" from a grunt into a sophisticated whistle. Karl spent his first night practicing Ich möchte ein Bier , feeling like a secret agent mastering a code that only involved foam and heavy glass mugs. The Case of the Missing Verb

He walked out into the sunlight, clutching his warm pretzels, finally a "Dummy" who could conquer the world—one Umlaut at a time. German For Dummies, (For Dummies (Language & Li...

The real challenge came in Chapter 8: The Long Words. Karl stared at Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz . He didn't know what it meant, but he felt a strange sense of power just looking at it. He realized that in German, if you don't have a word for something, you just glue five other words together until the paper runs out. He started calling his refrigerator a Kaltessenbewahrungsschrank , much to his wife's annoyance. The Final Test Karl opened the book and was immediately greeted