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    <title>Preface</title>
    <para>This Basic Course in German has been designed to assist United States Government
        representatives who require a command of spoken German. The general concept of this text has
        grown out of the plan of Spoken Language courses prepared under the auspices of the American
        Council of Learned Societies during World War II. But pattern drills and other exercises
        have been developed extensively at the Foreign Service Institute to provide a much fuller
        manipulation of forms and patterns, and a conscious attempt has been made to adapt
        situations and vocabulary to specific needs of the Foreign Service. And the course is
        intended to lay a solid foundation for comprehensive language skills, providing
        systematically for the development of reading proficiency based on oral- aural
        skills.</para>
    <para>This text is the end-product of several years of work and has benefited from the labors of
        many members and former members of the FSI staff. In its present form it was prepared under
        the supervision of Or. Samuel A. Brown, who has had overall responsibility for the
        arrangement of situation­al material and for the organization and presentation of structural
        features. Particular credit for the dialogs and much of the drill material goes to Mrs. Use
        Christoph. Mrs. Christoph has been assisted by Mrs. Maria-Luise Bissonnette, Mr Friedrich
        Lehmann, Mr. Gerhard Matzel, Mrs. Margarete Plischke and Mrs. Erika Quaid. A most valuable
        contribution was also made by Mrs. Quaid in preparing the major part of the typescript,
        assisted by Miss Geneviève Ducastel. The project has been a cooperative venture, however,
        and all members of the German staff have contributed freely the fruit of their classroom
        experience and the gifts of their imagination and insight.<inlinemediaobject>
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    <para>H. E. Sollenberger Dean, School of Languages Foreign Service Institute</para>
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