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.
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.
H. E. Sollenberger Dean, School of Languages Foreign Service Institute