A graphic grammar for learning German by Barbara Avila Vissirini

Dieses kleine Buch ist für dich (This little book is for you) is a German grammar book with a new approach to explain the language to adults learning it as a foreign language. The book uses a novel visual system that encodes and highlights grammar features to consistently translate them into graphic elements. Used throughout the book, this consistent way to represent grammar makes relevant morphological features and grammar structures such as word classes, grammatical gender, verb conjugation, and case declension always visible and recognizable to learners. By guiding the learners' attention, maximizing the memorability of the content, and supporting comparison between structures, this visual aid aims to make German grammar more engaging and accessible for non-native speakers.

Developed by Barbara Avila Vissirini during her MA in communication design at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (FHP), she sought to combine her own experience in learning German as a foreign language and her perspective as a designer to explore ways for facilitating grammar instruction. The graphic grammar system originated from her analysis of the available visual variables and the most important grammatical features of the German language for non-native speakers. In cooperation with the FHP UCLAB research group and the FHP International Office, Barbara published the first edition of the book in August 2021 under a creative commons license, with printed copies of the second edition available for purchase since May 2022.