LESSON NOTES Newbie #1 Guten Tag! CONTENTS 2 Formal German 2 English 2 Informal German 3 English 3 Vocabulary 4 Sample Sentences 5 Grammar 6 Cultural Insight # 1 COPYRIGHT © 2015 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. FORMAL GERMAN 1. Frau Höhne: Guten Tag, Herr Jäger! 2. Herr Jäger: Guten Tag, Frau Höhne! 3. Frau Höhne: Wie geht es Ihnen? 4. Herr Jäger: Gut, danke, und Ihnen? 5. Frau Höhne: Auch gut, danke. 6. Herr Jäger: Auf Wiedersehen! 7. Frau Höhne: Auf Wiedersehen! ENGLISH 1. Ms Höhne: Hello, Mr Jäger! 2. Mr Jäger: Hello, Ms Höhne! 3. Ms Höhne: How are you? 4. Mr Jäger: Good, thanks, and you? 5. Ms Höhne: Also good, thanks. 6. Mr Jäger: Goodbye! 7. Ms Höhne: Goodbye! INFORMAL GERMAN CONT'D OVER GERMANPOD101.COM NEWBIE #1 - GUTEN TAG! 2 1. Lisa: Hallo Thomas! 2. Thomas: Hallo Lisa! 3. Lisa: Wie geht es dir? 4. Thomas: Gut, danke, und dir? 5. Lisa: Auch gut, danke. 6. Thomas: Tschüss! 7. Lisa: Tschüss! ENGLISH 1. Lisa: Hey Thomas! 2. Thomas: Hey Lisa! 3. Lisa: How are you? 4. Thomas: Good, thanks, and you? 5. Lisa: Also good, thanks. 6. Thomas: Bye! 7. Lisa: Bye! VOCABULARY GERMANPOD101.COM NEWBIE #1 - GUTEN TAG! 3 German English Class Gender gut good adjective auch also, too adverb Ihnen to you (formal) pronoun; dative und and conjunction expression; standard danke thanks reply is "bitte" expression; literally: “How goes it to How are you? Wie geht es dir? you?”, formal (informal) version is "Wie geht es Ihnen?" Frau Ms., woman noun feminine Herr Mister noun, masculine, der Tag day noun masculine Auf Wiedersehen! Goodbye! See you! expression SAMPLE SENTENCES Die Stunde war wirklich gut, und Heute ist ein guter Tag. ich kann die Nächste kaum Today is a good day. erwarten. The class was really good, and I can't wait for the next one. Das klingt gut. Thomas kommt auch. Sounds good. Thomas is coming, too. Ich danke Ihnen. Thomas und Lisa. I thank you. Thomas and Lisa. GERMANPOD101.COM NEWBIE #1 - GUTEN TAG! 4 Danke für die schönen Blumen. Wie geht es Ihnen, Herr Müller? Thanks for the beautiful flowers. How are you, Mr Müller? Die Frau arbeitet im Büro. Frau Sm ith The woman is working at the office. Ms. Smith. Herr Sm ith Dieser Tag ist ein Feiertag. Mr Smith This day is a public holiday. Heute ist ein guter Tag. Auf Wiedersehen! Bis zum nächsten Mal. Today is a good day. Goodbye! See you next time. Auf Wiedersehen, Professor Martins! Goodbye, professor Martins! GRAMMAR Pronunciation Unlike English, German is spelled almost phonetically. This will be a huge advantage in your studies. First however, you will need to get accustomed to the German pronunciation. Throughout this course, listen carefully to the dialogue and imagine yourself saying the phrases, maybe even play dialogues repeatedly and whisper along. If at all possible, get at least a basic membership in order to have access to the PDF transcript – this will immensely help you as you will then be able to read the dialogue while listening to it, matching letters and words to their sounds. Pay particular attention to the vowels, the R and the Umlaute (Ä, Ö and Ü). Politeness Just like German, French and Italian, German distinguishes between a formal and an informal way of addressing people, depending on how familiar you are with them. Here are the main differences between formal and informal language: Situation Formal language Informal language GERMANPOD101.COM NEWBIE #1 - GUTEN TAG! 5 Names Use last name Use first name "Sie" and derived forms like "du" and derived forms like Word for "you" "Ihnen" "dir" "Hallo", "Hey", "Hi", depending on age and "Guten Tag"(good day), style, also slurred versions "Guten Morgen"(good Greeting when meeting of the formal greetings, morning), "Guten such as "Tach"(day), Abend"(good evening) "n'Abend"(d'evening) "Auf Wiedersehen"(till Greeting when leaving seeing-again) "Tschüss"(Bye) CULTURAL INSIGHT Germans are very peculiar about wishing to show respect and to be shown respect when talking to others. That is why sometimes even people who have known each other for a long time use ‘formal’ language with each other – it is a sign of mutual respect, not of coldness. Even kids were supposed to address their parents formally until about 100 years ago. While this is no longer the case, you should still watch out who you address how. Generally, you should only use informal language with a new acquaintance if: - you are talking to somebody under 18 - you and the person you’re talking with are both around student age - you and the person you’re talking with are relatives In all other cases, you should wait till you are asked to switch to informal language – it’s up to the older person or the one higher in rank to decide this Your boss or teacher will certainly never ask you, as that would diminish his authority in the eyes of everybody. However, even regular acquaintances don’t switch to using first names nearly as quickly as they do in the USA. If you just start by addressing a stranger informally, he may feel offended as you seem to treat him like a child. That being said, as a foreigner you certainly have some leeway in case you should forget. GERMANPOD101.COM NEWBIE #1 - GUTEN TAG! 6 LESSON NOTES Newbie #2 Introductions CONTENTS 2 Formal German 2 English 2 Informal German 2 English 3 Vocabulary 3 Sample Sentences 4 Grammar 4 Cultural Insight # 2 COPYRIGHT © 2015 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. FORMAL GERMAN 1. #1: Guten Tag! Ich heiße Judith Meyer. Ich komme aus Deutschland und ich arbeite hier, bei Germanpod101.com. 2. #2: Guten Tag! Ich heiße Chuck Smith. Ich komme nicht aus Deutschland, aber ich wohne in Deutschland. Ich arbeite auch bei Germanpod101.com. ENGLISH 1. #1: Hello! I am called Judith Meyer. I come from Germany and I work here, at Germanpod101.com 2. #2: Hello! I am called Chuck Smith. I don’t come from Germany, but I live in Germany. I also work at Germanpod101.com. INFORMAL GERMAN 1. #1: Hallo! Ich heiße Judith Meyer. Ich komme aus Deutschland und ich arbeite hier, bei Germanpod101.com. 2. #2: Hallo! Ich heiße Chuck Smith. Ich komme nicht aus Deutschland, aber ich wohne in Deutschland. Ich arbeite auch bei Germanpod101.com. ENGLISH 1. #1: Hello! I am called Judith Meyer. I come from Germany and I work here, at Germanpod101.com CONT'D OVER GERMANPOD101.COM NEWBIE #2 - I NTRODUCTI ONS 2 2. #2: Hello! I am called Chuck Smith. I don’t come from Germany, but I live in Germany. I also work at Germanpod101.com. VOCABULARY German English Class Gender ich I personal pronoun heißen to be called verb kommen (aus) to come (from) verb Deutschland Germany proper noun neutral arbeiten to work verb hier here adverb aber but conjunction wohnen to live, to inhabit verb SAMPLE SENTENCES Ich bin Mark. Sie heißt Erika. I am Mark. She’s called Erika. Ich komme aus Australien. Deutschland ist in Europa. I come from Australia. Germany is in Europe. Ich trinke immer Kaffee, wenn ich Bis wann arbeitest du heute? arbeite. Till when are you working today? I always drink coffee when I work. Ich arbeite als Lehrer. Sie sind hier. I work as a teacher. You are here./They are here. GERMANPOD101.COM NEWBIE #2 - I NTRODUCTI ONS 3 Ich weiß, du bist beschäftigt. Aber Aber ich wollte doch fernsehen! kannst du meinen Anwalt anrufen? But I wanted to watch TV! I know you are busy. But can you call my lawyer? Ich wohne nicht in Berlin. I don't live in Berlin. GRAMMAR In order to introduce yourself, you need to know one thing about verbs (words describing actions). In German, they typically end in –en when you find them in a dictionary or also in the vocabulary list. That form is called infinitive. In English, the infinitive of a verb is something like “to be”, not “am” or “are”. When you add the word “I” however, you no longer say “I be”, you say “I am”. This is no longer the infinitive. In German, whenever you want to go from the infinitive to the form used with “ich” (I), just take away the final –n. For example: kommen (to come) Easy, isn’t it? And here’s some more good news: in German, there is no difference between “I work” and “I am working”, it’s “ich arbeite” in any case – and despite the stereotype, people don’t actually work that much over here. Law guarantees a minimum of 24 paid vacation days for employees, in addition to sick time and national or regional holidays, and typically your contract will give you more. Chuck said that he doesn’t come from Germany. In English, making a negative statement can give students quite a headache, but in German it’s as easy as adding “nicht” to the phrase. Some examples just for practice: Ich komme aus Deutschland. - Ich komme nicht aus Deutschland. Ich arbeite hier. – Ich arbeite nicht hier. Ich heiße Judith. – Ich heiße nicht Judith. CULTURAL INSIGHT There is a somewhat different etiquette on conversation topics in Germany. For one thing, questions about health (“Wie geht es Ihnen?”) are typically sincere, unless they GERMANPOD101.COM NEWBIE #2 - I NTRODUCTI ONS 4 are used to bridge a lack of topic. So it is not absolutely required to ask people this when you meet them, much less is it required to also inquire about their family, but when you do, you should not be disappointed if you get a detailed answer – particularly from old people, that like to complain about their various illnesses.