261 Learning to Speak German - Rote Learning

261  Learning to Speak German - Rote Learning

Rote learning is somewhat unfashionable in school systems these days. Much of what happens in the classroom in these times tends to focus on process learning rather than memorising facts and information. However, I will be brave enough to admit that there is a very strong place for rote learning when it come to learning a language.

If you read back over Blog Post 4 again (if you have already done so), you will see that my first native speaking teacher was Kurt Herzog.  He influenced my thinking forever more when he said to me one night: 'Graham, I want you to tell me how a car works in German'. I was dead in the water on two counts here ... 1. I didn't know how a car worked beyond things like petrol, steering wheels, gears and brakes... 2.  I didn't know the German words for any parts of the car other than  'Auto', 'Wagen'  and maybe 'Straße'.  Herr Herzog very patiently took me through the process of both and after some 20 minutes of mind-blowing blood sweat and tears (not really, but a lot of concentration and mental gymnastics), we reached the end of the road or so I thought!

"Very good, Graham,' he said, 'but let's do it again now that you know how a car works and what the German for that is.'  Me thinks: 'you've gotta be joking, Pal!'   Panic stations! Well I we did, with a fair bit of help from my friend once again but a few words like 'Bremsen' (brakes), 'Lenkrad' (steering wheel), 'Reifen' (tyres) and even 'Zündkerze' (spark plug - lit. lighting candle) actually had stuck. 15 minutes later we had stumbled through the process.

'And again, Graham, one more time!'  'Oh no, this is murder (not really, just a little more exaggeration!)'  and away I went again. After only 8-10 minutes I actually managed to remember most of it. The words and phases Kurt gave me had started to be etched into the memory.

The human brain can do this! It is a wonderful facility often untapped these days except maybe for our multiplication tables. I saw a demonstration lesson one day at a Sydney school where the teacher put up a conversation between two people on the blackboard and bit by bit he removed words and replaced them with a dash. The students were able after a quarter of an hour to repeat the dialogue on the blackboard which in the end had nothing but dashes and no words! Try this experiment for yourselves with the dialogue below. Run off 5 copies of the dialogue and  by remove words in successive attempts in the order given in brackets after each word ..  eg.

Ich (1)    komme  (3)    aus  (4)    Australien  (2)  After Attempt 1, you would have 

 ___   komme   aus   Australien   After Attempt 2, you would have:  ___ komme   aus  ____  etc. 

Dialogue

A      Guten (2)   Morgen (1).

B      Guten (2)  Morgen (1).

A      Mein (2)    Name (1)   ist (4)  Schulz (3),   Martin (1)    Schulz (3).

B      Ich (2)     heiße (5)   Hanni  (1)  Schmidt (3).

A      Wo (4)   wohnst   du (2)  Hanni (1) ?

B      Ich (2)     wohne (5)  in (1)   Salzburg (4).   Und (3)  du (4)?

A      Ich (2)    wohne (5)  in (1)   Newcastle (3)    Australien (1).

B      Australien (1)?    Wirklich (5)?

A      Ja (1) ,  ich (3)    bin (5)    Student (2)  in (5)  Salzburg (4)

260. Learning to Speak German - Pronunciation and Phrasing

260.   Learning to Speak German   - Pronunciation & Phrasing

Before we begin learning to speak, it is important to learn good German pronunciation. To that end I suggest you read through Blog Posts 10-19 incl which will put you  on the right track.

It is also important to understand how easily you can confuse the listener if you simply change a vowel sound. An example I frequently use in class is the difference you find in meanings when using the 5 vowels in the following words ....   bag   beg   big    bog   bug. You must make every effort to get your pronunciation right.

The second point I would like to make before we really get started is the need for you to understand that any language is made up not just simply of words from a vocab list but is a combination of

words               phrases          &       grammar.

Words are the individual component parts necessary to identify certain people, objects & ideas.

Phrases combine a number of words to summarise an idea & add more information than a word.

Grammar is the glue of the language that holds all the words and phrases together. It includes things such as word order, tense change, cases and even complicated clauses. 

As your knowledge of a language increases, the more you will need to gain good understanding of grammar. When you know very little about a language, perhaps even just a few words or phrases, e.g. by saying 'Milch' to a storekeeper will probably be enough for you to get some milk.

Even mime can sometimes get you out of trouble. My favourite true story here, however, involved a tourist in Spain wanting to purchase some eggs. He went through the motions of clucking and flapping arms like a chicken and then plucking an egg from somewhere near his nether regions. The storekeeper's eyes lit up and with 'si, señor', he reached down behind the counter an produced a toilet roll. Nonetheless, mime is sometimes worth a try if all else fails.

So, in starting out on a project aimed at trying to help students to learn to speak through writing, I urge you to understand that you will need to learn all 3 aspects of the language mentioned above, particularly phrases and structures rather than just the words. I will emphasise this as we go along. I will also assume that you are making every effort as well to learn German pronunciation.

I have mentioned elsewhere in this blog that you have a wonderful resource online in just two sources I frequently refer to myself. They are  dict.com - deutsch-englisch & Leo-dict.cc Wörterbuch Deutsch Englisch. Both have a facility to hear how each word you search for is pronounced in German.

I will also look at giving you topics you might find useful when travelling so let's start with a few phrases. I will underline  / highlight phrases to be learnt ..

ich heiße    Graham Faraday

mein Name ist   Graham Faraday

ich bin fünfzig   Jahre alt  (I wish!)

ich wohne   in Newcastle Australien

meine Adresse ist   Rayfordstraße 20    (Note number goes after street name)

ich bin   am achtzehnten August    1965    geboren   ('geboren'  = 'born'  is put at end of clause)

ich habe    eine Frau Robyn    und drei Kinder (Söhne) Robert, Scott und Mark

ich bin   ein Meter 77 groß,    ich habe grüne Augen   und  ich habe kurze graue Haare

ich habe   auch   einen grauen Schnurrbart.

Note that I have underlined some adjective endings in the last 2 sentences. Adjectives preceding a noun have different endings (See Blog Posts 222 - 229 if you want to learn these). Otherwise, if you are just starting out and want a green jacket  .... grün  Jacke  will do  [grüne Jacke correct].

In conclusion today, you will see lots of different endings on the words for 'the'  or 'a(n)' . Again I suggest in the beginning if you just say 'd'  for 'the'  and 'ein'  for   'a,  an,  one' you will get by.

Try and fill in the gaps where you need to supply your very own information.

259. Learning to Speak German - Greetings & Family

259.  Learning to Speak German -  Greetings & Family

We start learning language from our parents and family members at a very early age. At first a young child will acquire individual words ....   Mum,  Dad,  Nan,  Pop,  milk,  ta,  bye,  car,  dog,  cat  etc.

Phase 2 starts with phrases where the child starts to express not mere words but concepts ....

 go home,  bye bye,  want milk,  stand up,  give chockie etc.

As language improves, children are able to start producing sentences and often by the age of 3, they can say relatively sophisticated sentences. So just like young children, let's start here with the very first basics of  spoken German ..... the greetings ..

guten Morgen   ...   good morning

guten Tag          ...   good day  ( used in North and Central Germany)

grüß Gott           ...   hello, good day  (used in South Germany, Austria )
guten Abend      ....  good evening 

grüezi                 ...   hello, good day ( used in Switzerland)

Servus                ...   hello ( used in South Germany, Austria )

Moin                  ...   hello (used in North and Central Germany)

Hallo                  ...   hello - used for telephone but increasingly as general greeting

auf Wiedersehen ...  good bye

Tschüss               ...   bye  -  informal farewell

auf Wiederhören ...   good bye on telephone

gute Nacht          ...    good night -  said when going to bed or good bye late at night

There are numerous regional variations in greetings, e.g.   'habe die Ehre'  used in Bavaria  meaning

'(I) have the honour (of seeing you)' but the above phrases serve as the basic greetings in everyday German.

and Family Members ...

Mama  / Mutti   ...   Mum(my)

Papa  /   Vati      ...   Dad(dy)

Oma                  ...    Grandma /  Nan

Opa                   ...    Granddad  /  Pop

Tante Maria      ...     Aunty Maria

Onkel Franz     ...     Uncle Franz

Schwester         ...     Sister

Bruder              ...     Brother

Kusine / Cousine ...  Cousin (f)

Cousin / Vetter  ...     Cousin (m)