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.