264. Basic Introductions - Speaking Practice Grid

264.   Basic Introductions - Speaking Practice

Below I have added a grid which will allow you to practise some basic questions and answers for your first meeting with someone in Germany.

I will add a sample or two below. Once again you can choose any items from the various columns in the grid but make sure that your verbs match up with the subjects.

Wie                        bist             du                              Sie                      ?

Guten Tag            heißt           in der Stadtmitte      an der Uni        !

Wo                        wohne         sind                           Alois                   .

Bist                       ich              heiße                          Jahre alt

Wir                       wohnt         deine Adresse            in Ulm

Ich                        alt               19                          in einem Studentwohnheim

Meine Freundin   ist              Biologie                     jetzt

Thomas                wohnen       ihr

 Hallo                   bin               Student

                             du                hier

                             studieren     Monika

                             wohnst

Examples

1     Good day,  I am called Alois   ..... Guten Tag,  ich heiße Alois.

2     My girlfriend's name is Monika  ....   Meine Freundin heißt Monika.

Fragen .... how would you say?

1    Where are you staying here at the uni?

2    Are you a student in Ulm?

3    I am 19 years old.

4    We are studying biology here in Frankfurt.

5    Where do you (pol.) live?

6    Hello, do you (plur. fam.) here at the uni?

7    What is your (fam. sg.) address?

8    Thomas is a Biology student in Freiburg.

9    My girlfriend lives in student accommodation.

10  Where are you now?

263. Personal Details Grid & Speaking Practice

263.  Personal Details Grid & Speaking Practice

Below you will find a grid which is designed to give you a chance to practise speaking German.

You can choose any item from each column to make up sentences but .....

You must make sure that they make sense and verbs agree with the subject. Remember verbs in German change according to the pronoun or noun used as the subject.

I will give some examples below the grid and then ask you how to say various things based on the grid.

Ich                       sind              jetzt           mit dem Bus           aus Neuseeland ?    

Kommen             bin                   lange           Unterkunft             Australier  !

Wir                     wohne              manchmal         in Melbourne        Tourist .

Meine Frau          heißt            heute                nach München        hier in Frankfurt

Meine Frau und ich   reisen             oft                      sechzig Jahre alt     reserviert

Bleiben                Sie               nächste Woche       in einem Hotel       Marthe

Haben                 haben              ein Zimmer       in der Stadtmitte    in Deutschland

Examples

We often travel in Germany ...  Wir  reisen  oft  in Deutschland.

Have you reserved a room in Melbourne?   .... Haben Sie ein Zimmer in Melbourne reserviert?

Fragen ... How would you say the following?

1    I live in the city centre here in Frankfurt.

2    My wife's name is Marthe.

3    Are staying long in Germany?

4    My wife and I often travel to Munich.

5     I am sixty years old now.

6     Do you come from New Zealand?

7     We are Australians.

8     I am now staying in a hotel here in Frankfurt.

9     We are travelling by bus to Mainz next week.

10   Do you have accommodation in Frankfurt today?

262 At Customs in Frankfurt Airport

262    At Customs in Frankfurt Airport

I am going to assume now that you want to try out your new found German in public. A word of warning here ... a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. One of the traps tourists fall into when they come to a foreign country armed with their phrase book on the plane and away they go. They volunteer something which their conversation partner interprets to mean that they speak the language. Next thing of course comes a reply in the foreign language and often fairly fast and the poor old tourist is lost floundering. My advice to you would be this ...

If you are talking to anybody in an official capacity - customs,  police, doctor  etc., try your own language first or in Germany you might like to ask ...  Bitte,  sprechen  Sie  Englisch?  It is very easy to make mistakes and cause yourself problems in situations requiring accuracy.

From here on in, I will start with dialogues using simple structures and vocabulary and up the ante as we go. Where necessary I will refer you to relevant blog posts.

Beim Zoll in Frankfurt

Beamter     Guten Tag!

Tourist        Guten Tag!

Beamter      Ihren Pass bitte!

Tourist        So, bitte schön!

Beamter      Danke schön, wie ist Ihr Name bitte?

Tourist         Mein Name ist Ross, Martin Ross.

Beamter       Wie alt sind? Wann sind Sie geboren?

Tourist         Ich bin dreißig Jahre alt und ich bin am achten August 1985 geboren.

Beamter       Und Ihre Adresse?

Tourist         Ich wohne in Newcastle in der Marktstraße 12

Beamter       Und Sie sind Australier?

Tourist          Ja,  ich komme aus Neusüdwales, Australien>

Beamter        Wie lange wollen Sie in Deutschland bleiben?

Tourist          Sechs Wochen. Wir reisen überall im Süden Deutschlands.

Beamter        Wann reisen Sie ab?

Tourist          Am zweiten November fliegen wir nach Wien.

Beamter        Gut, alles in Ordnung. Viel Spaß noch!

Tourist          Danke schön.