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.

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)

258. Subordinate Clause Word Order Quiz Answers

                              258.  Subordinate Clause Word Order Quiz Answers


1     Nachdem  ich das Buch gelesen  habe ,  habe  ich  den Film  gesehen .


2     Klaus   konnte  nicht  zur Party  kommen ,   weil   er  sehr  krank   war .


3     Während  wir  in Hamburg  waren ,   haben  wir  eine  Hafenrundfahrt  gemacht .


4      Wenn  meine Eltern  im Winter  in Bayern  sind ,  gehen  sie  gern  Schi laufen .


5      Katrin  lernt  schon  viel Plattdeutsch ,  seitdem  sie  ganz im Norden Deutschlands wohnt .


6       Da meine Freunde  den Schwarzwald  lieben,  verbringen sie  oft  ihren Urlaub  in Titisee .


7     Ich  will  auf dem Ku'damm  einkaufen  gehen,   sobald   ich   in Berlin   ankomme.


8     Indem  Monika ins Zimmer kam,   sang  sie  leise  ein schönes Lied .


9     Bevor  Sie  nach Deutschland  gehen,  sollten  Sie  ein bisschen Deutsch  lernen .


10    Ihr  müsst  den Dom  besuchen ,  wenn  ihr  nächsten August  in Köln  seid.


11    Als  mein Vater  in Schottland   war,    hat   er   Golf  in St Andrews   gespielt.


12    Obgleich meine Großeltern sehr  lieb  sind ,   kann ich  sie  nur  zweimal im Jahr  besuchen  .

257 Subordinate Clause Word Order Quiz

                                         257   Subordinate Clause Word Order Quiz

Rewrite the following sentences in good German word order. Clue .... Try to identify which is the Main Clause first and which is the Subordinate Clause.  Remember ... the Main Clause can stand on its own and make sense but the Subordinate Clause cannot stand alone - it only adds meaning to the Main Clause. 

The examples below are mixed ... some start with the Subordinate Clause and some start with the Main Clause.


1     das Buch   gelesen   ich    nachdem   habe ,   den Film   ich   gesehen   habe .


2     zur Party    nicht   Klaus   konnte    kommen ,   sehr  krank   war   weil   er.


3     während   in Hamburg    waren    wir ,   eine  Hafenrundfahrt   gemacht   wir  haben .


4     in Bayern   meine Eltern    wenn    sind   im Winter ,  gern    sie    Schi laufen   gehen .


5     lernt   Katrin    schon    viel Plattdeutsch ,   ganz im Norden Deutschlands  seitdem  wohnt  sie .


6     den Schwarzwald   meine Freunde   lieben  da ,   oft   verbringen   ihren Urlaub  in Titisee  sie.


7     will   ich   einkaufen   auf dem Ku'damm  gehen,   sobald   ich   in Berlin   ankomme.


8     ins Zimmer    kam    indem   Monika ,   ein schönes Lied    leise   sang    sie.


9     nach Deutschland    Sie   bevor   gehen,   Sie  ein bisschen Deutsch  sollten  lernen.


10    müsst    den Dom    ihr   besuchen ,   in Köln   wenn   nächsten August   ihr    seid.


11    mein Vater   als   in Schottland   war,    in St Andrews   er   Golf   hat    gespielt.


12    obgleich   sehr  lieb   meine Großeltern   sind ,   sie   nur   zweimal im Jahr   kann  besuchen  ich.

256. More on Subordinate Clause Word Order

                                     256.  More on Subordinate Clause Word Order

We have seen in a previous post that Word Order in a Subordinate Clause is different from the Main Clause (Principal Clause). 

Using the SVPANAPPI model for main clause word order (See Post 210),  the main difference in the Subordinate Clause word order is that the verb is placed last in the clause and not second.

This then leaves us with a pattern of   SPANAPPIV    e.g....

Wenn ich mich krank  fühle,  .....
Obgleich Anna nur zehn Jahre alt  ist,    .....
Bevor du in die Stadt   gehst,  .....

A further complication is that when the Subordinate Clause precedes the Main Clause, the verb in the Main Clause immediately follows ...  e.g

Wenn ich mich krank fühle,  kann  ich meinen Arzt anrufen.
Obgleich Anna nur zehn Jahre alt ist,  hat  sie schon viel Erfolg beim Schilaufen gehabt.
Bevor du in die Stadt gehst ,  sollst  du deine Hausaufgaben machen.

If the Main Clause comes first in the sentence,  the Subordinate Clause simply has its verb at the end.

Ich kann meinen Arzt anrufen, wenn ich mich krank  fühle.
Anna hat schon viel Erfolg beim Schilaufen gehabt, obgleich sie nur zehn Jahre alt  ist.
Du sollst deine Hausaufgaben machen, bevor du in die Stadt  gehst.

Please note, a Subordinate Clause usually starts with a subordinating conjunction.