Here’s a link to Henning Wehn sharing a German joke with Alan Davies on QI. Stroodle gets a mention!
Enjoy!
How old? – Wie alt?
Here’s your chance to practise your German numbers, by saying how old your children are.
First, the question:
Wie alt ist Ihr Sohn? How old is your son?
Wie alt ist Ihre Tochter? How old is your daughter?
Wie alt sind Ihre Kinder? How old are your children?
Remember, you only need to learn the answer that’s right for you.
Mein Sohn ist … / meine Tochter ist … (Jahre alt) My son is … / my daughter is … (years old)
Meine Töchter sind … und … . My daughters are … and …
Here’s a link to the BBC course. You can listen to people talking about their family:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/talk/family/
Talking about your family – meine Familie
Your German colleagues will probably ask you about your family. They might say:
Haben Sie eine Familie? Do you have a family?
Haben Sie Kinder? Do you have children?
Here are all the different possible answers. You only need to remember the one that applies to you!
Ja, ich habe ein Kind / zwei Kinder Yes, I have one child / two children
Nein, ich habe keine Kinder No, I have no children
Ich habe eine Tochter I have a daughter
or Ich habe vier Töchter I have four daughters
Ich habe einen Sohn I have a son
or Ich habe zwei Söhne I have two sons
If, like Soo, you have one of each, say:
Ja, ich habe einen Sohn und eine Tochter.
Do you speak German? – Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Because we can now understand some basic German and answer some simple questions, we will be asked:
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Do you speak German?
Your answer will be: Ja, ein biβchen! Yes, a bit
You can then go on to explain how you learned German. For example:
Ich habe bei der Firma gelernt! I learnt it at work
or
Wir haben ein paar Deutschstunden gehabt. We’ve had a few German lessons
If you get a bit stuck, you can try one of these:
Entschuldigung! Excuse me; sorry
Wie, bitte? Pardon
Ich verstehe nicht. I don’t understand
Nicht so schnell, bitte! Not so fast, please
Session four: vocabulary
In session four we talked about ourselves and our family a little in German so that we can make small talk during our visit.
These are some of the words we might need:
die Familie family
die Frau woman/wife
der Mann man/husband
der Sohn son Söhne sons
die Tochter daughter Töchter daughters
die Firma company or firm
der Kollege colleague
die Arbeit work
der Hund dog
die Katze cat
Session Three: vocabulary
In session three we learned to recognise words associated with an overnight stay in Germany. These are:
das Hotel hotel
der Gasthof guest house
das Zimmer room
das Bad bath
die Dusche shower
die Treppe stairs
der Fahrstuhl lift
das Bett bed
das Fenster window
die Tür door
We also learned the word for breakfast. It’s Das Frühstück.
But can you remember what to expect for breakfast in your German hotel?
The German Alphabet
There are 26 letters in the English alphabet There are 30 letters in German
Here are the extra 4 letters: β, ä, ö, ü
β as in Viel Spaβ (that means ‘have fun!’)
Umlauts: ä (das Bad, but spät)
ö (schon or schön)
ü (der Fuβ or die Füβe)
Common abbreviations to help you practise your German spelling:
ABC, SPD, FDP, CDU, ADAC, GmbH, BMW, VW, JH, FKK, LKW
Follow this link to the BBC German website to see Henning Wehn teaching the alphabet through song:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/comedy/alphabet.shtml : Henning Wehn introduces the alphabet
Here’s how to ask someone how to spell something, such as their name:
Wie schreibt man das, bitte?
Now practise spelling your name in German!
Don’t forget: you can use your German numbers and letters to give someone your car registration number, too.
