gangleri2001
Garbage day!!!
Hallo everyone!
Welcome to the
Teachers:
Gangleri2001
Scherbchen
Thorbal
oagersnap
(If you're a native speaker or proficient in German and wanna join us, send me a message and I'll add you)
I know that lots of people here already know some German. But given that this course has been also thought for people that begins from scratch, we'll begin with the most basic stuff. So if you already know some German, be patient: someday we'll get your level
And now, let's begin with
LESSON 1: PRONUNCIATION AND GREETINGS
PRONUNCIATION
Consonants
(Y is in the vowels section)
B = B as in Bone (Actually, for an English speaker it sounds like a P, but you better forget it unless you already are proficient in German)
C = C as in Cofee. ALWAYS
D = D as in Done
F = F as in (epic) Fail
G = G as in Garbage day! But not as in garbaGe day!
H = Mute. DON'T pronounce it.
J = Y as in You (semiconsonantic i)
K = K as in Key
L = L as in Low
M = M as in Mother
N = N as in Nothing
P = P as in Poll
Q = Q as in Question (see digraphs)
R = It sounds like a soft french r. If it's at the end of a word and preceded by a vowel it becomes a vocalic r, that's to say, it makes the previous vowel sound like a schwa. I know that this explanation sucks, but I find this sound pretty hard to explain (help required)
S = S as in Sit
ß = Here we got the famous Eszet. It's pronounced like the S (See long and short vowels)
T = T as in Tea
V = This and the W are pretty hard to explain. So I think I'm gonna need help. Well, to pronounce the V you just have to pronounce a F. It's not exactly the same sound but I can't really tell you what's the difference between F and V. I think that it's something like a short F, but I'm not sure (native pronouncing this letter required).
W = If you got the sound of V, then you can get it because it's a soft V (or something like that) (native pronouncing this letter required)
X = KS as in foX
Z = It doesn't sound like a z, but like TS. For example, don't read zone, but tsone.
Vowels
A = A as in rAn
E = E as in rEnt. It's not exactly the same sound but never mind.
When you find a word that ends with -e or -er, then that E must be pronounced like a schwa (ə.
I = I as in mInt
O = O as in Order
U = Pronounce it like the OO in pOOp
Ä = I'll have to use instructions in the umlauted vowels. to pronounce the ä open your mouth as if you were going to say "a" but say "e" instead. Do you got that sound? That how you got to pronounce the ä
Ö = Open your mouth as if you were going to say "o" but say "e" instead. Practice this and you'll have a perfect pronunciation of the ö.
Ü = Pronounce it like the french "u". Don't you know how do french people pronounce the u? Well, then here you got the instructions. Open your mouth as if you were going to say "u" but say "i" instead. Do you get that sound?
Y = Did you get the sound of Ü? If you did, well done, because the Y is pronounced like a soft (and I think that short too) Ü. So, if you didn't get the Ü, you've got to practice it.
-ehr, -ir, -ihr, -or, -ohr, -ur and -uhr endings: If you see a word that has one of these endings, then you've got to add a short schwa (ə between the vowel and the r.
Long and short vowels: German does a distinction between long and short vowels. If you want to know when to pronounce a vowel short or long, you've got to see how many consonants follow the vowel. If the vowel is followed by two consonats, it's short, but if it's followed by one consonant, then it's long. For example, the a of the word "man" is long, while the a of th word "Mann" is short. The only exception to this is the vowel "i" because its long form is "ie".
Digraphs
EI and EY = While reading this, read ai (the german ai, of course) instead of ei.
IE = Long i, that's to say, EE as in pEE
EU and ÄU = OY as in bOY
SCH = Famous digraph. SH as in SHape
CH = If ch is introduced by a, o or u then it must be pronounced like the spanish j or the russian x.
If there's an e or an i before the ch, then you've got to follow these instructions. Pronounce SH, got that? Now try to pronounce it but pulling the back of your tongue upwards but without closing it, just make it smaller. Got that? Yeah, I know, it's hard to get.
CHS = KS, like foX
DT = T as in Tea
PH = F as in Fill
QU = This sounds like a K + a german V (which ressambles to the f). So, if you read the word bequem, you've got to say something like bekfem.
SP- and ST- = When you find it at de beginning of a word, you've got to say "shp" and "sht". REMEMBER: This only works when these are at the beginning of the word.
TSCH = CH as in CHallenge
TZ = TS as in caTS
-TION = The suffix -tion must be pronounced like -tsion
GREETINGS AND STUFF LIKE THAT
Hallo = Hello
Willkommen or Herzlich willkommen = Welcome
Tschüss = Bye
Auf Wiedersehen = See you! (pretty formal)
Bis bald or bis gleich or bis dann = See you later or See you soon (CAUTION: Bis dann can also mean "Cheers!")
Guten Tag or Tag! = Good day
Guten Morgen or Morgen! = Good morning
Guten Abend = Good evening & good afternoon
Gute Nacht = Good night
Wie geht's? = How are you? (informal)
Wie geht es? or Wie geht es dir? = How are you? (neutral form)
Wie geht es Ihnen? = How are you? (formal)
Prima = Great
Sehr gut = Very good
Gut = good
Es geht (so) = All right
Ganz gut or Okay = Ok
So lala = so-so
Schlecht = bad
Miserabel = Miserable
Danke = Thanks (CAUTION: This can also mean "Cheers!")
Danke vielmals = thanks a million
Vielen Dank! or Danke schön! = thank you very much
Bitte = Please or You're welcome
Alles Gute = Best wishes
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag or = Happy birthday
Fröhliche Weihnachten or Frohe Weihnachten = Merry Christmas
Frohes neues Jahr = Happy new year!
Frohe Ostern = Happy Easter!
Frohe Feiertage or Frohe Festtage = Happy holidays
Well I think that that is enough for a introductory lesson, don't you? If I missed something or you still have any questions (or corrections
), post them here and share your questions and post them here, don't send me a private message, please.
Next week we'll begin with lesson 2.
Bonus track
Typing special characters with your keyboard (use the numeric keyboard)
ß = Alt + 0223
ü = Alt + 129
Ü = Alt + 0220
ö = Alt + 0246
Ö = Alt + 0214
ä = Alt + 132
Ä = Alt + 0196
Welcome to the
GERMAN FOR (CIVILIZED) DUMMIES COURSE
Teachers:
Gangleri2001
Scherbchen
Thorbal
oagersnap
(If you're a native speaker or proficient in German and wanna join us, send me a message and I'll add you)
I know that lots of people here already know some German. But given that this course has been also thought for people that begins from scratch, we'll begin with the most basic stuff. So if you already know some German, be patient: someday we'll get your level
And now, let's begin with
LESSON 1: PRONUNCIATION AND GREETINGS
PRONUNCIATION
Consonants
(Y is in the vowels section)
B = B as in Bone (Actually, for an English speaker it sounds like a P, but you better forget it unless you already are proficient in German)
C = C as in Cofee. ALWAYS
D = D as in Done
F = F as in (epic) Fail
G = G as in Garbage day! But not as in garbaGe day!
H = Mute. DON'T pronounce it.
J = Y as in You (semiconsonantic i)
K = K as in Key
L = L as in Low
M = M as in Mother
N = N as in Nothing
P = P as in Poll
Q = Q as in Question (see digraphs)
R = It sounds like a soft french r. If it's at the end of a word and preceded by a vowel it becomes a vocalic r, that's to say, it makes the previous vowel sound like a schwa. I know that this explanation sucks, but I find this sound pretty hard to explain (help required)
S = S as in Sit
ß = Here we got the famous Eszet. It's pronounced like the S (See long and short vowels)
T = T as in Tea
V = This and the W are pretty hard to explain. So I think I'm gonna need help. Well, to pronounce the V you just have to pronounce a F. It's not exactly the same sound but I can't really tell you what's the difference between F and V. I think that it's something like a short F, but I'm not sure (native pronouncing this letter required).
W = If you got the sound of V, then you can get it because it's a soft V (or something like that) (native pronouncing this letter required)
X = KS as in foX
Z = It doesn't sound like a z, but like TS. For example, don't read zone, but tsone.
Vowels
A = A as in rAn
E = E as in rEnt. It's not exactly the same sound but never mind.
When you find a word that ends with -e or -er, then that E must be pronounced like a schwa (ə
.I = I as in mInt
O = O as in Order
U = Pronounce it like the OO in pOOp
Ä = I'll have to use instructions in the umlauted vowels. to pronounce the ä open your mouth as if you were going to say "a" but say "e" instead. Do you got that sound? That how you got to pronounce the ä
Ö = Open your mouth as if you were going to say "o" but say "e" instead. Practice this and you'll have a perfect pronunciation of the ö.
Ü = Pronounce it like the french "u". Don't you know how do french people pronounce the u? Well, then here you got the instructions. Open your mouth as if you were going to say "u" but say "i" instead. Do you get that sound?
Y = Did you get the sound of Ü? If you did, well done, because the Y is pronounced like a soft (and I think that short too) Ü. So, if you didn't get the Ü, you've got to practice it.
-ehr, -ir, -ihr, -or, -ohr, -ur and -uhr endings: If you see a word that has one of these endings, then you've got to add a short schwa (ə
between the vowel and the r.Long and short vowels: German does a distinction between long and short vowels. If you want to know when to pronounce a vowel short or long, you've got to see how many consonants follow the vowel. If the vowel is followed by two consonats, it's short, but if it's followed by one consonant, then it's long. For example, the a of the word "man" is long, while the a of th word "Mann" is short. The only exception to this is the vowel "i" because its long form is "ie".
Digraphs
EI and EY = While reading this, read ai (the german ai, of course) instead of ei.
IE = Long i, that's to say, EE as in pEE
EU and ÄU = OY as in bOY
SCH = Famous digraph. SH as in SHape
CH = If ch is introduced by a, o or u then it must be pronounced like the spanish j or the russian x.
If there's an e or an i before the ch, then you've got to follow these instructions. Pronounce SH, got that? Now try to pronounce it but pulling the back of your tongue upwards but without closing it, just make it smaller. Got that? Yeah, I know, it's hard to get.
CHS = KS, like foX
DT = T as in Tea
PH = F as in Fill
QU = This sounds like a K + a german V (which ressambles to the f). So, if you read the word bequem, you've got to say something like bekfem.
SP- and ST- = When you find it at de beginning of a word, you've got to say "shp" and "sht". REMEMBER: This only works when these are at the beginning of the word.
TSCH = CH as in CHallenge
TZ = TS as in caTS
-TION = The suffix -tion must be pronounced like -tsion
GREETINGS AND STUFF LIKE THAT
Hallo = Hello
Willkommen or Herzlich willkommen = Welcome
Tschüss = Bye
Auf Wiedersehen = See you! (pretty formal)
Bis bald or bis gleich or bis dann = See you later or See you soon (CAUTION: Bis dann can also mean "Cheers!")
Guten Tag or Tag! = Good day
Guten Morgen or Morgen! = Good morning
Guten Abend = Good evening & good afternoon
Gute Nacht = Good night
Wie geht's? = How are you? (informal)
Wie geht es? or Wie geht es dir? = How are you? (neutral form)
Wie geht es Ihnen? = How are you? (formal)
Prima = Great
Sehr gut = Very good
Gut = good
Es geht (so) = All right
Ganz gut or Okay = Ok
So lala = so-so
Schlecht = bad
Miserabel = Miserable
Danke = Thanks (CAUTION: This can also mean "Cheers!")
Danke vielmals = thanks a million
Vielen Dank! or Danke schön! = thank you very much
Bitte = Please or You're welcome
Alles Gute = Best wishes
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag or = Happy birthday
Fröhliche Weihnachten or Frohe Weihnachten = Merry Christmas
Frohes neues Jahr = Happy new year!
Frohe Ostern = Happy Easter!
Frohe Feiertage or Frohe Festtage = Happy holidays
Well I think that that is enough for a introductory lesson, don't you? If I missed something or you still have any questions (or corrections
), post them here and share your questions and post them here, don't send me a private message, please.Next week we'll begin with lesson 2.
Bonus track
Typing special characters with your keyboard (use the numeric keyboard)
ß = Alt + 0223
ü = Alt + 129
Ü = Alt + 0220
ö = Alt + 0246
Ö = Alt + 0214
ä = Alt + 132
Ä = Alt + 0196
