German made simple learn to speak and understand german quickly and easily
German made simple learn to speak and understand german quickly and easily
German Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand German Quickly and Easily
GERMAN MADE SIMPLE
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MADE SIMPLE
is a trademark of Broadway Books.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
German and English belong to the same family of languages—Related German and English words—German is not difficult to pronounce and spell—A preview of some interesting features of German.
The vowels
a, e, i, o, u
—The consonants—The vowel combinations
au, ei, eu
—The modified vowels
ä, ö, ü
—Front
ch
, back
ch
—Final
g
—The German alphabet—The German letter ß—Summary of letters and sounds.
The family (
die Familie
)—Gender of nouns—Definite article and noun in the nominative case—Agreement of third-person pronouns—Asking somebody’s name.
The indefinite article
ein, kein
—Some German verb endings—The negative
nicht
—The formation of questions.
Noun plurals—Common professions—Present tense of
gehen
—Three ways of saying
you
—Familiar verbs like
gehen
in the present tense—Question words—Asking somebody’s age.
Imperative (command) forms—Accusative case of nouns, definite and indefinite articles,
kein, wer
and
was
—Feminine nouns with the ending-
-in
—Asking for the price.
The one-family house (
das Einfamilienhaus
)—More noun plurals—Present tense of
sein
and
haben
—Accusative case, third-person pronouns—Some prepositions with the accusative case—Looking for a new home.
Compound nouns—Opposites—Present tense of
antworten, reden, sprechen
—Modal verb
wollen
—Word order: normal and inverted word order—Position of infinitives.
Modal verb
müssen
—Dative or “to” case of nouns, articles and
kein
—Some common verbs that may take indirect objects—Dative of third person pronouns and of
wer
—Dative prepositions.
Expressions of “liking” with
gern
and
lieber
—
Es gibt
there is, there are—Present tense of
laufen, fahren
—Prepositions with the dative or accusative—
Da(r
) and
wo(r
) combinations—What a mess!
Genitive case—The use of von in place of the genitive—The interrogative
wessen
—Prepositions with the genitive case—Present tense of
kennen
and of
wissen
.
Summary: Nouns, verbs, prepositions (dative, dative or accusative, accusative, genitive)—German expressions—Vocabulary exercises—Grammar review and exercises: noun declensions, all cases; masculine nouns with
-n
or
-en
endings—Compound nouns—Dialogues:
1. Wo ist die Thomasstraße? 2. Wo hält der Bus an?—Lesestücke: 1. Herr Clark lernt Deutsch. 2. Die Deutschsprachigen Länder: Deutschland, Österreich und Schweiz
.
Present tense of
lesen, treten
—Possessive adjectives (
ein
-words)—Packing a suitcase.
Infinitives used as nouns—Numerals 1 to 100—Present tense of
können, tun
—
Der
-words:
dieser, jener, jeder, welcher, aller
—Making phone calls.
The European currency—Numerals over 100—Arithmetic Subordinate word order—Subordinating conjunctions
dass, wenn
—Coordinating conjunctions
und, aber, oder, denn
—Talking about prices.
Clothes—The “Do-er”—Present tense of
tragen, lassen
—About adjective endings—Adjectives preceded by a
der
-word—Adjectives preceded by an
ein
-word—Adjectives preceded by neither a
der
-word nor an
ein
-word—Colors.
Travelling—Expressions of satisfaction or approval—
Dieser
the latter,
jener
the former—Travel expressions—Time of day—The 24-hour clock—Separable verbs, present tense—First and second person pronouns (nominative, dative, accusative).
Summary: Nouns, verbs, German expressions—Vocabulary exercises—Grammar review and exercises: Summary of adjective endings; summary of first-, second- and third-person pronouns (nominative, dative and accusative)—Dialogues:
1. Ihre Uhr geht nach. 2. Wo muss ich aussteigen?—Lesestück: Karl lernt nicht gern Mathematik
.
Some foods—The present tense of
nehmen, dürfen
—Reflexive verbs, present tense of
sich setzen
—Some common reflexive verbs—
Reflexive pronouns in the dative—Separable verbs in subordinate clauses.
Present tense of
schlafen, sollen
—Regular and irregular verbs in English—The past tense of weak (regular) verbs in German—Some familiar weak verbs, present and past—Past tense of strong (irregular) verbs—Some familiar strong verbs, present and past—Some expressions referring to past time—A fairy tale:—
Rotkäppchen
.
Expressions of weather—Some familiar separable verbs (present and past)—The position of the separable prefix of verbs (present and past) in simple sentences and main clauses—Position of separable verbs in subordinate clauses—
Hin
and
her
—More subordinating conjunctions—
Wann, wenn, als
.
The seasons—The months of the year—
Gern, lieber, am liebsten
—Present tense of
werden, mögen
—Inseparable verbs—Verbs that take a dative object.
Present and past tense of
essen
—The relative pronouns—
Wo(r
) combinations used for relative pronouns with prepositions—
Wer
and
was
as relative pronouns—Call My Bluff.
Summary: Verbs (present and past)—German expressions—Vocabulary exercises—Grammar review and exercises: modal auxiliaries, present tense; modal auxiliaries, past tense; subordinate word order; expressions of definite time and duration of time—Dialogues:
1. Zwei Freunde begegnen sich auf der Straße. 2. Ich habe Hunger—Lesestück: Herr Clark war krank
.
The present perfect tense (“
Perfekt
”)—Formation of the past participle—The principal parts of verbs—Use of the past and present perfect tenses.
Some very special verbs with the auxiliary
sein
—Indirect questions with
wie, wo, wann, wer, was, warum
—The present and past perfect tenses in subordinate clauses.
Formal letters: date, beginning, closing—The future tense—The present tense with future meaning—The future tense in subordinate clauses—Hobbies.
Summary: Verbs, German expressions—Vocabulary exercises—Grammar review and exercises: Present, past, present perfect, past perfect and future tenses; the subordinate word order of verbs in the present perfect, past perfect, and future; summary of subordinating conjunctions—
Vier Dialoge—Lesestücke: 1. Frau Clark hat Geburtstag. 2. Ein toller Film im Kino
.
Related words—Mixed verbs—The infinitive with
zu
—The infinitive without
zu
.
German Made Simple: A Complete Course for Serious Learners
Learn to speak, write and understand German quickly and easily. For Beginners
Learn the grammar, vocabulary and communication skills you need in order to become a fluent German speaker.
This course is perfect if you want to:
Cover the basics and then progress fast
Whether you are a complete beginner, too busy for a language class, or needing to brush up before a vacation or business trip, this is the course for you. It covers all four basic skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing, and you can enjoy the freedom and flexibility to learn at your own pace.
Grammar and vocabulary are taught through texts and dialogues based on everyday situations ranging from talking about interests and hobbies, daily routines to ordering food in a restaurant and making a doctor’s appointment.
Start forming sentences after the very first lesson
The language is approached in a functional and communicative way so that you can easily use what you have learned to communicate in German effectively.
I have kept the grammatical explanations as simple and user-friendly as possible to allow you to progress at a steady pace but at the same time build up a sound understanding of how the language works and so build up your confidence.
This is what you can expect:
Are you ready? Then take this course and start speaking German right away!
The 9 best online courses, apps, and books to start learning German
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Learning German — a language with over 132 million speakers and famously tricky grammar — can be a difficult solo undertaking, but it can also be a fun way to spend any spare time during the pandemic.
Whether you’re brushing up on high school German or completely starting from scratch, there are several online platforms available to help you meet your goals. But where to start? E-learning platforms like Rosetta Stone and Duolingo boast millions of users and promise a fast track to fluency, each with their own respective pedagogies. There are also many great books and free online resources, depending on your needs and learning style.
Learning a language on your own can be tough, and you’re going to want to use a combination of resources to fully practice speaking, listening, writing, and reading. For example, pairing an online learning platform with a physical vocabulary book is a great idea to get you acquainted with the language before working with a virtual italki tutor or diving into more in-depth YouTube videos.
Once you choose the resources and methods that work best for you, you’ll be watching Netflix’s «Dark» without subtitles in no time.
The 9 best online courses, apps, books, and websites to learn German online:
Platforms and apps
For intuitive learning
German grammar is notoriously difficult for people who haven’t studied languages with case systems. If you want to find a way to learn the language more intuitively, Rosetta Stone might be your best bet because it’s focused on immersive learning that replicates the way infants learn their native language. It also provides feedback on your pronunciation and gives you real-life scenarios to work with.
For bite-sized games
Duolingo offers a little bit more structure than Rosetta Stone, and it’s free (unless you opt for Duolingo Plus, which gets rid of ads and gives you unlimited mistakes). Users are able to see the entire lesson plan from the start, so it’s easy to see where you are in relation to the big picture, which can be encouraging. Since Duolingo is structured like a set of mini-games, it works best for people who enjoy learning in fun, bite-sized chunks and can commit to quick daily exercises.
For more visual cues
GermanPod101 is one of many, many languages offered by Innovative Language – a company whose programming extends from Afrikaans to Nepali and practically everything in between. Most of the materials are free and audio/visual-focused, with incremental learning similar to Duolingo. There are premium subscriptions available that allow users to ask teachers quick questions, which might clear up some of the problems you’ll find in the first steps of learning any language.
For a (virtual) classroom experience
For one-on-one tutoring
If you’re looking to work one-on-one with a German speaker, italki tutors range in experience, from sociable native speakers to professional teachers well-versed in guiding students from A1 to fluency. Each tutor posts an introductory video showcasing their language skills and teaching style, and often offer trial lessons for a reduced price.
Books
For a simple breakdown
One of the best books out there for a survey of the German language is «German Made Simple,» which, as the title suggests, makes German pretty simple. This book will probably remind you of a workbook that you used for language classes in high school or college, which is why it’s a great resource for people who want to brush up on particular skills but maybe aren’t looking for an intensive learning plan. You can just flip to the chapter on the dative case or glance at the glossary to re-familiarize yourself. One of the best features in the book is that there are tons of little exercises in each chapter, making for a user-friendly fusion of textbook and workbook that doesn’t quite feel like homework.
For getting German grammar down
McGraw Hill’s «Practice Makes Perfect» language series has an edition called «Complete German Grammar,» and like the rest of the books in the collection, it’s very cut-and-dry. This no-nonsense tome is great for people who are looking to get the nitty-gritty of the language very quickly. Like «German Made Simple,» there are plenty of exercises, but this book wastes no time in exploring grammar extensively. If you want to tackle German grammar head-on before developing your vocabulary, it would make sense to master this book and pair it with its sister text, «German Vocabulary» or Barron’s «501 German Verbs.»
How to Learn German Fast (But Right): 10 Steps for Smarter Studying
The best way to learn German is by practicing efficiently and intelligently—not just studying a lot.
That’s exactly what we’ll show you in this article: how to learn German in 10 speedy steps that you can build on and start using the language sooner.
Contents
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
How Long Does It Take to Learn German?
So, you’re interested in learning German quickly.
Once you’ve decided to learn German, the next natural question is, “how long will it be until I get fluent?”
The answer to this question depends on two things.
The first is how you measure fluency. Does fluency to you mean that you can understand 95% of what you hear and respond appropriately? Does it mean knowing enough to live or work in a German-speaking city? Or does fluency mean you can understand German newspapers and classic books? Your definition of fluency may change how long it takes to reach the level you desire.
Secondly, how long it takes to learn German online depends on how much time you can dedicate to learning German.
For example, if you keep a regular schedule with many hours of study a week, you’ll reach levels faster than only studying a couple hours a month. In fact, the amount of hours studying generally increases your fluency in German. Therefore, if you study regularly, you can study many hours in a shorter amount of time and learn German faster than learning sporadically.
So, how many hours do you need?
Well, according to the Goethe Institut (Goethe Institute), the following amounts of hours are needed for each language level:
In terms of fluency, one is generally thought to be “fluent” at around the C1 level. This, of course, depends on your definition of fluency.
Keep in mind also that this isn’t a perfect scale. Some may learn faster than others, and some may need many more hours depending on the method they use to study German. For example, online and offline immersion is more effective than textbook memorization.
Now that you’ve figured out how fast you can learn German, let’s break down the steps to getting there.
How to Learn German Fast (But Right): 10 Steps for Smarter Studying
1. Use Word Frequency Lists to Learn the Most Useful German Vocabulary
Especially in the beginning, learning and practicing vocabulary is the main part of language acquisition. There’s no way around it. However, not all words are created equal. It’s important to concentrate on words that’ll give you the most bang for your buck.
In terms of language learning, the most bang means how likely it is that you’re going to use a particular word in everyday conversation. That’s where word frequency lists come in.
You don’t need to learn all that much for functional fluency. The 1,000 most common words in German make up about 80% of the written language. So if you concentrate on those first, you’ll make a big dent in the amount of German you’ll be able to understand. It’s the easiest way to learn basic German words that you’ll actually need in real life.
Frequency lists for all kinds of languages can be found on the internet easily. A good starting place is Wiktionary, but you’ll find more with the help of your search engine of choice. You can also find the 200 most common German nouns right here.
One great way to collect high-frequency vocabulary is to learn with videos that show everyday situations in German.
For pure memorization, I can also recommend the flashcard software Anki. It offers spaced repetition which means that instead of studying the same words in the same order every time, Anki will show them to you at strategically spaced intervals. That way they move into your long-term memory. It also tracks the number of words you already know.
2. Learn Modal Verbs: Say More with Fewer Conjugations
Let’s face it, one of the most tedious things about German is the number of declensions and conjugations. Verbs change form according to case and tense as well as grammatical person and number. Say what?!
Learning all forms for every verb can be exhausting, especially for the dreaded imperfect or simple past. How about instead you learn to conjugate just seven words that’ll let you express almost everything you need? Sounds better, right?
I’m talking about modal verbs, more specifically, these seven:
These modal verbs, when used in a sentence, take the position of the verb. That verb, in turn, moves to the end of the sentence in the infinitive.
As a formula it looks a little like this:
Subject + Verb + Object → Subject + Modal Verb + Object + Verb (infinitive)
How is that helpful to learning German fast? Because it allows you to use all kinds of verbs in a great number of sentences without knowing how to conjugate each and every one of them. As long as you memorized how to conjugate the modal verbs, all you need is the infinitive form. Compare these two sentences:
Ich gehe nach Hause. (I am going home.)
Ich möchte nach Hause gehen. (I would like to go home.)
In the first, gehen is conjugated, but in the second gehen is in the infinitive. The two sentences aren’t exactly the same, but the intention is certainly clear and any native German speaker will understand what you mean.
3. Make a German-speaking Friend for Constant Speaking Practice
Learning German online and by yourself can be a little isolating, and it can be hard to find someone to get direction from or to speak German with if you’re not enrolled in a German course.
What’s the solution?
Why, to learn German online, you need to make a German-speaking friend, of course!
Meeting a German-speaking friend is crucial for you to practice speaking and understanding the German language. Rather than just passively absorbing the language by doing things such as reading in German or listening to German, having a German-speaking friend forces you to use the language actively. You have to understand and respond—either verbally or in written form—to whatever you and your German-speaking friend are discussing.
Best of all, some German-speaking friends may even give you tips for pronunciation and offer to teach you a bit of vocabulary and grammar. They may even teach you some informal language and slang, which is important if you want to learn the German that’s actually spoken by everyday speakers.
German-speaking friends can be found online, and they’re free. In fact, you can meet a German-speaking friend by connecting on a language learning website such as italki. Simply search for native German speakers in the “Language Partners” part of the website, and you’ll encounter many other language learners who will speak to you in German if you speak to them in a language you know.
Once you’ve met a German-speaking friend on a site like italki, you could then practice on Skype or a social media platform. This practice should happen verbally. Speaking is often the skill that’s overlooked for online German learners, so don’t worry about mistakes and get chatting!
In addition to language exchange websites, you may even meet German-speaking friends or other German learners by joining a German conversation group in-person. Such groups can be found by looking on a local or online bulletin board as well as on websites like Meetup. Simply search for German conversation events or other German cultural events and find one in your city.
4. Learn German Syntax: Make Sure Every Word Has Its Place
Word order, or “syntax” as it’s known linguistically, is the sequence in which words must be placed in order to have a sentence make sense.
In English, for example, we know that most sentences have a subject (the doer), a verb (the action) and an object (the thing acted on by the verb). Take the English sentence, “the dog ate the bone,” for example. “The dog” is the subject, “ate” is the verb and “the bone” is the object,
German, however, often has sentences with word orders that are different from English, and if you do word order in German wrong, you risk not being understood.
An example of a different word order is as follows: if there’s a word in the “first position” (at the beginning of the sentence), the verb stays in the second position and the subject (the “doer”) follows. This happens in the sentence, jetzt habe ich einen Hund. While the meaning of this sentence is, “now I have a dog,” the literal translation is, “now have I a dog.”
This is because the verb is anchored in the second position of the sentence. If another word (in this case, jetzt) is in the first position, the subject (ich) has to come after the verb habe (have).
Another example is for sentences with auxiliary verbs or modal verbs. This occurs most often in the future or past tenses or in cases with two verbs in one sentence. In these cases, the auxiliary or modal verb occupies the second position in the sentence and the main verb goes to the end of the sentence.
Take the sentence, ich muss meine Hausaufgaben machen (I have to do my homework). In this case, there are two verbs: muss (must) and machen (do). In English, one verb would naturally follow the other, but in German, that second verb (machen) has to go all the way to the end of the sentence.
Making a question also changes the word order in German. In this case, the subject and the verb simply change positions. For example, to say, “do you know my mom?” you say, kennst du meine Mutter? The verb kennst (know) and the subject du (you) have swapped spots to get a question.
These are just some examples of word order differences in German. To attain even the most basic German conversational skill, you need to understand syntax. Lucky for you, there are many places to practice these orders for free online. I recommend ToLearnGerman or Instruct.uwo.ca.
5. Learn German with Authentic Materials
Real-life German materials are important for learning German. They allow you to hear German as it’s actually spoken, including all of its pronunciation, grammar and the times when native speakers use informal language, slang and break the traditional grammar rules.
In fact, learning German with materials that feature real German speakers and real spoken German improves your understanding of the language, your pronunciation and your ability to produce spoken and written German with ease.
Lucky for you, you don’t need to move to a German-speaking place to get spoken German. Authenetic German content can be found all over the internet, and you can, in fact, learn German there for free!
For access to real-world spoken German on the internet, I suggest you watch vlogs or other videos on YouTube. My favorites include the countless channels that help you master German as well as channels that entertain while you learn.
I also recommend watching German videos with subtitles. In fact, short of a German-speaking language partner, watching videos in authentic German with subtitles and exercises to reinforce what you’ve learned is one of the best ways to master German.
If you have trouble finding resources with reliable and accurate subtitles, there are plenty to be found on FluentU. This language learning program uses authentic German videos as a way to learn the language in context, and every video’s captions are vetted by a language expert.
Through FluentU, you can learn from videos that German speakers actually watch, like movie trailers and clips, news segments, music videos, vlogs and other native media.
Not only does every video have subtitles, but they’re interactive, too. This means you can click on or hover over any word to see its meaning, an audio pronunciation, example sentences, an image and even clips from other videos that use the word. You’ll also have personalized flashcards and quizzes to help you drill down any new words you find.
FluentU is available for iOS and Android apps, or you can just use it in your browser.
Lastly, for access to real-world written German, I recommend you read blog posts in German or use social media in German.
6. Learn German Prepositions with their Cases
German grammar is one of the trickiest aspects of the German language. One aspect in particular takes the cake as the most complicated: grammatical cases in German.
In German, the placement of a word in a sentence dictates what case it’s in. That means that a word’s definite or indefinite article changes whether the word is the subject, the direct object or the indirect object.
Further, if the noun is an object of a preposition, this also changes the case of that noun. However, not all prepositions are followed by the same case: each preposition is followed by a different case and a different set of declination rules entirely
This mean that memorizing the case with the preposition is a great way to save time and ensure you’re using the correct case with the following noun.
The following prepositions have the accusative case used in the nouns that follow them:
The following prepositions have the dative case used in nouns that follow them:
Some prepositions are “two-way prepositions.” This means that they can use the accusative case or the dative case depending on the sentence’s intended meaning:
Two-way prepositions use the accusative when talking about a change of position, and they use the dative when they talk about a position that is unchanging.
Take the sentence, ich gehe in den Laden (I go to the store), for example. Here, the verb gehen (go) indicates there’s a change of position, so the noun that follows the preposition in has to be in the accusative. That’s why we get den Laden (the store).
However, in the sentence, ich bin in dem Laden (I am in the store), the word bin indicates no change of position. Therefore, Laden must be in the dative, which is why we get dem.
7. Strong & Weak: Learn Regular and Irregular German Verb Forms
As in English, German has two types of verbs. They’re referred to as strong verbs and weak verbs.
Weak verbs are regular verbs. This means that they follow regular, predictable rules for the present and past tense in German.
Strong verbs, on the other hand, are irregular and don’t follow the regular, predictable rules for conjugation.
This means that strong verb forms must be memorized separately in order to be used correctly. You should try to memorize these irregular forms when you encounter a strong verb.
Lucky for you, the “irregularities” in strong verbs are generally simple changes in spelling and in pronunciation. For example, we can look at the German verb laufen (to run).
We know that weak verbs (or regular verbs) remove the -en ending and add a t when conjugating with the er, sie or es (he, she or it) subjects. Laufen, however, take this a step further. In addition to its t, the a of the verb also gets an umlaut on it to get läuft. This changes the words pronunciation, and this irregularity also happens with the du subject to get du läufst (you run).
8. Use German Culture to Learn the Language
Despite being a single language, German has many dialects depending on where it’s spoken. That means that the German spoken in Berlin is different from the German spoken and Munich, and those dialects are different from the German spoken in Hamburg.
Further, the German spoken in Austria and Switzerland is also very different from the varieties of German spoken in Germany.
Sometimes these differences can make it feel like you’re learning several completely different languages.
This can quickly make things very confusing for German learners.
While it’s most useful to learn Hochdeutsch (High German), or the Standard German often taught online, in classes and in textbooks, you should learn a little bit about the German of any place you plan to visit. This means looking at samples of the language online, perhaps in videos, or reading about it, so that you know what particularities there are in that particular dialect.
While you’re at it, you should learn German slang.
Slang is something used in all dialects of German, and while some slang might be universal, each dialect may also have its own slang words and phases.
Lastly, it’s also useful to learn some German history. History is often responsible for the way that many things are said or even why things are called what they’re called, so by brushing up on some history of the German-speaking world, you can even improve your German language skills!
9. Practice Nouns and Genders at the Same Time
Something that doesn’t come easy to many students of German is the fact that the language includes three genders for its nouns: masculine, feminine and neuter. These genders are represented by the definite articles der, die and das, and the indefinite articles ein, eine and ein.
This is further complicated by the fact that there are no clear-cut rules for which gender is assigned to which kind of noun, and if there appear to be any there is always an exception.
For instance, “der Mann” and “die Frau” make sense because “the man” and “the woman” are male and female, respectively. However, why is it “der Junge” (the boy) but “das Mädchen” (the girl)?
The whole thing seems to be based more on convention than anything else, and is something that Germans just grow up with. How can you ever learn German with all of these crazy grammatical genders to memorize?
Instead of shaking your fist at the sky and cursing the Teutonic gods for unleashing this linguistic plague on the rest of mankind, I’d advise you to embrace it.
The easiest and fastest way to learn German genders is to treat the gender of a noun as an integral part of the word right from the beginning. Instead of merely learning “Haus,” learn “das Haus,” a hand isn’t merely “Hand” but “die Hand.”
A little trick to make this easier and quicker is to get flashcards in several colors and assign color to a gender. For example, green could be masculine, red for feminine and blue for neuter.
When studying vocabulary, write down each noun on a card in the color assigned to its gender. This will provide you with a visual cue to help you remember the word’s gender more easily.
The color coding can be further enhanced by a mnemonic technique: when you learn a noun, picture the thing it describes in your head and establish a mental connection to the color of the grammatical gender.
For example, you can think of a green dog to remember “der Hund,” or imagine red Santa pants to remind yourself that it’s “die Hose.” Do this consistently and you’ll be a master of German gender in no time.
10. Learn Cognates: Harness the Words You Already Know
Languages don’t evolve in complete isolation. They mix in the same way as the people who speak them, and are as intertwined as family trees. Everyone borrows from everyone else and German is no exception.
This is good news if you want to learn German fast because of cognates. Cognates are words in two different languages whose spelling and meaning is so similar that they’re easily recognized and understood.
These familiars make it impossible to start entirely “from scratch” with a language, because there are tons of words already at your disposal.
I remember being completely surprised at my ability to read 80% of everything that was written inside a supermarket in Barcelona—without ever having taken a single Spanish lesson in my life.
It was all thanks to the fact that Spanish is a Romance language, and I took four years of Latin in high school. True story.
The good news for English speakers is that there are many thousands of German words that are cognates of English words. The two languages have a lot of common roots.
If you really want to nerd your way into it, take a look at the rules of the High German Consonant Shift and it’ll all make a lot more sense. But even without, it’s easy to see the common history of the two languages.
Here’s a list of important German-English cognates you can get use for some fast vocabulary building right away.
And those are our tips to learn German fast! The above shortcuts for how to learn German will get you actually speaking in no time. That’s when the real fun begins.
How to speak German fluently? Say the right things!
How to speak German fluently
We all know that practising your language skills is crucial to speak German fluently. Germans know that too and love to practise their foreign language skills on foreigners.
There’s nothing more efficient for Germans than just switching to English when speaking with a foreigner to
a) practise their English skills on you and
b) makes it easier to converse since the other person doesn’t seem to be that proficient in German yet.
Here’s the thing:
Say you move to Germany, maybe you already live there, and you really want to learn the language. You take every chance to speak German, you take courses, you learn German by yourself and now you want to practise it with all the Germans around you. You just want to speak German.
In order to improve your speaking and listening skills, we are going to talk about what you should say to keep Germans speaking German with you.
We are going to talk about how to answer the following question:
“How is your German studying going?”
Or
“Sprichst du überhaupt Deutsch?”
When someone asks you – in German – how your German studying is going, they are probably just making small talk. Maybe they know you have been studying, so they are just up for a chat.
Remember what you are up to: You want to speak German.
Have Germans speaking
But what if I told you, there were responses that will make them switch to English straight away instead of speaking German to you? What if there were responses that are better than others once you’re asked this delicate question? Learn here how to speak German to Germans.
Let’s have a look at the different answers to the question:
Hallo, wie geht’s mit dem Deutsch lernen?
Answer: Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch. (I speak a little bit of German)
What You Want To Say
Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch. This is one of the sentences you learn at the start of almost any language. It is one of those sentences you use to let people know that you are not comfortable yet with the language they’re speaking to you.
Imagine you are at a bar or on the street and someone comes up to you and speaks in German to you but you don’t understand.
You could use this sentence to let people know “Ahh, I don’t really speak the language (yet) you are talking to me right now. Just to let you know, I don’t want to be rude, I just don’t understand what you just said, I’m sorry. I feel a bit uncomfortable right now but please don’t run away! Could we possibly, if you found it useful too and only if you can please switch to English please, thanks?
When I go to France and someone speaks to me in French, guess what I will say? Yes, I will say, “Je parle francais un petit peu.” What I mean is: “I’m sorry, but I don’t speak any French at all.”
What People Will Understand
Answer: Mein Deutsch ist begrenzt. (My German is limited)
This Is What You Want To Say
Why not saying as it is?
I have done my fair share of learning German, and this is how my German is. It is not perfect, maybe even far from being perfect, but I understand what you say when you speak more slowly, clearly and I can already talk about certain topics, I can answer questions about myself, my hobbies, what I do for a job, talk about my feelings, what I like and hate. There are certainly some limits but all good. Come on, I can’t wait to speak to you.
What Others Will Understand
I like this one here. You are up for a challenge. Good on you! The only thing is, people may not know what topics you feel comfortable talking about. They could be irritated whether they can keep going or whether it would be easier for you (and them) to switch to English.
Imagine when you’re speaking to someone in English but this person’s language proficiency is far away from being a native speaker. Most of the English native speakers I know will politely switch to a better understandable English. They will slur down their speech, will use less slang and will speak more clearly.
The Dirty Secret of the Germanz
Won’t Germans do the same? Well, here is our dirty little secret:
Germans are not used to doing it! We get fewer chances to speak to language learners and even though this may have changed since Germany attracts more immigrants, there’re still reasons why a lot of Germans make the switch.
When Germans go overseas, they have to speak another language themselves, most of the time. I believe, correct me if I am wrong, but it is easier to get around and to be understood when speaking English since English is the number one foreign language to learn.
Although German is the most widely natively spoken language in the European Union, getting through your holiday may still be less painful when speaking in English, not German. Unless your holiday is in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
A lot of the immigrants to Germany learn German quite quickly simply because they have to. Germans expect foreigners to be able to speak the language (eventually) when they live there (not at all when they don’t, by the way).
Germans expect people who move to Germany to speak German as much as the French expect immigrants to speak French and as much as the Spanish expect immigrants to learn Spanish.
Language Barrier Within Germany
I will give you another example. After attending high school in the south west of Germany (das Saarland), I moved to Munich to study. I became friends with other Germans from the Bavarian country side. I tried so hard but there was no way to understand their Bavarian dialect sometimes.
I am a German native speaker but I was not able to grasps the meaning of some Bavarian expressions. After telling my friends about it, they would repeat what they said before but with the same words, just louder or a bit slower but still in their dialect that I just don’t speak.
Why would they do that? My friends were just not aware that I don’t know all those words they use everyday. The longer I lived there, the more I got into the dialect. I loved the sound of it before I moved there but really started to admire it once I understood it better.
I am still so impressed by my friend from Bulgaria whose native tongue is Bulgarian. She moved to Munich around the same time I did but after a short period of acclimatisation had no problems to understand the dialect at all whereas I was still struggling with it.
Also, I am pretty sure when someone moves to Saarland, where I grew up, the same thing can happen, too. And, I confess I am guilty myself of doing all this too!
Your Way Out
What I am trying to say is that sometimes people are not aware how they can help language learners. But you can help by making Germans feel free to speak, without any limitations.
Answer: Ja geht so, danke. Und was machst du so? (Yea, it’s alright, thanks. And what have you been up to?)
My Favourite And Here Is Why
This is my favourite response. There are lots of variations of it, so feel free to change it as you like. You want to make your language skills sound less of a problem. You don’t want to make it a problem.
What You Actually Mean
Yes, you are still learning German. You won’t be able to talk about anything and everything as detailed and colourful as you would be able to in your mother tongue but you guys will be fine. It will be a nice conversation. Come on my German friend, don’t worry about it too much. Let’s have a chat in German!
I’m working on a guide on helping with the speaking part of learning German (and any other languages). The guide will have tips and fun exercises to improve your speaking straight away. You won’t even need a native German to chat to.
Let me know you’re interested in the guide (and also put some pressure on me so I’ll finish it quickly). Here’s you’re chance:
Do you have any tactics yourself to have the Germans speak German? We would love to hear about it in the comments.
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38 replies on “ How to speak German fluently? Say the right things! “
i would like very much to speak fluent German
Anja Mueller
Patrick
Vielen Dank Anja für Ihre Tipps
Anja Mueller
jose beisl
Hallo, Anja.
I am Brazilian and I have now completed two years o a German basic course and yet I am unable to start a conversation.
Can you help me
Anja Mueller
Sure, I just emailed you 🙂
Park Jimin
Hallo! Please don’t give up, it will click! Just get your inner voice to talk to yourself in German, also don’t forget to say things out loud and summarise stories you read also by telling yourself about it. Enjoy your time in Germany, and thank you for commenting 🙂
parmiss
Sameera
Anja Mueller
Hi Sameera, just keep learning, the more you read and hear German, the more comfortable you get with the language. There’s one little trick that will help you immensely, simply speak out the words you learn. Not only say them in your head, but really say them, produce the sound and move your lips. Speaking to yourself in German will help as well. We’re working on a guide to get over exactly your problem. If you’re interested, please leave your email here and we’ll inform you when it’s ready: Yes, please email us.
Eddie
Hallo, mein Name ist Eddie und ich komme aus den USA. Ich bin hier seit einem Jahr und elf Monaten und jetzt, lerne ich Deutsch hier in Erfurt. Wir haben am nächsten Samstag unsere sehr wichtige B1 Prüfung und natürlich, bin ich sehr nervös. Meine Frau und ich werden in der Mitte März einen Jungen bekommen. Sie kommt aus Deutschland…but we always speak in English because it’s difficult to make the decisions of a young married couple, while one of us is arrested by the German language. I’m disappointed in my language course, because I thought it would be a more hands on, intimate learning experience. However, with the recent influx of refugees to Germany (my class is full of wonderful people), the language classes started spilling over with students, thus making one on one class time nearly impossible. I completely understand the point of immersion learning, but feel that for a language as complex as German is, I don’t learn by someone telling me that “that’s just the way it is” in German. I can write some, but my wires just do not connect, when it comes to speaking. Any tips for the (“the.” What a marvelous word!) speaking section of the Prüfung would help. Thanks
Anja Mueller
Hallo Eddie, Schön, dass du trotz der Enttäuschung mit deinem Kurs nicht aufgibst. Und ihr bekommt einen Jungen! Das ist toll! I’m happy you still got to enjoy the German language that you obviously speak very well! With the speaking section of the test, I’ve found that practising the most common questions helps a lot. Not learning them off by heart but trying to think of how you would answer them, and say it out loud. With ‘the’ speaking section, it’s good to know the hints for genders of course and getting feedback (maybe from your native German at home?) when practising for the speaking test. Also, no one will blame you if you correct yourself, native speakers do that too. Also remember, the examiner will want to help you, give them a chance and show them who you are. Good luck with everything and don’t forget to let us know how you went. Viel Glück! Ich drücke meine Daumen!
Eddie
So nice of you to respond, and my wife and I enjoyed your helpful tips. We shall see how I do on Saturday, and when I get the results in a month, I’ll be sure to let you know. It sounds like you all are doing great work. Keep it up, and have a great time!
Anja Mueller
Thanks Eddie, glad you find it helpful. Enjoy your time in Germany, I’ll cross my fingers for you!
Diana
Hi, anja. I think I found the site I have been looking for. I want to be able to produce the German I am learning. I know a lot of grammar and I can read it but I can’t speak it 🙁
I have a tutor but I feel he is not making me talk. He is the only one speaking during our one hour meeting.
I am Spanish and English teacher and I make sure my students do the talking.
Could you please help me?
Anja Mueller
Hi Diana, Thank you so much! I’ve been working on a guide that aims to solve exactly this problem. I’m going to email you a few ideas that you can try out with your current tutor. Check your inbox! 🙂
Reham
I think my question would be the same as most people here, to be able to speak and converse with people and understand them, as someone above said before i have lots of information but whenever i try to speak i speak just the basic simple sentences, which really makes me frustrated sometimes. I’m currently doing my Masters here in Germany and i have 6 months until i finish, my current German level is B1. And as you know without German there is a little chance to find work after i’m done with my studies.
The thing is my master program is entirely in English and all the people i know are international students, and i don’t know any Germans to practice even with.
My question here do you have any pointers or tips that i can use? Also can you send me the guide that you mentioned in one of the questions above?
Thanks alot 🙂
Reham
Anja Mueller
Hi Reham, Thanks for your comment. I understand what you mean, being able to speak German will definitely help you with your job search. I’m going to email you a few quick tips but you can also leave your email address here, so you’ll get notified once the guide is ready. Thank you so much, and don’t forget to check your inbox!
Raymon
Anja Mueller
Hallo Raymon, funny how it goes. I’m pretty amazed that you get them all to switch to English, which makes me believe that you could be as convincing in German too. Since you understand a lot of German already, I’m sure it won’t take you too long to convert yourself into a German speaking addict. If you want to be notified once my speaking guide is ready, please let me know here: If there’s anything else I can help you with, just email me to [email protected] Thank you for your comment!
I have been learning german for around 5 years once a week and was once almost fluent. For the last two-ish years, I feel as if I’ve pretty much forgotten how to speak German at all!
Could you please point me in the right direction and help me regain my semi-ish fluency?
Thanks so so much,
Anna
Anja Mueller
Elizabeth
Cool! It helped a lot.
also one question. How do you say would you like to join?
Anja Mueller
Thank you Elizabeth, glad you find it helpful. Your sentence would be “Willst du mitmachen?” (informal) and “Wollen Sie mitmachen” (formal). Danke schön!
Martina
Vielen Dank for your great article! It made me understand that I’m not alone. I started feeling totally dumb lately, because I’ve been learning German for 6 years (6 years!! man..), lived and worked in Switzerland for one year and… my conversation basically doesn’t exist. I can understand everything, even the complicated Swiss German is okay, but my brain freezes anytime someone starts talking to me. And even if I try to talk, I feel more dumb, because I can’t express myself so I only use the basic sentences – like a 5 y.o. kid, which is not ideal for business.
I know I have to overcome the fear, the blockade in my head and just use everything I already know. I registered for your guide and until it’s ready I will be very thankful for any tips you might share with me/us! 🙂 Thank you very much for your great work!
Anja Mueller
Hi Martina, yeah the blockade to speak, it haunts us language learners like the writer’s block the unsuspecting author! What I have seen help is slowly build up the tension. Maybe practise speaking to yourself at first, then to others that you feel comfortable with about topics you feel comfortable with. At some point you’ve got to venture out of course but it will be easier if you feel prepared. Thank you for telling us your story, I’m sure it will help others that struggle with the same. Also a big thank for registering for the speaking guide, I’ve been working on it!
To get Germans to speak German to me, I ‘correct myself’ once I start speaking English, say with a colleague or a person I have met around town! It’ll be something like, we’re both speaking English, and I say something in English, then out loud I remind myself, “Ach ich muss mein Deutsch praktischen!” und dann I repeat my last sentence, auf Deutsch, and try to carry on from there. Whenever I say that, the person I’m talking to typically agrees and jokes that from now on we’re only allowed to speak German.
I feel like this a) honestly reminds me I can’t cop out and rely on the other person’s English skills because I’m afraid I am incompetent, and b) it also admits that I am definitely still learning but should and want to practice. I also try to at least get the gist when I don’t understand, because listening is harder than speaking for me, but if there is a word that I think is crucial to the meaning, I’m not afraid to ask what it is. A man said that the food I was about to eat was schaf, jokingly. and I replied schaf …? was ist das? in a polite tone of course. I find it important not to be overly detailed in understanding every word. It stilts conversation, and is probably frustrating to the other person I would imagine. But if you really don’t get it even after a good pause, nodding and smiling only works about half the time! 😉 PS Good friends are more likely to be patient with you, but if I stranger makes a friendly comment, sometimes (based on the context) I find that nod and smile is the way to go XD
Anyways, great article! Can’t wait for the guide to come out 🙂
Anja Mueller
Hallo Gina, I totally agree! Love how you get the Germans back on track, that’s how you should do it! Because many people don’t find it as easy as you, I wrote a little guide on it for the fluentlanguage blog http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/germans-speaking-german Glad you can confirm that the strategie works for you too! Smmiling of course does the trick as well. Still working on the speaking guide, hope to be able to publish it soon! Thank you so much for your comment, really enjoyed reading it Reply
Isaac
Hallo Anja Mueller, i live in Germany at the moment and i have been attending a German Course for four months now. My pronunciation is still terrible. Any useful tipp will be appreciated.
Anja Mueller
Hallo Isaac, Improving your pronunciation can be done through what’s called ‘mirroring’. You simply want to match the tone, the speed and the intonation of a native speaker. You could start with the news on your favourite German channel, maybe have a look at the ARD mediathek, put on your headphones, and play short sequences over and over again. While you’re listening, try to say it the way they say it, match their tone and way of speaking. You’ll notice the differences (first step!) and you’ll also notice how you have to move your mouth to make these sounds as well. Do this as often as possible, even daily and you’ll see some improvements very soon. For a more collequial take on it, try a German soap opera like ‘Jojo im Glück‘. It’s made for learners and actually not too bad 😀 Good luck with everything and don’t forget to come back here and tell us how you went. Thanks for commenting and bis bald!
Hello Anja? Alles Klar?
Ich komme aus dem Libanon und spreche Arabisch, Franzosich, und Englisch. Ich lerne Deutsch seit 10 Monaten, und bin ich jetz bei A 2-2. Ich arbeite der ganzen Tag, dann ich kann nur Abend kurse zweimal die Woche nemmen. Ich finde Deutsch total toll, aber diese Sprache ist sehr schwierig and kompliziert… Es gibt immer Änderungen GOTT. Also, mein problem ist: Ich kann (im Gegensatz zu den meisten Menschen) mehr sprechen als ich verstehe kann. Ich wiederhole auf Englisch: I can speak much more than I can understand. I have a problem understanding what many people say, or I understand an opposite meaning. What can I do? Can you help me?
Anja Mueller
Hi Elie, wow, das ist wirklich ein seltenes Problem, aber gut! Am besten tranierst du dein Hörverständnis. Auf Deutsche Welle gibt es Videos für Deutschlerner und auch eine TV-Show für Deutschlerner Das ist gut, um “normales” Deutsch zu hören. Aber jede Soapoper im Fernsehen ist gut, z.B. Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten oder Lindenstraße. Auch wenn es eine Soapoper ist, das hilft total mit dem Hörverstehen. Sag Bescheid, ob es dir hilft! Danke schön für deinen Kommentar 😀
Mike Andrews
Hi Anja,
I would try to write this in German, but my phone is not setup for German. It tries to rewrite everything as if it was English.
I have 60 years of trying to learn German. I still speak it and read and write in it. I don’t do it perfectly but I certainly am understood. Most German people are very happy to talk with me when I encounter them because I won’t give up. They sometimes remark on a word or words I use and then ask me if I was ever in such and such a place. Most times I was there and they wanted to tell me that zum Beispiel it was where I learned certain words because certain places are noted for their accents. A lot can be learned from these people. They listen.
anja Mueller
Hallo Mike, I’m so glad you enjoy speaking with the Germans and practising your German, that’s awesome 😀 Also glad to hear that you’ve stuck with it for so long, that’s very impressive, kudos to you! Danke schön für deinen Kommentar 🙂
Mike Andrews
Es freut mir sehr das einige Leute mein kurze Brief gelesenen haben. Es war funfundfunzig Jahren seit Ich eine Gelegenheit mit ein echte Erhaltung mit ein echte Deutscher hatte.
Viel Vergnügen lernen und benutzen die Deutsche
Sprache.