This unit guides learners towards introducing themselves and describing their origins in German. It covers regular verb conjugation in a simple way and provides practice with verbs such as wohnen (to live) and kommen (to come). There are also exercises related to the irregular verbhaben (to have).
For a more challenging version of this unit, intended for fast learners, an alternative booklet as well as additional but related activities are available on this page.
These are question and answer flashcards. The first side has a greeting or question and the second side has an appropriate answer. The flashcards will “speak” if you click on the tiny microphone above the cards. A printout of this conversation is also provided below.
This audio was kindly recorded by Linda Manteuffel.
Read the text while you listen:
Hallo! Mein Name ist Phoebe und ich komme aus Neuseeland. Meine Eltern kommen aus England. Natürlich spreche ich Englisch, genau wie die Kinder in Australien. Meine beste Freundin heißt Sophie. Sie kommt aus China. Woher kommst du?
Ich wohne auf dem Land. Das finde ich super, denn ich liebe Tiere. Ich habe mein eigenes Pferd!
English Translation: Hello! My name is Phoebe and I come from New Zealand. My parents come from England. Of course I speak English, just like the children in Australia. My best friend is called Sophie. She comes from China. Where do you come from?
I live in the country. I think that’s wonderful, because I love animals. I have my own horse!
Just like a cup and saucer, the two parts of a German separable verb can appear as one entity or they can be detached and work as two separate parts. The dictionary entry is under the whole verb.
When a world-changing event such as the Covid-19 pandemic takes place, speakers and writers naturally coin new words and word combinations. For a language nerd like me, their choices are intriguing.
The Germans, for instance, coopted the word Lockdown and made it masculine. On their children’s program, Die Sendung mit der Maus, there was a discussion about whether the word Virus is masculine or neuter. The answer was that it can be either, but never feminine. Now there’s one issue that the English-speaking world never has to consider. Jump to links and videos to find out more about Covid-19 in Germany and its impact on the German language.
But first, in the Bildlexikon below I’ve collected some essential wording for talking about life after the world changed.
Bei einem schweren Covid-Verlauf muss man ins Krankenhaus gehen, aber die meisten Menschen haben eine relativ mildeErkrankung und können zu Hause bleiben.
→ If your COVID infection is severe, you have to go to hospital, but most people have a relatively mild illness and can stay at home.
The story of a Year 12 student’s experience in Melbourne, 2020: Covid lockdowns, learning from home, taking one walk per day, missing friends – and sometimes even missing teachers. – Recorded by Charlotte Yates
Nach den hohenTemperaturenin den letzten drei Tagen kühlt es heute endlich ab. – After the high temperatures in the last three days, it will finally cool down today.
– Heute gibt es bestimmt ein Gewitter. – Oh nein, der Donner wird dem armen Hund Angst machen. – There’s bound to be a thunderstorm today. – Oh no, the thunder will frighten the poor dog.
Bei 12 Grad brauchst du mindestens einen Pulli, vielleicht auch eine Jacke. – With a temperature of 12 degrees, you need at least a jumper, maybe a jacket as well.
Bei einer Hitzewelle in Deutschland dürfen Schüler manchmal zu Hause bleiben. Sie haben Hitzefrei*. – During a heatwave in Germany, students are sometimes allowed to stay home. They have a day off from school because of the heat.
*This is sadly becoming less common. Such a civilised idea.
die Jahreszeit– season
Die vier Jahreszeiten sind Sommer, Herbst, Winter und Frühling. – The four seasons are summer, autumn, winter and spring.
Im Sommer ist es normalerweise heiß. Im Winter ist es oft kalt. – In summer it is usually hot. In winter it is often cold.
Bei Matschwetter sind die Landstraßen oft schlammig und es gibt viele Pfützen. – In this kind of slushy weather, the country roads are often muddy and there are lots of puddles.
Heute ist es furchtbar schwül*. Ich bin in Schweiß gebadet! Wollen wir schwimmen gehen? – It’s terribly muggy today. I’m dripping with sweat. Shall we go for a swim?
*To distinguish between schwül – humid and schwul– gay, think of the dots on the umlaut as drops of sweat.
Bei hohen Temperaturen geht man gern schwimmen. Bei niedrigen Temperaturen sitzt man lieber am Kamin. – When temperatures are high, people like to go swimming. When temperatures are low, people prefer to sit by the fire.
das Unwetter – storm (see also das Gewitter above)
This quiz provides questions based on the vocabulary above. Click on the 💡 on the top left of the quiz screen to read a vocabulary list that you can copy for your notes, if desired.
Practise using the adjectives for describing the weather. Click on the 💡 on the top left of the quiz screen to read a vocabulary list that you can copy for your notes, if desired.
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