Ever so often it is being said that German is a hard language to learn and that German society is ruled by strict norms and sometimes somewhat unusual values. Yet, every year, many people strive to learn the language for very different reasons. Here, you will gain an insight into what it is that really constitutes German society and how we bring language and culture into concept. -- Come and see for yourself

1. Welcome to your introductory course on German language!
Ever so often it is being said that German is a hard
German
language to learn and that German society is ruled by
strict norms and sometimes somewhat unusual
values. Yet, every year, many people strive to learn
our language for very different reasons.
Trial Lesson
Here, you will gain an insight into what it is that really
constitutes German society and how we bring
language and culture into concept.
The trail lesson is approximately 30
minutes long and constitutes an
introduction to the German language.

2. First of all, let us explore
what you already know of
German by just being you!

3. The Great advantage
for those who
speak English
is the
linguistic correlation
between
both languages
Have a look at these words
and see whether you
understand their meaning …

4. Maus Vater
Haus Mutter
Arm Sommer
Hand Winter
Finger Schuh
Ball Land
Bus Sand
Eis Gras
Kindergarten Glas

5. Did you understand their meaning?
Maus Here they are again
Finger
Arm
Haus Hand
Ball
Eis
Bus
Kindergarten

6. Gras
Mutter
Vater Glas
Sand
Sommer
Land
Winter
Schuh

7. You have just discovered something very
important!
German and English belong to the same
linguistic family.
So:
Think of German as an English dialect.
Here are some more examples to help you
understand this concept
…

8. laut – loud When looking at these
words, you can see that
fein – fine some changes in
spelling and
gut – good pronunciation occur.
Generally speaking
weiß – white however, the
similarities are far
rot – red more dominating.
grün – green Read carefully and
follow the changing
braun – brown sounds.
groß – great (big, tall)

9. laut – loud
fein – fine
gut – good
weiß – white
rot – red
grün – green
braun – brown
groß – great (big, tall)

10. Metamorphoses
Time and distance gradually contributed to both languages
evolving separately as cultural concepts and thus language
grew more and more apart.
However, observe how you can easily find the right word by
adding or taking away a couple of letters.
It’s a bit like magic really.
But great magicians need practice, too.

16. Observe letters and sounds

18. The secret of the famous long words
In German, words are open to variation. In difficult
situations you simply create your own.
a is a shoe that is
slipper worn inside a house
1+1 = 2

19. The secret of the famous long words
In German, words are open to variation. In difficult
situations you simply create your own.
a is a shoe that is
slipper worn inside a house
1+1 = 2

20. Try to create your own
a is a shoe worn
glove on a hand

21. Try to create your own
a is a shoe worn
glove on a hand

22. Now, it’s your turn
?
?
?
?

23. Now, it’s your turn
?
Fingerhandschuh
? Handball
? Gartenhaus
? Fingerring

24. Like most other European languages, German
is closely related to Latin.
Not only do we use many words deriving from
Latin but our grammar is based on that of
ancient Rome.
It is fairly simple and straight forward
…

25. Syntax
Meine Mutter ist gut. – My mother is good.
Mein Name ist Karl. – My name is Carl.

26. Let’s summarise
Basic German syntax equals that of English sentences.
Both follow the rule:
Subject - Verb - Object
Meine Mutter ist gut.
My mother is good.
All nouns (persons, physical and visual objects) begin with a
Capital letter
Meine Mutter Mein Name

27. All nouns are Gender‐related
Masculine Feminine Neutral
der Name die Mutter das Haus
Their Gender is determined by the Direct Article ‘the’ which changes to ‘der’ for
masculine, ‘die’ for feminine and ‘das’ for neutral nouns.
Their Indirect Article ‘a’ changes to ‘ein’ for masculine or neutral nouns, and
‘eine’ for feminine nouns.
ein Name eine Mutter ein Haus
Similarly the possessive pronoun ‘my/mine’ changes to ‘mein’ for masculine and
neutral nouns, and to ‘meine’ for feminine nouns.
In the Plural, however, all nouns obey to the feminine form of ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘my’!

28. See if you find the equivalent in the other language

29. See if you find the equivalent in the other language

30. Can you create your very own sentences by
exchanging words?

31. Can you create your very own sentences by
exchanging words?

32. You have just mastered the first
steps to learning German