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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fremdsprachen
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012
The fun and easy way to learn the fascinating language of German with integrated audio clips!
German For Dummies, Enhanced Edition uses the renowned Berlitz approach to get you up and running with the language-and having fun too! Designed for the total beginner, this guide introduces you to basic grammar and then speedily has you making conversation. Integrated audio clips let you listen and learn as you hear pronunciations and real-life conversations. Fun and games sections ease your way into German fluency, phonetic spellings following expressions and vocabulary improve your pronunciation, and helpful boxes and sidebars cover cultural quirks and factoids.
- Master the nuts and bolts of German grammar
- Learn phrases that make you sound German-and know what never to say in German
Whether you're just looking for a greeting besides "Guten tag" or you want to become a foreign exchange student, this enhanced edition of German For Dummies gives you what you need to learn the language-as much as you like, as fast as you like!
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
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German For Dummies®, Enhanced Edition
by Paulina Christensen, Anne Fox, and Wendy Foster
German For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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ISBN: 978-1-118-25879-8 (enhanced book)
Manufactured in the United States of America
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About the Authors
Paulina Christensen has been working as a writer, editor, and translator for almost ten years. She holds a degree in English and German literature and has developed, written, and edited numerous German-language textbooks and teachers’ handbooks for Berlitz International. Her work as a translator ranges from new media art to science fiction (Starlog magazine). She occasionally works as a court interpreter and does consulting and interpreting at educational conferences, as well as voice-overs for educational videos and CD-ROMs. Dr. Christensen received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Düsseldorf University, Germany, and has taught at Berlitz Language Schools, New York University, and Fordham University.
Anne Fox has been working as a translator, editor, and writer for the past twelve years. She studied at Interpreters’ School, Zurich, Switzerland, and holds a degree in translation. Her various assignments have taken her to outer space, hyperspace, and around the world. She has also taught at Berlitz Language Schools and worked as a legal and technical proofreader in the editorial departments of several law firms. Most recently she has been developing, writing, and editing student textbooks and teacher handbooks for Berlitz.
Wendy Foster has been working as a teacher, writer, editor, and translator for longer than she can remember. She holds a degree in German from the Language and Interpreting Institute, Munich, Germany, an M.A. in French from Middlebury College, and a public school teaching certificate for German and French. She studied in France for two years, and then settled in Munich, Germany, where she worked in various teaching and writing capacities at various institutions, including Siemens, Hypovereinsbank, Munich Chamber of Commerce, and a number of publishers. She recently returned to her New England roots, where she works from her home overlooking a spectacular salt marsh that constantly beckons her to go kayaking, swimming, walking, and bird watching.
Berlitz has meant excellence in language services for more than 120 years. At more than 400 locations and in 50 countries worldwide, Berlitz offers a full range of language and language-related services, including instruction, cross-cultural training, document translation, software localization, and interpretation services. Berlitz also offers a wide array of publishing products, such as self-study language courses, phrase books, travel guides, and dictionaries.
The world-famous Berlitz Method® is the core of all Berlitz language instruction. From the time of its introduction in 1878, millions have used this method to learn new languages. For more information about Berlitz classes and products, please consult your local telephone directory for the Language Center nearest you or visit the Berlitz Web site at www.berlitz.com, where you can enroll in classes or shop directly for products online.
Author’s Acknowledgments
Wendy: I must thank Paulina Christensen and Anne Fox, who put so much time, effort, and knowledge into the first edition of this book. Thanks also to the editorial staff at Wiley for their unwavering support and to the technical reviewers, Tom Beyer and Chris Bellmann, who provided invaluable assistance. Finally, I would like to thank my friends at Fisherman’s Cove for their friendship, patience, and humor, especially Phil, Crista, and Kitty.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
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German For Dummies®, Enhanced Edition
Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/german to view this book's cheat sheet.
Table of Contents
This enhanced e-book offers multiple opportunities to click a play button to hear native speakers pronounce the German the right way. Taking advantage of these listen-and-repeat audio clips gets you a step closer to mastering the language.
For maximum benefit, use horizontal mode to view this e-book.
There is content at this location that is not currently supported for your device. The caption for this content is displayed below.
Welcome to German For Dummies, Enhanced Edition (0:25)
Media at a Glance
Audio
The German alphabet (2:10)
Pronouncing vowels (1:24)
Pronouncing vowels with umlauts (0:34)
Pronouncing diphthongs (0:54)
Pronouncing most consonants (2:23)
Pronouncing r and l (0:45)
Pronouncing consonant combinations (0:54)
Formal greetings (0:50)
Informal greetings (0:48)
Formal and informal farewells (1:25)
Buying produce and cheese (1:56)
Chatting about family (2:27)
Discussing jobs (2:20)
Adjusting plans due to the weather (2:19)
Asking directions to a taxi stand (1:49)
Getting directions to a hotel (2:30)
Being seated in a restaurant (1:45)
Ordering drinks (1:54)
Paying the bill and tipping (0:59)
Shopping for a blouse (1:48)
Trying on clothing (1:21)
Making a movie date (1:58)
Reviewing a ballet performance (1:51)
Making a business call (2:15)
Chatting about vacation plans (2:05)
Discussing a hiking route (2:25)
Booking a trip to Mallorca (2:54)
Booking a trip to Mallorca (2:54)
Exchanging traveler’s checks for euros (3:09)
Getting a boarding pass (2:49)
Asking about buses (2:08)
Booking a hotel room (2:44)
Checking into a hotel (2:26)
Being examined by a doctor (3:12)
Introduction
We are the players in a fascinating era, one that interconnects us with others all around the world. With globalization and technology as the driving forces, we find ourselves getting in closer and closer contact with more and more people. As a result, knowing how to say at least a few words in a language such as German is becoming an ever-more-vital tool.
Our natural curiosity to find out about other cultures motivates us to hop on a plane and find out firsthand what everyday life is like in the German-speaking regions: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol in northern Italy, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. Conducting international business in an increasingly competitive market necessitates personal contact; hence, more businesspeople are traveling overseas to countries like Germany, which has the largest economy in the European Union. On a more personal level, you may have friends, relatives, and neighbors who speak German, or you may want to get in touch with your heritage by learning a little bit of the language that your ancestors spoke.
Whatever your reasons for wanting to learn some German, German For Dummies, Enhanced Edition, is a terrific choice because it gives you the skills you need for basic communication in German. We’re not promising super fluency here, but if you want to know how to greet someone, purchase a train ticket, or order food from a menu in German, you need look no further than this book.
About This Book
German For Dummies, Enhanced Edition, is set up so that you can use it any way you want to — as a reference to dip into for specific questions you have about German, as a means of gaining knowledge of German in a systematic way, or just for the fun of getting the feel for another language. Perhaps your goal is to learn some words and phrases to help you get around when you travel to a German-speaking country. Maybe you simply want to be able to say “Hello, how are you?” to your German-speaking neighbor. At any rate, you can go through this book at your own pace, reading as much or as little at a time as you like. You don’t need to plod through the chapters in order, either; you’re welcome to read the sections that interest you most.
Conventions Used in This Book
To make this book easy for you to navigate, we’ve set up a few conventions:
German terms are set in boldface to make them stand out.
Pronunciation is set in parentheses following the German terms, and the stressed syllables are italicized.
English translations are italicized. You’ll find them set in parentheses following the pronunciation of German terms or sentences.
In some cases, German speakers use the same pronunciation as English speakers for words, many of which are borrowed from English or other languages. When such words are pronounced the same way in German as in English, you’ll see the English word in the pronunciation followed by the notation “as in English” rather than the usual phonetic pronunciation. Of course, if the pronunciation differs between the English and German, we include the German pronunciation as usual.
Verb conjugations (lists that show you the forms of a verb) are given in tables in this order:
• The “I” form
• The “you” (singular, informal [or sing. inf.]) form
• The “you” (singular, formal [or sing. form.]) form
• The “he, she, it” form
• The “we” form
• The “you” (plural, informal [or pl. inf.]) form
• The “you” (plural, formal [or pl. form.]) form
• The “they” form
Pronunciations follow in the second column. The example shown uses the verb “to be.” The conjugation starts with the German equivalent of “I am, you are,” and so on.
Conjugation
Pronunciation
ich bin
iH bin
du bist
dooh bist
Sie sind
zee zint
er, sie, es ist
êr, zee, ês ist
wir sind
veer zint
ihr seid
eer zayt
Sie sind
zee zint
sie sind
zee zint
To help you make fast progress in German, this book includes a few elements to help you along:
Talkin’ the Talk dialogues: The best way to learn a language is to see and hear how it’s used in conversation, so we include dialogues throughout the book. The dialogues come under the heading “Talkin’ the Talk” and show you the German words, their pronunciations, and the English translations.
Words to Know blackboards: Acquiring key words and phrases is also important in language learning, so we collect these important words in sections that resemble chalkboards, with the heading “Words to Know.” Note: In the pronunciations given in these sections, the stressed syllables are underlined rather than italicized.
Fun & Games activities: If you want to flex your new language muscles, you can use the Fun & Games activities to reinforce what you learn. These activities are fun ways to check your progress.
Also note that, because each language has its own ways of expressing ideas, the English translations that we provide for the German terms may not be exactly literal. We want you to know the essence of what’s being said, not just the meanings of single words. For example, the phrase Es geht (ês geyt) can be translated literally as It goes, but the phrase is actually the equivalent of So, so, or Okay, which is what you see as the translation.
Foolish Assumptions
To write this book, we made some assumptions about who you are and what you hope to gain from this book:
You know no German — or if you took German somewhere in your deep, dark past, you don’t remember much more than Ja, Nein, Kindergarten, Guten Tag, and auf Wiedersehen.
You’re primarily interested in communicating verbally in German,not in reading or writing German.
You’re definitely not looking for a ho-hum textbook that puts you to sleep, nor do you want to plod through monotonous language exercises that drill German into your brain. You just want to know some practical words, phrases, and sentence constructions so that you can communicate basic information in German — with confidence.
You have no interest in memorizing long lists of bookish-sounding vocabulary words or a bunch of boring grammar rules.
You’re excited about German and are looking forward to having some fun as you pick up a bit of the language.
If any or all of these statements apply to you, you’ve found the right book!
How This Book Is Organized
This book is divided by topic: first into parts and then into chapters. The following sections tell you what types of information you can find in each part.
Part I: Getting Started
This part gets you acclimated by providing you with some German basics: how to pronounce words, how to form sentences, and so on. You find a wealth of basic survival-type expressions such as greetings and numbers. We even challenge you to boost your confidence by activating some German words that you probably already know. Finally, we outline the basics of German grammar that you may need to know when you work through later chapters in the book.
Part II: German in Action
In this part, you begin learning and using German. Instead of focusing on grammar points as many dull, dusty language textbooks do, this part focuses on communicating effectively in everyday situations, such as shopping, asking for directions, going to a museum, dining, phoning, and lots more.
Part III: German on the Go
This part gives you the tools you need to take your German on the road, whether you’re looking to change money, find a place to stay, plan a trip, or take public or private transportation. There’s even a chapter on handling emergencies.
Part IV: The Part of Tens
If you’re looking for small, easily digestible pieces of information about German, this part is for you. Here, you can find ten ways to learn German quickly, ten useful German expressions to know, and more.
Part V: Appendixes
This part of the book includes important information that you can use for reference. Appendix A is a handy mini-dictionary in both German-to-English and English-to-German formats. If you encounter a German word that you don’t understand or you need to know a specific word in German, you can look it up here. Appendix B features verb tables that show you how to conjugate both regular verbs and those verbs that stubbornly don’t fit the pattern. Appendix C gives you the answer keys to all of the Fun & Games activities that appear in the book.
Icons Used in This Book
You may be looking for particular information while reading this book. To make certain types of information easier for you to find, the following icons have been placed in the left-hand margins throughout the book:
This icon highlights tips that can make learning German easier.
This icon points out interesting information that you won’t want to forget.
Languages are full of quirks that may trip you up if you’re not prepared for them. This icon points to discussions of important grammar points.
If you’re looking for information and advice about culture and travel, look for these icons. They draw your attention to interesting tidbits about the countries in which German is spoken.
Where to Go from Here
Learning a language is all about jumping in and giving it a try (no matter how bad your pronunciation is at first). So take the plunge! Start at the beginning or pick a chapter that interests you. Before long, you’ll be able to respond, “Ja!” (yah) (yes) when someone asks you Sprechen Sie Deutsch? (shprêH-en zee doych?) (Do you speak German?)
Note: If you’ve never been exposed to German before, you may want to read the chapters in Part I before you tackle the later chapters. Part I gives you some of the basics that you need to know about the language, such as how to pronounce the various sounds, some basic expressions and words, and the fundamentals of German sentence structure.
Part I
Getting Started
In this part . . .
You have to start somewhere, but we bet that you know a lot more German than you think. Don’t think so? Then check out Chapter 1. Chapter 2 covers some nuts-and-bolts grammar info that, well, you need to absorb. But don’t worry — we make it fun. The other chapters get you up to speed with some basic expressions and vocabulary you can use right away, such as saying hello and goodbye, expressing numbers, time, and measurements, or talking about your family.Jetzt geht’s los! (yêtst geyts lohs!) (Here we go!)
Chapter 1
You Already Know a Little German
In This Chapter
Recognizing the German you already know
Spotting words that aren’t what they seem
Using German idioms
The best way to learn a new language is to jump right in — no pussyfooting around. In this chapter, you get a head start in German by seeing some of the language you’re already familiar with. You also find out some popular German expressions, and you get the hang of why you need to be careful with what are called “false friends,” that is, words that seem to be the same in both languages but actually have different meanings.
The German You Know
Because both German and English belong to the group of Germanic languages, quite a few words are either identical or similar in both languages. Words that share a common source are called cognates. Another group of words common to German and English stem from Latin-based words that English speakers are familiar with. Many of these have direct equivalents in German, for example, nouns that end in “-tion.”
Friendly allies (perfect cognates)
The following words are spelled the same way and have the same meaning in German and in English. The only differences are the pronunciation, as shown in parentheses, as well as the fact that in German, nouns are always capitalized. In addition, German nouns have one of three genders, as seen on this list by the words der (masculine), die (feminine),and das (neuter) in front of each noun. See Chapter 2 for details on what gender is all about and go to Chapter 3 for information on the pronunciation key for each word presented in this book. In a few instances, the German and English pronunciation for the word is the same, so you’ll see the English word in the pronunciation (followed by the notation “as in English.”)
der Arm (dêr ârm)
der Bandit (dêr bân-deet)
die Bank (dee bânk)
die Basis (dee bah-zis)
blind (blint)
die Butter (dee boot-er)
digital (di-gi-tâl)
elegant (êl-ê-gânt)
die Emotion (dee ê-moh-tsee-ohn)
emotional (ê-moh-tsee-oh-nahl)
der Finger (dêr fing-er)
die Hand (dee hânt)
das Hotel (dâs hotel [as in English])
die Inspiration (dee in-spi-râ-tsee-ohn)
international (in-ter-nâ-tsee-oh-nahl)
irrational (ir-râ-tsee-oh-nahl)
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
