LESSON NOTES

Beginner #5
Language issues

CONTENTS
2 Formal German
2 English
2 Informal German
3 English
3 Vocabulary
4 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
5 Cultural Insight

# 5
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 FORMAL GERMAN

1. #3: Herr Williams, sprechen Sie Deutsch?

2. #2: Ja, ich spreche Deutsch, nur nicht viel.

3. #3: In meinem Haus sprechen alle Deutsch.

4. #2: Sprechen Sie kein Englisch?

5. #3: Nein.

6. #2: Dann sprechen Sie bitte langsam. Ich verstehe langsames Deutsch.

ENGLISH

1. #3: Mr Williams, do you speak German?

2. #2: Yes, I speak German, just not much.

3. #3: In my house, everybody speaks German.

4. #2: Don’t you speak (any) English?

5. #3: No.

6. #2: Then please speak slowly. I understand slow German.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1. #3: John, sprichst du Deutsch?

CONT'D OVER

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2. #2: Ja, ich spreche Deutsch, nur nicht viel.

3. #3: In meinem Haus sprechen alle Deutsch.

4. #2: Sprichst du kein Englisch?

5. #3: Nein.

6. #2: Dann sprich bitte langsam. Ich verstehe langsames Deutsch.

ENGLISH

1. #3: John, do you speak German?

2. #2: Yes, I speak German, just not much.

3. #3: In my house, everybody speaks German.

4. #2: Don’t you speak (any) English?

5. #3: No.

6. #2: Then please speak slowly. I understand slow German.

VOCABULARY

Ge r man English C lass Ge nde r

sprechen to speak verb

Deutsch German language noun, neuter, das neuter

alle all, everybody pronoun

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 adverb; Do not use
kein not any, no "nicht" in addition to
this!

Englisch English language noun, neuter, das

bitte please noun

langsam slow, slowly

verstehen to understand verb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

En tsch u l d i g u n g , i ch spre ch e ke i n Ich spre ch e D e u tsch .

D e u tsch .
I speak German.
Sorry, I don't speak German.

D e u tsch i st e i n e i n te re ssa n te Al l e ko m m e n z u r Pa rty, d u a u ch ?

Spra ch e .
Everybody is coming to the party, you too?
German is an interesting language.

Ich tri n ke ke i n Bi e r. Kö n n e n Si e bi tte m i t m i r En g l i sch

spre ch e n ?
I don't drink any beer.
Could you please speak English with me?

Spri ch st d u En g l i sch ? Bi tte spre ch e n Si e En g l i sch .

Do you speak English? Please speak English.

Wi r spre ch e n i m m e r l a n g sa m . Ich ve rste h e ke i n D e u tsch .

We always speak slowly. I do not understand German.

Ich ve rste h e Si e n i ch t.

I don't understand you.

GRAMMAR

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“Sprechen” (to speak) is another verb that appears to follow the pattern you have learned in
the previous lesson, but here there is one specialty: for the second and third person singular
(singular informal “you” and “he / she / it”) the stem vowel changes from a short E to a short I.
The endings stay the same:
sprechen (to speak)
ich sprech-e (I speak)
du sprich-st (you speak, informal to one person)
er / sie / es sprich-t (he / she / it speaks)
wir sprech-en (we speak)
ihr sprech-t (you speak, informal to several people)
sie sprech-en / Sie sprech-en (they come / you come, formal to one or several people)

There are several German verbs that change vowels like this, for example also “brechen” (to
break).

Another thing I’d like to draw your attention to is the “sprechen Sie bitte langsam”. This is
actually not the present tense anymore but an imperative (a command form). You will find it
extremely easy though because the formal imperative (the one to use with people that you
call “Sie”) is exactly the same as the formal present tense form for regular verbs, just inverted.
The informal imperative, which wasn’t used in the main dialogue, corresponds to just the
word stem without any ending. In the case of vowel-changing verbs, it’s a stem that includes
the vowel change. Examples:
Sprechen Sie bitte langsamer! – Please speak more slowly! (formal)
Sprich bitte langsamer! – Please speak more slowly! (informal)
Kommen Sie nach Deutschland! – Come to Germany! (formal)
Komm nach Deutschland! – Come to Germany! (informal)

CULTURAL INSIGHT

In Germany, English is a mandatory subject at school for at least 5 years, 7 if you want to go
to university. It’s also increasingly present in kindergartens. However, the quality of instruction
varies a lot and most people won’t remember any of their English 10 years after they have
gone to school, unless they have had to use it often in the meantime – hence if you want to
ask a German something in English, your best bet is a student or a businessman.

Among other groups, understanding of English is actually quite low. For example, in a recent
study more than 50% of Germans were unable to understand English slogans used in
German TV ads, things as simple as “where money lives”. This is another reason for you to
learn German of course!

Other than English, French is the most commonly studied foreign language, followed by
Latin. However, these wouldn’t normally be studied instead of English, rather, they are

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studied as a second foreign language. In Eastern Germany, Russian used to be the most
common foreign language. If you intend to go to university, you will have to study two foreign
languages for at least 5 years each at high school, which is supposed to give you fluent
command of them. You have the option of studying up to 4 foreign languages even, but few
will do that – foreign language classes, once chosen, can usually not be dropped easily, and
they will effect your mark average.

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