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Hello everybody,

The German language is one of the world's most important languages. There are more than 120 Million native speakers and 80 Millions who learned German as their second language. In the European Union, German is the most important language. In contrast to many other countries, the financial crisis doesn't concern Germany. Germany searches well-educated people from everywhere and because of that, the German language will become more important in the future.

Therefore I want to start a set of five articles, in which I want to explain you how to survive in Germany. At the end, I hope that you're able to say Heiße Schokolade mit Schlagsahne and Ess dein Schnitzel, sonst kriegst du keinen Nachtisch! The first article is about the pronunciation and small-talk!



Pronunciation:

Wherever you don't find an explanation, you speak the letter like in English

A - Long A like in father, short like in about
B - At the end of a word like P, otherwise like in English
C - Before the most vowels like the German Z, otherwise like K
D - At the end of a word like T, otherwise like in English
E - Long like the German word eben or egal (there is no similar form in english), short like in pet or garden

F -
G - At the end of a word often like K, otherwise like in get
H - Not spoken at the end of a word, otherwise like in house
I - Long I like in see, short like in fit
J - Like Y in yankee

K -
L -
M -
N -
O - Long O like in open, only without the ou-sound, short like in often

P -
Q - Like K in English or like in quiz
R - A bit like خ in Arabic, but not so strong
S - Like Z in zoom, at the end like S in Sound
T -

U - Long U like in moon, short like in put
V - Like F or like the English V
W - Like the English V
X -
Y - Like the German Ü or like in English (mostly in Anglicisms)
Z - Like a TS



Ä = ae - Like ai in air
Ö = oe - like ur in turn, but without the r-sound before the n (no similar form in english)
Ü = ue - No similar form in english
ß - Like C in nice
ch - Like the Arabic خ or like the German ich-sound (just listen here), sometimes also like K or sh



Smalltalk in Germany:

General information:

Hello - Hallo
Good morning - Guten Morgen
Good afternoon - Guten Tag
Good evening - Guten Abend
Good night - Gute Nacht
Bye - Tschüss
Goodbye - Auf Widersehen

How are you? - Wie geht es dir? (short form: Wie geht's?)
I'm ... - Ich bin ...
My name is ... - Ich heiße ...
What's your name? - Wie heißt du?

Please - Bitte
Thanks - Danke
Yes - Ja
No - Nein
Sorry - Entschuldigung (but everybody would understand the word sorry...)
No problem - Kein Problem (also: Macht nichts)


Meeting somebody:

Where are you from? - Woher kommst du?
I'm from Saudi Arabia/France/Palestine. - Ich komme aus Saudi-Arabien/Frankreich/Palästina
How old are you? - Wie alt bist du?
I'm ... years old - Ich bin ... Jahre alt

Would you like to go out tonight? - Wollen wir uns heute Abend treffen?
I'd love to! - Sehr gerne!
Maybe - Vielleicht
I'm sorry, I have no time - Tut mir leid, ich habe keine Zeit

I like you - Ich mag dich
I love you - Ich liebe dich


Pleasure and displeasure:

Very good - Sehr gut
I like it - Das gefällt mir
I don't mind - Ist mir egal
What a pity - Wie schade

I think it would be better to ... - Ich denke, es wäre besser wenn ...
I don't like it - Das gefällt mir nicht
I don't want to do this - Ich will das nicht machen
No way - Auf keinen Fall (also: Keine Chance)
Never - Niemals

I hope you enjoy it! If you have a question to the translations or how to pronounce it correctly, feel free to ask me. In two weeks, I'll write about how to have a date in Germany!

Regards,

Hassan Salama