Swick - Learn German in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of German Schnell!

LEARN
German
in a Hurry

GRASP
THE BASICS OF
Deutsch
im Schnellgang!

Edward Swick

Copyright 2007 by F+W Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

Published by
Adams Media, an F+W Publications Company
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com

ISBN 10: 1-59869-549-5
ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-549-6
eISBN: 978-1-440-51644-3

Printed in Canada.

J I H G F E D C B A

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
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Contains materials adopted and abridged from
The EverythingLearning German Book by Edward Swick,
Copyright 2003 by F+W Publications, Inc.

This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.

Contents

Introduction

We live in a world where a lot of things go on at a very fast pace. Even language acquisition is often approached in a hurry. Well, if youre one of those people who need to learn some German quickly, this is the book for you. It doesnt matter if your goal for your new language is travel or business or just a personal interest in German. Whats important is that you have the desire to learn, because that kind of attitude breeds success.

Youll find that the concepts contained in this book are presented in simple and clear language. Grammatical and linguistic terms are kept to a minimum and are fully explained when needed. Youll be briefed on the German alphabet and the sounds that are identical to English and the ones that are different. Youll be made aware of basic spelling rules, which in German are not complicated, because the language isfor the most partwritten as it is pronounced.

Since German and English are brother and sister languages, youll find many similarities between them, which is a distinct advantage when learning a new language. You probably dont even need the English translation to know what the following words mean.

finden (find)

Auto (auto)

braun (brown)

mein (mine)

singen (sing)

Winter (winter)

This doesnt mean that youll breeze through everything though. Its just that the similarity between German and English make the learning process a little smoother and far less frustrating.

If you apply yourself and take the book seriously, youll end up with the basics for spoken and written communication. The vocabulary youll encounter are the essentials you need for travel, dining, shopping, and getting by in an urban setting in Germany. Youll have enough skill with the tenses to make sense when you talk about things that happened yesterday or things that will go on today and tomorrow. In general, youll know enough German to form the basis that will allow you to communicate as an educated foreigner and that will be the first building block for further German study.

Viel Spa! Have fun!

01 / Beginning German

Learn Your ABCs and How to Pronounce Them

The German alphabet (das Alphabet) is made up of the same letters that make up our English alphabet, with one exception. German has one letter that we do not have in English. It is called an ess-tset and is often mistaken for a capital B. It looks like this () and is pronounced like a double s (ESS). It takes the place of ss after long vowels or diphthongs. Note these examples: heien, gro,drauen. The following table shows the pronunciation of the German alphabet. The new orthography has changed the rules for using .

Das Alphabet

Sounds: Vowels, Consonants, and Combinations

The descriptions that follow can serve as your guide as you practice forming German sounds. The English phonetics will be shown with the stressed syllable in capital letters, for example, Vater (FAH-tuh), and enclosed in parentheses.

Vowels

Hearing the sounds pronounced by a native will be helpful. Also you should be aware that when English phonetics are provided, there is no precise way to indicate the pronunciation of and . The phonetics will show their sounds as er (in bold letters) and ue (in bold letters) respectively.

An Umlaut is the two dots that sometimes appear over the letters a, o, and u. They occur with no other letters. As youll see in the next table, the Umlaut changes the pronunciation of the vowel sound slightly.

Pronouncing the Vowel Sounds