Learn to ask things about language
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| M: Hello and welcome to German Survival Phrases brought to you by germanpod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Germany. You will be surprised at how far a little German will go. Now before we jump in, remember to stop by germanpod101.com and there you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
| F: German Survival Phrases. Lesson 36. Read German Instantly! No Knowledge of German Required. |
| M: In the previous lessons, we introduced you to some phrases you can use when in Germany. This is the last lesson of the series we dedicated to learning from people around you. Including today’s lesson, you should be fully prepared to ask and learn from people around you when in Germany. By now, you already know how to ask for directions and how to take a picture or ask someone to take yours. You also know how to ask for a specific German word or phrase and in the last lesson, we covered how to ask somebody to write a German word or phrase down for you on a piece of paper so that you can learn through reading. Today as we close this chapter of learning from people around you, we are going to cover [Wie liest man das] how do you read this. Are you ready? Then let’s go for it. In German, how do you read this is [Wie liest man das] Let’s break it down by syllable [Wie liest man das] and now let’s hear it once again [Wie liest man das] the first word [Wie] means how. Let’s break down this word and hear it one more time, how and [liest] the third person singular form of the verb [lesen] follows [wie] and in English this means to read. The break down for this word is [liest] Now let’s hear it one more time [liest] Next is the impersonal indefinite pronoun [man] meaning you or one as in one would say. Let’s break down the word and listen to it one more time [man] finally we have the demonstrative adjective [das] which in English means that. However in this case, it will be translated as this while this and that obviously are not the same and Germans also distinguish between both demonstrative adjectives. You will hardly hear somebody in Germany asking, how do you read this. Usually people in Germany will ask, how do you read that. Let’s break it down by syllable and hear it one more time [das] and [das] Altogether we have [Wie liest man das] Literally this means how read one that. Now imagine another situation. What if you are in a bookstore with a German friend? While you are scanning through the book titles and covers, you find one you are especially interested in but it has a very complicated German title. In this case, you might like to ask your friend or one of the bookstore employees, how do you pronounce this [Wie spricht man das aus] Let’s break down this one and hear it one more time [Wie spricht man das aus] The first word [Wie] means how. The next word is [spricht] which in English means pronounce. It’s the first part of the verb [aussprechen] to pronounce. In German questions, it can happen that verb forms are split into two parts with one part taking the position at the beginning of the question and the other part filling the position at the end of the sentence. Let’s break down this word and hear it once more [spricht] Next is the word [das] meaning you or one. It’s an impersonal indefinite pronoun and we commonly use it instead of directing the question directly to our counterpart. Then we have [dies] this and finally [aus] the second part of the verb [aussprechen]. Let’s break down this one and hear it once again [aus] and [aus] Altogether we have [Wie spricht man das aus] literally this means how pronounce one that. The splitting of a verb in a question usually takes place when it’s spurred up out of a prefix. [aus] Out, in this case and the verb [sprechen] to speak. Together we have [aussprechen] to pronounce which literally means to out speak or to speak out. Maybe we should make one more note about this phrase. It works in almost all kinds of situations not just in a bookstore or when reading the menu in a restaurant. This works for everything that you can point at. For example, road signs or ad banners on shop windows. After you have learned the reading and the pronunciation, you will probably want to know about the meaning. So why don’t you try and ask [Was soll das bedeuten] what does it mean? Let’s break it down by syllable [Was soll das bedeuten] Now let’s hear it once again [Was soll das bedeuten] The first word [Was] means what. Let’s hear it one more time [Was] following this is the helping verb [soll] which in English means to be expected to. It’s the third person singular form. Next is the demonstrative adjective [das] that and lastly we have the infinite verb from the [bedeuten] mean. Altogether we have [Was soll das bedeuten] literally this means what is expected that to mean. Please allow me one more note before we wrap up this lesson. The pronunciation of German vowels is very straightforward. In fact we have to pronounce these five vowels exactly as we read them. They are [a, e, i, o, u] For example, the pronunciation of the vowel [a] is the same in all the words such as [Katze] which means cat. [Kabel] wire [Mama] mom, [Hand] hand. |
| Okay to close our today’s lesson, we would like you to practice what you’ve just learned. I provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So [Viel Glück] which means good luck in German. |
| How do you read this [Wie liest man das] how do you pronounce this [Wie spricht man das aus] what does it mean [Was soll das bedeuten] |
| That’s going to do it for today. |
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