Learn how to introduce people and react appropriately to introductions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here, Absolute Beginner Season 2, Lesson 7, Introducing the Host Family. Hello and welcome to GermanPod101.com, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn German. |
| Judith: I’m Judith. And thanks again for being here with us for this Absolute Beginner Season 2 lesson. |
| Chuck: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce people and react appropriately to introductions. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place at a German home. |
| Chuck: The conversation is between Paul and his German host family. |
| Judith: The speakers don’t know each other yet. Therefore, they would be speaking formal German. |
| Chuck: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Judith: So, das ist Paul Martens, unser Gast. Das hier ist mein Mann, Christoph Schneider. |
| Chuck: Angenehm, Sie kennenzulernen, Herr Schneider. |
| Chuck: Gleichfalls. |
| Judith: Und das ist unsere Tochter, Susie. |
| Chuck: Hallo, Susie. Ich bin Paul. |
| Judith: Hallo... Paul. Bist du Amerikaner? |
| Chuck: Ja, ich bin Amerikaner. |
| Judith: Seid ihr Amerikaner alle so unkompliziert? |
| Judith: And now, slowly. |
| Judith: So, das ist Paul Martens, unser Gast. Das hier ist mein Mann, Christoph Schneider. |
| Chuck: Angenehm, Sie kennenzulernen, Herr Schneider. |
| Chuck: Gleichfalls. |
| Judith: Und das ist unsere Tochter, Susie. |
| Chuck: Hallo, Susie. Ich bin Paul. |
| Judith: Hallo... Paul. Bist du Amerikaner? |
| Chuck: Ja, ich bin Amerikaner. |
| Judith: Seid ihr Amerikaner alle so unkompliziert? |
| Judith: Now the translation. |
| Judith: So, das ist Paul Martens, unser Gast. |
| Chuck: So, this is Paul Martens, our guest. |
| Judith: Das hier ist mein Mann, Christoph Schneider. |
| Chuck: This here is my husband, Christophe Schneider. |
| Judith: Angenehm, Sie kennenzulernen, Herr Schneider. |
| Chuck: Pleased to meet you, Mr. Schneider. |
| Judith: Gleichfalls. |
| Chuck: Likewise. |
| Judith: Und das ist unsere Tochter, Susie. |
| Chuck: And this is our daughter, Suzy. |
| Judith: Hallo, Susie. Ich bin Paul. |
| Chuck: Hello Suzy, I’m Paul. |
| Judith: Hallo... Paul. Bist du Amerikaner? |
| Chuck: Hello Paul, are you an American? |
| Judith: Ja, ich bin Amerikaner. |
| Chuck: Yes, I’m an American. |
| Judith: Seid ihr Amerikaner alle so unkompliziert? |
| Chuck: Are you Americans also straight-forward or uncomplicated? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: All right. Let’s discus a bit of etiquette for introductions. |
| Chuck: Pay attention when someone introduces themselves to you because this will determine all future interactions with him. It’s important to figure out how formal or informal he is. Watch the body language. This will tell you if you can expect to call him by his first name anytime soon. And it should also determine your response to his introduction. |
| Judith: If he’s a formal kind of person, your reply should involve the word „Angenehm“. This word is enough on its own or you could say the full „Angenehm Sie kennen zu lernen“. |
| Chuck: Pleased to get to know you. |
| Judith: However, if he’s informal, this would sound like you’re rebuffing him. To a friendly informal kind of introduction, you should reply „Freut mich“. |
| Chuck: Makes me happy. |
| Judith: Or „Schön Sie kennen zu lernen“. |
| Chuck: Nice to get to know you. You’re still using “Z” at this point, unless you new acquaintance already called you by your first name. To indicate that it’s okay to call him by his first name, someone might reintroduce himself and just give you his first name. |
| Judith: This happened in today’s dialog. Paul told Suzy, „Ich bin Paul“. |
| Chuck: I’m Paul. |
| Judith: Suzy already knew his name. Mr. Schneider had introduced him as Paul Martens, but since Paul said this, Suzy knew that she has the right to call him just Paul. She doesn’t need to call him Mr. Martens. |
| Chuck: You can sometimes here this in the middle of a conversation. “So, how many kids do you have Mrs. Muller? I’m Christina.” A quick way to let people know that they can be less formal. This works also if you want people to use a nickname. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is? |
| Judith: so |
| Chuck: So. |
| Judith: so |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: unser |
| Chuck: Our. |
| Judith: unser |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: Gast |
| Chuck: Guest. |
| Judith: Gast and the plural is Gäste |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: mein |
| Chuck: My. |
| Judith: mein |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: Mann |
| Chuck: Man or husband. |
| Judith: Mann. This is masculine of course and the plural is Männer |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: angenehm |
| Chuck: Pleasant. |
| Judith: angenehm |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: gleichfalls |
| Chuck: Same to you. |
| Judith: gleichfalls |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: Tochter |
| Chuck: Daughter. |
| Judith: Tochter and this is feminine, the plural is Töchter. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: alle |
| Chuck: All or everybody. |
| Judith: alle |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: kompliziert |
| Chuck: Complicated or complex. |
| Judith: kompliziert |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Chuck: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Judith: The first phrase we’ll look at is kennen lernen. |
| Chuck: To get to know. |
| Judith: Literally, “know learns” or “learn to know.” But in English, you’d say “Get to know.” Then there’s gleichfalls. |
| Chuck: Same to you. |
| Judith: This is an idiom that can’t be translated literally. It just means, “I wish you the same.” or “I think the same.” And finally, there’s un. un turns something into its opposite, like in English. So „unkompliziert“ is the opposite of complicated. |
| Chuck: Or you can think of it just like it’s “un”. |
| Judith: Yeah. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: The focus of this lesson is the irregular verb sein part 2 and also adjective endings. Today we shall learn the remaining forms of the verb „sein“, “to be” they are.. |
| Judith: du bist |
| Chuck: “You are”’ informally. |
| Judith: ihr seid |
| Chuck: “You all are” plural. Can you give us all the forms now including the ones we had before? |
| Judith: Sure. So we start with Ich bin. |
| Chuck: I am. |
| Judith: du bist |
| Chuck: You are. |
| Judith: er ist |
| Chuck: He is. |
| Judith: wir sind |
| Chuck: We are. |
| Judith: ihr seid |
| Chuck: You all are. |
| Judith: sie sind |
| Chuck: “They are.” Great and now one more thing. In German, possessive pronouns and adjectives change depending on the gender of the noun that follows. |
| Judith: So we say „mein Mann“. |
| Chuck: My husband. |
| Judith: „meine Frau“ |
| Chuck: My wife. |
| Judith: „unser Sohn“ |
| Chuck: Our son. |
| Judith: „unsere Tochter“ |
| Chuck: “Our daughter.” The short version is that we use „mein“ for masculine and neutral nouns and „meine“ for feminine and also plural nouns. So when there’s a feminine noun or when there’s more than one thing, you’ll see the ending “E.” |
| Judith: There’s some other endings and some other rules, but German slur the endings anyway so this rule of thumb will be enough until the upper beginner level at least. |
| Chuck: That just about does it for today. |
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| Chuck: So, see you next time. |
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