Hallo leute (Hello guys)

I noticed that there is no single thread about learning Deutsch(german) so i start this thread to help nairalanders who are willing to learn German for the sake of traveling to Germany and also those who loves the language naturally.

I have been on this platform (nairaland) for some years now. Teaching people some German basics is my small way of saying THANK YOU Seun because all the things i know about traveling stuff was acquired from this great platform(nairaland)


Those who know me here on nairaland know that i have a deep appreciation for everything related to Germanic countries most especially GERMANY, my number one country

So i could say that i started learning german because of a long time dream of mine being able to speak German and maybe someday live in Germany or any German speaking countries. Study, work and get to know the culture in a better way.

Learning german hasn't been easy but i love it and enjoy so very much

Forget about German is hard to learn. No language is difficult if you have the enthusiasm to learn it.

Though, German is hard to learn because of its complicated grammar and syntax but no language is easy or hard

I believe the language you have least interest in is the hardest while the one you are interested in is the easiest.

REASON WHY YOU SHOULD LEARN GERMAN

1) German is the easiest language to learn if you are an English speaker. This is because German and English share the same Germanic root. Consequently, there are many thousands of words which are closely related.

For example, the English father is Vater in German. Not as hard after all.

2) German is the language of inventors and innovators.

It is said that Germany is the country of poets and thinkers. People who love literature will want to read Goethe's Faust in the original.

A large percentage of the world’s most impressive achievements were first conceived of in German.

Over one hundred Nobel Prizes have gone to brilliant Germans for accomplishments in physics, medicine, chemistry, literature and other areas.

So if you are looking to add a Nobel Prize to your resume, learning German might not be a bad place to start.

3) German is the most widely spoken native language in Europe. 100 million people in Austria, Switzerland and Germany speak German

English, French and German are the three official working languages of the European Union. In absolute numbers, German is the second most-spoken language on the continent of Europe. However, when it comes to native speakers, German is number one.

4) Germany is an economic powerhouse

5) German is the gateway to a world-class higher education plus German university degree is highly valued by employers worldwide.

As far as i know, education is free in Germany.
Learning German might be an advantage when you decide to go and study in Germany.

It would be impossible to live a normal life in Germany without learning German.

6) You will easily get employed in Germany. Also good working conditions and Germany's economic strength attract skilled people from all over the world. Germany is the world's second most popular country after the USA for people seeking work.

7) Many German companies have international locations. A good knowledge of German will boost your chances of a career with a German company in your country.

Another reason is understanding German dialects. Its never gets boring: whether Bavarian, Hessian or Berlinese, there are lots of different dialects in Germany. So if you like learning languages, you can continue practising after completing your German course.

9) With German as a basis, you’ll find it easier to learn other Germanic languages. Dutch and even Afrikaans can be derived from German.

Enough of the talking... Let's get down to business

Before i start, please and please, i want to appeal to you all. I created this thread purposely for learning German.

I don't want a situation whereby people will be asking me to drop my contact number or create whatsapp group.

Please let's us try and adhere to the rules and regulations guiding this great platform.

Let's start with some basic phrases

German word......... Guten Morgen
Pronunciation........ goot-en mor-gen
English................... Good morning

German word......... Guten Tag
Pronunciation........ goot-en tahk
English................... Good afternoon

German word......... Guten Abend
Pronunciation........ goot-en ah bent
English................... Good evening

German word......... Gute Nacht
Pronunciation........ goot-eh nakht
English................... Good night

German word......... Hallo
Pronunciation........ Hallo
English................... Hello

German word......... Grüß dich
Pronunciation........ Gruss dich
English................... Greetings !

German word......... Tschüss/Tschau
Pronunciation........ Tchews /chow
English................... Bye!

German word......... Auf Wiedersehen
Pronunciation........ owf-vee-dair-zayn
English................... Goodbye

German word......... Bis Später
Pronunciation........ biss shpay-ter
English................... See you later

German word......... Bis bald
Pronunciation........ biss bahlt
English................... See you soon

German word......... Bis morgen
Pronunciation........ biss mohr-gen
English................... See you tomorrow

German word......... Bitte
Pronunciation........ bit-tuh
English................... Please

German word......... Ja / Nein
Pronunciation........ Yah / Nine
English................... Yes / No

Guten tag

Thank you very much sir
Oga Justwise and Disguy

egorov:
Guten tag

Hallo freund
Wie geht's dir �

Hadampson:
Let's start with the basic phrases

German word......... Guten Morgen
Pronunciation........ goot-en mor-gen
English................... Good morning

German word......... Guten Tag
Pronunciation........ goot-en tahk
English................... Good afternoon

German word......... Guten Abend
Pronunciation........ goot-en ah bent
English................... Good evening

German word......... Gute Nacht
Pronunciation........ goot-eh nakht
English................... Good night

German word......... Hallo
Pronunciation........ Hallo
English................... Hello

German word......... Grüß dich
Pronunciation........ Gruss dich
English................... Greetings !

German word......... Tschüss/Tschau
Pronunciation........ Tchews /chow
English................... Bye!

German word......... Auf Wiedersehen
Pronunciation........ owf-vee-dair-zayn
English................... Goodbye

German word......... Bis Später
Pronunciation........ biss shpay-ter
English................... See you later

German word......... Bis bald
Pronunciation........ biss bahlt
English................... See you soon

German word......... Bis morgen
Pronunciation........ biss mohr-gen
English................... See you tomorrow

German word......... Bitte
Pronunciation........ bit-tuh
English................... Please

German word......... Ja / Nein
Pronunciation........ Yah / Nine
English................... Yes / No

You should have locked this thread or create it in the Diary section to ward off unnecessary comments.

In phonetics, there is something called Die Auslautverhärtung

Die Auslautverhärtung is the hardening of the final consonant at the end of a syllable or word.

B is pronounced like P
D is pronounced like T
G is pronounced like K
V is pronounced like F
Z is pronounced like S


For example, Der Flug (The flight) is pronounced like Dia fluk.......Whenever you see G at the end of a word, you pronounce it like K

Another example: das Bild ( The picture) is pronounced as Bilt.. So take note of that

More examples coming up

der Weg (The path) ....This is pronounced like dia Vek

Practice the following nouns on your own **

der Hund ( The dog)

das Fahrrad ( The bicycle )

die Gegend ( The area or region)

der Abend ( The evening)


####

Lest i forget, W is pronounced like V in German
Example: das Wasser which is pronounced das Vasser.

Chriswazo:


You should have locked this thread or create it in the Diary section to ward off unnecessary comments.

Yeah bro but i deliberately created the thread here because it would be more useful to nairalanders on travel section than other sections


Moreover, i want this thread to be an interactive one. Anyways, thanks for the advice bro

Some useful words to memorize

Frau - woman
Mann - Man
Junge - Boy
Mädchen - Girl
Kind - Child
Wasser - Water
Brot - Bread


The family

Vater - Father
Mutter - Mother
Schwester - Sister
Bruder - Brother
Tante - Aunt
Onkel - Uncle
Neffe - Nephew
Nichte - Niece
Relativ - Relative
Cousin - Cousin
Cousine - Cousin(female)

Note to take

German has 2 ways of addressing someone. We use the informal address "Du" when talking to friends, family or people we know well

We use formal address "Sie" to politely address a stranger or someone significantly older.

For example

Informal address: Woher kommst du?
Formal address : Woher kommen Sie?

Both have the same meaning..... Where are you from? or where do you come from?

The polite form "Sie" is always capitalized even in the middle of a sentence.

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The word Bitte can have a few slightly different meaning depending on the context and tone we use it in.

1) It is used to say PLEASE
2) It is also used to say YOU ARE WELCOME
3) lastly, it is used to say HERE YOU GO


####
The German Hallo is more informal than English Hello
You wouldn't use HALLO in a very formal situation. Instead you will say Guten Tag

Guten Tag means good afternoon and can also be used as Hello in a formal way.

####
In German, all nouns are always capitalized even when they are in the middle of a sentence.

For example... der Flug, der Weg

The German Alphabet


The German alphabet has the 26 standard letters found in the English alphabet plus four letters that are
specific to German.

They are as follows:-

Alphabet
Letter German Name
A. ah
B. bay
C. tsay
D. day
E. eh
F. eff
G. gay
H. hah
I. ee
J. yot
K. kah
L. ell
M. emm
N. enn
O. oh
P. peh
Q. kuh
R. err
S. ess
T. teh
U. uh
V. Fau
W. veh
X. iks
Y. üppsilon
Z. Tset



The 4 special letter are as follows


Ä or A-umlaut
English equivalent is melon, age

Ö(oeh) or O-umlaut
English equivalent is flirt, girl

Ü(ueh) or U-umlaut
There is no English equivalent for this

ß... This is called ess-tset or scharfes S(sharp S)
English equivalent for ß is kiss


Note that ß (ess-tset) is the only letter that will never be at the beginning of a word.

It is important to learn to pronounce the German names of the letters of the alphabet so that you will be able to spell names, addresses, and other essential information when needed during stays in German-speaking countries and over the telephone.

Even though both English and German employ the same basic alphabet, there are, of course, significant differences in the pronunciation of the individual German and English sounds represented by the standard letters


To perfect pronunciation, it is essential to avail oneself of every possible opportunity to hear and use spoken German, e.g., through CDs, DVDs, radio, television, movies, conversations with native speakers, and visits to German-speaking countries

It might be helpful to remember that precisely those sounds that characterize a German accent in English are the sounds that will require the most work in order for you to overcome your foreign accent in German. It might be helpful to imitate those sounds as you practice your German pronunciation.

Hadampson:
Hallo freund
Wie geht's dir �

Richtig Gut dir?

egorov:

Richtig Gut dir?

Ja
You haven't answered my question bro �

You really need to polish your German skills

The Vowels

Vowels in German are either long or short. In our pronunciation key, long vowels are followed by a
colon, e.g, [a:], [e:], [i:], [o:], [u:]


Short vowels stand alone, e.g, [a], [e], [i], [o], [u]


To learn how vowels are being pronounced in German, search it on Google or youtube

###
There are a number of basic rules that help in determining whether a vowel is to be pronounced long or short.

(1) A double vowel is long.
Haar, Boot, Beet

(2) A vowel followed by a silent h (the so-called
Dehnungs-hah, or stretching H) is long.
Jahr, ihm

(3) A vowel followed by a single consonant is
usually long.
gut, dem,


(4) An i followed by an e (that is, ie) is long.
Liebe, wieder, sieben, die

(5) A vowel followed by a double consonant is
short.
Bett, kommen, können

(6) A vowel followed by two or more
consonants, including the combinations ch
and sch, is usually short.
ich, typisch, sicher, Fenster, Sack

(7) A vowel in one-syllable prepositions and
other common one-syllable words ending in a
single consonant are often short.
mit, im, um, es

( An e not in combination with another vowel,
standing at the end of a word, is short.
Hase, gebe, bitte, Hilfe




DIPTHONGS

A diphthong is a combination of 2 vowels that blend and are sounded together. Instead of being pronounced seperately, 2 letters have one sound or pronunciation.

There are three common diphthongs in German. Note that two of these diphthongs can be spelled in several different ways.

For example

au is pronounced like ow
Haus, traum, auf, Frau, brauchen, aus

äu or eu is pronounced like oi
Häuser, neu, freuer, heute

ai or ei is pronounced like eye
Frei, Zeit, Mai, ein, mein, Leid

Note: In German, diphthongs are not drawn out as they are in English. They are pronounced short and clipped.


And also, the combination ie is not a diphthong, but rather a spelling variant of the [i:] sound.

die, Sie, Lied, Knie, Brief, wieder.

The Consonants

###
Similarities

Many of the German consonants are pronounced more or less as they are in English. Included in this group are f, h, k, m, n, p, t, x.

For example

F --- Freitag, Fisch, Neffe,
H--- Haus, haben, hastig, gehoben
K--- kaufen, küssen, Park
M--- Montag, immer, dem
N--- nicht, bin
P--- Problem, Lampe, schlapp
T--- Tag, Täter, tat
X--- Taxi, Axt, boxen



The consonants b, d, g are also pronounced more or less as they are in English when they are at the beginning of a word or a syllable. However, when b, d, g appear at the end of a word or syllable, or before t or st, they are pronounced as p, t, k.

That is, b is pronounced like p
d is pronounced like t
g is pronounced like k

I think i have posted something like this in one of my posts.

**

Note: When g appears in the suffix -ig at the end of a word, the suffix is pronounced like -ich.

Examples

hastig, billig, durstig, fertig, zwanzig, neunzig

this is absolutely amazing and wonderful. many thanks for your selfless acts. We hope to see it become fruitful and impacting.

God bless you richly in all measures.

Vielen danke

Eldeee:
this is absolutely amazing and wonderful. many thanks for your selfless acts. We hope to see it become fruitful and impacting.

God bless you richly in all measures.

Vielen danke

Schön dich kennenzulernen bruder. I really appreciate your comment. It motivates me.

Danke , ich kann spreche ein bisschen Deutsche
I stopped at A1 last year, i wanted to continue but I am afraid of failing because it's hard for me to learn it, the people i started with are already in B1 level , some already left the country to Germany it's just hard for me to learn

Let me learn something here...

You are a life saver. I have actually understood this better than what I arch on YouTube. Danke!

Wow...das ist toll.. Danke

drakura:
Danke , ich kann spreche ein bisschen Deutsche
I stopped at A1 last year, i wanted to continue but I am afraid of failing because it's hard for me to learn it, the people i started with are already in B1 level , some already left the country to Germany it's just hard for me to learn

As i have said earlier in one of my posts, the most difficult language is one you are uninterested in learning.

The easiest language is whichever language you enjoy most (for whatever reasons you may have) and have most readily available to immerse yourself.

When i first started learning German. My first impression of the language was poor and i had little knowledge of the resources available.

Because of these reasons I found the language dull, ugly sounding, complicated, and ultimately uninteresting. Simple concepts made little sense to me but as time goes on, i started getting it. The enthusiasm to learn it quickly was all over me. Gradually, i started forming sentences and words. Right now, i can say am still in A1 level because i haven't mastered the CASES(Nominative, dative, accusative and genitive)

So to cut my story short, every language has to be easy enough to learn at least in its spoken form.

You need consistency and commitment to learn German. If you have these 2 qualities, learning German would be as easy as ABC

OkaNaUbe:
Let me learn something here...

Bitte schön brüder

amahbrain:
You are a life saver. I have actually understood this better than what I arch on YouTube. Danke!

Gern geschehen Schwester
Willkommen an Bord

Guten Morgen leute
Was geht?

Sorry am late... Today, we are going to talk about the differences between ich and ach and some other differences.

Also we are going to talk about the German R sound.

So, stay tuned �

Pecky2222:
Wow...das ist toll.. Danke

Gern geschehen Schwester. Willikommen an Bord

Differences

The ich sound and the ach sound

The consonant cluster ch can represent two closely related, but different sounds that are present in German but not in standard English.

Both sounds are produced with the tongue and mouth in more or less the same position as for the k sound. However, the stream of breath is not cut off as when pronouncing
a k; rather, it is forced through the narrow opening between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

Whether the ch becomes an ich sound or an ach sound is determined by the immediately preceding vowel, that is, by the position of the mouth that is required to produce these vowel sounds.

When ch follows the vowels a, o, u or the diphthong au, it is pronounced toward the back of the throat.

Examples these sounds are:-

ach, acht, Nacht, doch, Woche, Tochter, Buch, Tuch, Kuchen, besuchen, Frucht, auch,
rauchen, gebrauch


####


In other environments, that is, after the vowels e, i, ä, ö, ü, as well as after the diphthongs ei (ai, ay, ey)
and eu (äu) and the consonants l, n, r, the stream of air is forced through a flatter but wider opening between the tongue and the roof of the mouth. The resulting ich sound is pronounced more toward the
front of the mouth.

Examples are as follows

schlecht, ich, Sicht, lächeln, möchte, Bücher, Eiche, euch, welcher, München, Kirche, Milch

Other Differences


Other consonants that are pronounced differently in English and German include the letters l, r, j, w, z,
s, v, q, c.


The Letters [l]

Although this letter exist in both the English and the German alphabets, it is pronounced very differently in the two languages.

The English I is a dark sound that is pronounced rather far back in the mouth. By contrast, the German I is pronounced toward the front of the mouth with the tongue flatter and touching the back of the
front teeth. This produces a much lighter l sound.

***
Good listening skills and practice are required to master these sounds.

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Search and download German word pronouciation on PLAYSTORE or APPLESTORE (for those using Iphone)