German I
This is the place for the first lesson in German.
Dialogue: Two people introduce themselves
editThe following dialogue is between two persons who just met and introduce themselves. After reading it listen to the audio file to get a feeling for the German language (in case you wonder: the voice of Jörg is spoken by a French native):
| person | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| Franz | Hallo, wie heißt du ? | Hello, what is your name ? |
| Jörg | Hallo, ich heiße Jörg. Und du ? | Hello, my name is Jörg. What about you ? |
| Franz | Ich heiße Franz. | My name is Franz. |
| Jörg | Wie alt bist du ? | How old are you ? |
| Franz | Ich bin neunzehn Jahre alt, und du ? | I am 19 years old, what about you ? |
| Jörg | Ich bin zwanzig. | I am 20 (years old). |
| Franz | Gut. Bis später ! | Ok. See you later ! |
| Jörg | Tschüss ! | Bye ! |
The first thing we find in this dialogue is the conjugation of a verb. In German, all verbs are conjugated for all pronouns, different to English. Think of it as the verb "to be": I am, you are, he is, they are, etc. German has distinct conjugations for every verb. For instance, the verb "sein":
- ich bin
- du bist
- er/sie/es ist
- wir sind
- Ihr seid
- sie/Sie sind
You will learn more about conjugating verbs in further lessons.
The other thing we notice on the dialogue is that the age is said as in English. I am 19 years old -> Ich bin neunzehn Jahre alt. In other languages, like French or Spanish the age is said using "to have... years" instead of using "to be ... years old": "J'ai 30 ans" -> "Tengo 30 años".
next ?
editFor further planning, please visit the Learning German talk page.
Stay thrilled.