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German - Beginners - Summer 2024

This post is for the German Beginners Class at the City of Portsmouth College (Highbury Campus) on Thursday evenings from 18:00 to 19:30 from April to June 2024.

A shortened link to this page is rebrand.ly/copcgeb24s


The classes run on the dates below:


The classes are due to run from 18:00 to 19:30 on Thursdays.

Thursday: 18th, & 25th April

2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd May

6th and 13th June


>> German Socials - Practice your language in a social setting—German Speakers in Portsmouth on Facebook or this blog post. In August we will have a week's visit from our German Twin City of Duisburg - to find out more about twin cities click here.


Use the internet to improve your listening skills and begin to tune your ear to spoken German outside of the classroom.



Free internet radio - This link will take you to Portsmouth's twin city of Duisburg.


(Sadly, since October 2022, the UK government has blocked this website from working outside the UK). However, click on the ellipsis (...). You can see the option to visit the website - click there and go to the website of the radio broadcaster. In the case of Radio Duisburg you need to click on the triangular right-pointing arrow and then on Live to get the radio to stream, but you can still play the radio (there are also many choices from Radio Duisburg of stations on the site).


or German TV News...

Tagesschau - click on "Sendung verpasst" at the top, and it will load the most recent programme you can watch via streaming - Pictures etc. will help you to follow what is being said.


Deutsche Welle  - 24/7 news channel like BBC 24


Many of the leading online TV channels are blocked outside of Germany/EU. However, some programmes, such as news and documentaries, are often available. Again, it is valid more as something to put on in the background to 'tune your ear' to the sound of German.


ZDF Leichtnachrichten - Simpler German news from ZDF (Germany's BBC Two)

ARD (Germany's BBC One)

Arte (A Franco-British TV Channel)


German Music

This link is the blog where I began collecting German singers and bands from across time together. If you have no or few German favourites, why not have a look? They may pique your interest, and you can explore others by yourself, making your own discoveries.




For the course book, I will use a few exercises from Das Leben. I purchased this course along with a few other I may use materials from.


Very useful tools ...

linguee.de For context and more in-depth ideas.

The topic of non-binary terminology in German (I have never heard, read, or seen them anywhere but here).


Donnerstag, den 13. Juni

Donnerstag, den 6. Juni

Donnerstag, den 30. Mai - Half Term - Keine Klasse

Donnerstag, den 23. Mai

Donnerstag, den 16. Mai

Donnerstag, den 9. Mai

Donnerstag, den 2. Mai

Most of you can give and spell your names, but can you spell the names of your street and home town?

  • Wie sagt man... pen, pencil, rubber, ruler, sharpener, book, exercise book...


Das Leben - Sommerkurs in Leipzig. S. 17>>. - Greetings, introducing yourselves and discussing languages (nationalities).


sich vorstellen



Donnerstag, den 25. April

Tonight, we will look at what you can remember from last week...

Can you give and spell your names and the names of your street and home town?


From the coursebook Das Leben today, we will look at the German Alphabet and spellings.

(Use 4, 5 & 6) Hören  Einheit 0


We will also look at some basic greetings. (Use 7, 8, & 9) Hören  Einheit 0

We may look at classroom items...


Was bedeuten diese Fragen? (What do these questions mean?)

Wie heißt das auf Deutsch?

Was heißt ... auf Deutsch?

Entschuldigung, kannst du das bitte buchstabieren?

Ich verstehe das nicht. Kannst du das bitte wiederholen?

Können Sie/Kannst du das bitte an die Tafel schreiben?

Können Sie/Kannst du das bitte buchstabieren?

Wie schreibt man das?

Was bedeutet das?


Was gibt es im Klassenzimmer? PPT Das Federmäppchen


Donnerstag, den 18. April

Tonight, we will look at beginning to learn German. - We will answer the German questions for:


Who are you? Why are you learning German? What does Germany mean for you? 

Wer sind Sie? Warum lernen Sie Deutsch? Was bedeutet Deutschland für Sie?


By the end of this session, you should be able to:

Introduce yourselves and spell your name (possibly the name of your street, city, or place of birth).

Can you give me your age? Your nationality? What about your occupation* (i.e. student)?

What else?

What can you tell someone a little about German Grammar?

Gender, adjectives...?

Wie heißen Sie? Wie heißt du?

Wie schreibt man das?

Woher kommen Sie? Woher kommst du?

Wo wohnen Sie? Wo wohnst du?

Was sind Sie von Beruf?* Was bist du von Beruf?*


Ich heiße...

Das schreibt man ....

Ich komme aus...

Ich wohne in ..... in England/ in Großbritannien/ im Vereinigten Königreich.

Ich bin...*

ich arbeite bei...*


Today, we will begin learning to speak, read and write in German and listen to spoken German.

Wo in Deutschland kennen Sie?

Wo sind Sie schon gefahren?


Wo in Deutschland kennen Sie?

Wo sind Sie schon gefahren?


In the first class, we will introduce ourselves and find our reasons for learning German as we do not all know each other yet.



Das Alphabetlied is a German children's song to learn the alphabet. 

Grobi - Sesamstraße - Unser Alphabet ist das...

Die Zahlen von 1. bis 100. (A bit like smurfs on helium!)

Basic counting in German from 1 to 100.

Die Tage der Woche (Lied) - Die Tage der Woche

Die Monate des Jahres



MSC 1.1.



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