This post is for the German Improvers Class at the City of Portsmouth College (Highbury Campus) on Thursday evenings from September to November 2024.
A shortened link to this page is rebrand.ly/cgei
The classes are due to run on Thursday evenings from 7:30 to 9 pm on:
September 19th
September 26th
October 3rd
October 10th
October 17th
October 24th - Halloween
(October 31st - Half term - no class this week)
November 7th - Martinstag
November 14th
November 21st
November 28th - Weihnachten und Neujahr
Outside the classroom
>> German Socials - Practice your language in a social setting. German Speakers in Portsmouth on Facebook or this blog post. tinyurl.com/0520ectc
We have a twin city in Duisburg. I am the Chair of the Twinning Association for France and Germany. To find out more about our twin cities, visit this website.
German Music
This link is to the blog where I collect German singers and bands from across time. 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 discoveries.
This padlet is where I collect many online German Language Learning Resources.
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, though).
We have two coursebooks available at the college, and I also have a few other coursebooks at my disposal to choose the odd theme.
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This Improvers class runs from 7:30 to 9 pm again in January on Thursdays. The classes are due to run on:
Thursday: 16th, 23rd & 30th January, 6th, 13th, 27th February, 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th March.
(provided the minimum number of attendees is reached).
Some grammar will likely be covered again; however, the themes and topics will differ.
You can register your interest in classes in January by emailing Jennifer Parr, the Adult Ed courses administrator. Alternatively, use the link above to register via the college website.
See here for the latest Adult Education Newsletter from the College.
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Donnerstag, den 28. November
Today, we will do something very cultural in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and indeed much of central and Eastern Europe.
Sylvester
(Dinner for One) - German TV Channels show this every 31st December - It is a tradition, and pretty much any time during that time, it will be on, has just been on, or will soon be on!
This is in English, about the whole phenomenon
How would you contrast your normal day with one such as Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, or New Year's celebrations?
Weihnachtslieder - In true Schlager style... Songtext
This song always had the teenagers laughing their heads off! Songtext
You will know this song.
...and this one
Sankt Nikolaus
His sidekicks are wide and varied - here in Inningen (Bavaria), he is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht.
In Eastern France, it was once Père Fouettard, but he has often now just vanished.
In The Netherlands Zwarte Piet, but he is often controversial now because he could be seen as racist.
However, in Austria:
Nikolaus als Geschenkebringer (This text is rather challenging to translate, far more challenging than you'd get for GCSE. Can you translate it? Obviously, without just pasting it into Google!)
„Der Kirchturm von St. Niklaus im Schweizer Kanton Wallis wird im Advent als Nikolausfigur dekoriert. Gemäß Eintrag im Guinness-Buch der Rekorde handelt es sich dabei um die weltweit größte Nikolausfigur.
Der Gedenktag des Heiligen ist mit vielen Bräuchen verbunden. Einige hingen ursprünglich mit der Perikopenordnung der Kirche zusammen. Am 6. Dezember war verbindlich die Perikope vom Gleichnis von den anvertrauten Talenten Mt 25,14–30 EU vorgesehen. Der bekannte Brauch der Befragung der Kinder durch den Nikolaus, ob sie denn auch brav und fromm gewesen seien, geht auf dieses Gleichnis zurück.
Der Einlegebrauch, das Füllen der Schuhe in der Nacht vom 5. auf den 6. Dezember oder Ähnliches, basiert auf der Legende von den drei Jungfrauen, die nachts vom heiligen Nikolaus beschenkt wurden. Ursprünglich war der Nikolaustag auch der Tag der Weihnachtsbescherung.
In einigen Ländern ist er dies auch heute noch. Erst infolge der Ablehnung der Heiligenverehrung durch die Reformation wurde die Bescherung in vielen Ländern auf Weihnachten verlegt, und infolgedessen wurde Nikolaus als Gabenbringer mancherorts vom Christkind abgelöst. Durch dieses wechselseitige Verhältnis hat sich im 19. Jahrhundert das US-amerikanische Brauchtum um den Weihnachtsmann Santa Claus entwickelt, die heute weltweit dominierende, merkantil bestimmte Rezeption des heiligen Nikolaus.
In mittelalterlichen Klosterschulen gab es den Brauch, dass die Kinder sich am Nikolaustag einen „Kinderbischof“ aus ihren Reihen wählen durften. Nach dem Prinzip der „verkehrten Welt“ predigte er den Erwachsenen und durfte ihr Verhalten tadeln. An einigen Orten blieb er bis zum 28. Dezember, dem Tag der unschuldigen Kinder, im „Amt“.
„Schiffchensetzen“ nennt man den seit dem 15. Jahrhundert bekannten Brauch, aus Papier oder anderem Material Nikolausschiffe zu basteln, in die der Heilige seine Gaben legen soll. Hintergrund für diesen Brauch dürfte das Schifferpatronat sein. Auch heute noch befindet sich auf vielen Handelsschiffen ein Bildnis des heiligen Nikolaus. Das Nikolausschiffchen wurde später durch Stiefel, Schuh oder Strumpf abgelöst, zu denen später noch der Gabenteller kam. Im Salzburger Land gab es dafür den Nikolausgarten. Kinder stellen am Vorabend des Nikolaustages Schuhe, Stiefel oder Teller vor die Tür oder hängen Strümpfe vor den Kamin, damit der Heilige sie auf seinem Weg durch die Nacht mit Nüssen, Mandarinen, Schokolade, Lebkuchen usw. füllen kann. Außerdem gibt es morgens oft ein aus Hefeteig gebackenes Gebildbrot.
In vielen Erzählvarianten beschenkt und lobt der heilige Nikolaus die guten Kinder, während er die bösen tadelt und durch Schläge mit einer Birkenrute bestraft. Welche Kinder im letzten Jahr gut und welche böse waren, liest er in seinem „goldenen Buch“. Viele Eltern laden einen ehrenamtlichen oder bezahlten Nikolaus ein, den Kindern zu Hause eine derartige „Predigt“ zu halten, die jedoch stets mit einer Bescherung endet.
In Luxemburg gibt es bis heute üblicherweise Geschenke zum 6. Dezember und weniger zu Weihnachten.“
Donnerstag, den 21. November
This Improvers class runs from 7:30 to 9 pm again in January on Thursdays.
What can you do between the end of this course and January if you wish to continue?
Find some music and listen to songs in German. Of course, there are always Schlager, but sometimes there are some singers/bands who sing well in German!
This news is intended for German native-speaking kids, so it is quite complex in context, but simpler constructions are used.
Another from ZDF for kids.
Try reading some texts
We will have a look at the well-known story (a small edited section)
There is a whole version in English here in German here or here
At least three major events are coming up in the German Speaking World, so we will begin tonight by looking at the 6th December (night of December 5th into December 6th)
Donnerstag, den 14. November
We have looked at all everyday tenses you would need to understand, but of course, you'll need to practise these and probably look at them several times before they are thoroughly embedded.
Tonight, we have just two classes remaining...
This song (remember, songs are an excellent way to get German intonation, pronunciation, etc, embedded in your mind) has a lot of tense use. (In particular - Perfect and Present).
Donnerstag, den 7. November
Martinstag - den 11. November - Not a remembrance day in Germany. There is a Remembrance Day, however, for the victims of National Socialism in Germany on January 27th.
Martinstag - Church explanation
Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin,
Sankt Martin ritt durch Schnee und Wind,
Sein Ross, das trug ihn fort geschwind.
Sankt Martin ritt mit leichtem Mut:
Sein Mantel deckt' ihn warm und gut.
Im Schnee saß, im Schnee saß
Im Schnee da saß ein armer Mann
hat' Kleider nicht, hat' Lumpen an.
„O helft mir doch in meiner Not,
sonst ist der bittere Frost mein Tod!“
Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin,
Sankt Martin zog die Zügel an,
Sein Ross stand still beim armen Mann
Sankt Martin mit dem Schwerte
Teilt' den warmen Mantel unverweilt.
Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin,
Sankt Martin gab den halben still,
der Bettler rasch ihm danken will.
Sankt Martin aber ritt in Eil'
hinweg mit seinem Mantelteil.
Grammatik
You should now be able to manipulate verbs into the past, present, and future. It would also be useful to be able to use the conditional tense.
This tense forms much like the future tense with the verb „werden“ in its subjunctive form; the other verb is in the infinitive form and, like all others, goes to the end...
ich würde – I would
du würdest – you would
er würde – he would
sie würde – she would
wir würden – we would
ihr würdet – you (pl.) would
Sie würden – you (form.) would
sie würden – they would
Ich würde Pralinen kaufen, aber ich bin Pleite!
Du würdest mindesten Käse essen, wenn es kein Schinken essen zu essen gibt.
etc...
If you were to say could and should instead of would, you would use the subjunctive forms of „können“ and „sollen“.
ich könnte – I could
ich sollte – I should
du könntest – you could
du solltest – you should
er/sie/es/man könnte – he/she/it could
er/sie/es/man sollte – he/she/it/one should
wir könnten – we could
wir sollten – they should
ihr könntet – you could
ihr solltet – you should
Sie könnten – you could
Sie sollten – you should
sie könnten – they could
sie sollten – they should
Ich könnte Cola trinken, wenn es kein Zucker darin hat.
Ich sollte kein Bier trinken, der Arzt hat mir „Nein“ gesagt.
Donnerstag, den 24. Oktober
As Halloween is next week, I thought we would look at some aspects of Halloween in Germany tonight. Halloween Witz PPT Schloss Frankenstein
Remember to work on your daily routine. You ought now to be able to talk about things you do daily in German's present, perfect, imperfect, and future tense.
Schloss Frankenstein
Donnerstag, den 17. Oktober
You are currently working on producing a daily routine for a day that has happened in the past. After today, you should be able to talk about a day in the future and how it will be.
First: A reminder of what we covered last week.
The Preterite in German...
Last week, we looked at the preterite, which is often used in spoken German but less so now than it used to be.
The regular formation mainly adds a 't' or 'e' after the stem, sometimes with one or two extra letters.
Here is a regular example (As written on the board on October 10th). The difference between the present tense and preterite is highlighted below:
ich kaufte
du kauftest
er kaufte
es kaufte
sie kaufte
man kaufte
wir kauften
ihr kauftet
Sie kauften
sie kauften
Firstly today, we will look at how the future tense is formed in German.
You use the verb „werden“ as the auxiliary verb, and the other verb is simply in its infinitive form.
The verb „werden“ means to become.
ich werde ... kaufen
du wirst ... kaufen
er wird ... kaufen
es wird ... kaufen
sie wird ... kaufen
wir werden ... kaufen
ihr werdet ... kaufen
Sie werden ... kaufen
sie werden ... kaufen
Alternative ways of expressing a future idea...
These verbs follow exactly the same pattern as werden + infinitive.
ich will... + Infinitiv – I want to... + infinitive
ich möchte... + Infinitiv – I would like to... + infinitive
ich würde gern... + Infinitiv – I would like to... + infinitive
The following verbs follow a very similar pattern, but need the word zu before the infinitive at the end.
ich plane,... + zu Infinitiv – I plan to + infinitive...
ich hoffe,... + zu Infinitiv – I hope to + infinitive...
ich habe vor,... + zu Infinitiv – I intend to + infinitive...
ich habe Lust,... + zu Infinitiv – I want to + infinitive...
Future Example of a routine day...
Das Leben... S 77 78 Titel 2.08
Zum lachen
Donnerstag, den 10. Oktober
N.B. Rot Weiss = (Ketchup & Mayonnaise)
German Word Order:
What do we now know about German word order?
TMP rule - Time, Manner, Place.
What is the usual place for the verb in a sentence... What about other verbs you may have in a sentence?
What about when you put in words like „weil“, „daß“, „wenn“, and „obwohl“?
OR what about „oder“, „denn“, „und“, and „aber“?
See below „Rhababerbarbara“ Rappers for a more exhaustive list.
You have had a model daily routine in the Present and mainly in the Perfect tense (with a few in the Preterite).
You may have/or now may be working on producing your versions of these texts.
We should work more on the formation of the Perfect Tense in German...
In General Terms:
The German perfect tense describes completed actions in the past.
It is the most common past tense in spoken German, emails, and letters.
Here are some examples of the perfect tense in German:
„Ich habe gestern Deutsch gelernt“: - "I learned German yesterday".
„Sie ist gestern nach Berlin gefahren“: - "She went to Berlin yesterday".
„Ich habe mich gewaschen“: - "I washed myself".
„Ich habe einen Kuchen gebacken“: - "I baked a cake".
As a rule of thumb...
To form the perfect tense, use the auxiliary verb “haben” or “sein” in the present tense, followed by the past participle of the main verb. The rule for deciding whether to use “haben” or “sein” is that “sein” is used if there is movement from one place to another (or spiritually), and “haben” is used if there is not.
There is also another tense known as the Imperfect Tense/Simple Past or Preterite...
Over time, this tense has been used less and less in spoken and informal German written in more modern texts...
A rule of thumb...
In German, the imperfect tense is used to describe past events that are ongoing or repeated, while the perfect tense is used to describe completed past actions:
Imperfect tense (Preterite/Simple Past)
Used to describe past events that are ongoing or repeated, such as habits or states that are firmly in the past. For example, „Als ich Kind war, gab es noch viele Wölfe“. - "When I was a child, there were (used to be) still many wolves."
The imperfect tense is mainly used in formal or written German.
Perfect tense
Used to describe completed past actions, especially when the action continues to resonate in the present. For example, „Wir sind gestern nach Berlin gefahren“ - . The perfect tense is mainly used in spoken or informal German.
The imperfect tense is similar to the simple past in English. It's formed by using only one verb and placing it in second place in the sentence—notes from the Open University.
Example of a regular verb that conjugates with „sein“
The key takeaway is this:
Using the English verb "to slip." (to slide is irregular!) slip is slightly irregular in English by adding an extra 'p' in the past participle...
Present Tense English Perfect Tense in English
I slip have slipped
you (inf.) slip have slipped
he/it slips has slipped
it slips has slipped
she/it slips has slipped
one slips has slipped
we slip have slipped
you (pl. inf.) slip have slipped
you (form.) slip have slipped
they slip have slipped
In German, we remove "en" from the end of the verb infinitive to get the verb stem.
In German, the regular pattern is to add "ge" to the front verb stem and „t“ to the end of the verb stem.
Most verbs use „haben“ as the auxiliary; however, verbs of motion are usually conjugated with „sein.”
Using the German verb „rutschen“ as our example. (virtually all have irregular past participles)
Present Tense in German Perfect Tense in German
ich rutsche bin gerutscht
du rutschst bist gerutscht
er rutscht ist gerutscht
es rutscht ist gerutscht
sie rutscht ist gerutscht
man rutscht ist gerutscht
wir rutschen sind gerutscht
ihr rutscht seid gerutscht
Sie rutschen sind gerutscht
sie rutschen sind gerutscht
This PDF is a list of German Irregular verbs and their conjugation. It is a useful tool for checking the formation. So many of the verbs that conjugate with sein have irregular past participles...
From Das Leben A1 - There are a few exercises to reinforce the theme of daily routine. Seite 73 is the beginning of the chapter. Kapitel 5
Ein Terminproblem Seite 72.
For those of you who have the books, self-study could include pages 76-80, plus, of course, working on producing your daily routine and a typical day in the recent past.
Sonstiges:
Oktoberfest Vokabelbau
Vokabeln - Im Herbst
Eine Quatschgeschichte - Deutsche Sprache schwere Sprache
Donnerstag, den 3. Oktober
Today, we will revise phrases from daily routine in the present tense and examine a day that has happened in the past. We will use the text from last week and alter it very slightly to be about yesterday...
List of regular German Verbs and a reminder of the Present Tense Formation
We will begin today by looking at regular verbs in German using „haben“ as the auxiliary (the equivalent of (I have ......ed in English). Depending on how we fare with the first stage, we may look into those which use „sein“ instead.
In English, we use the simple past more often, whereas in German, we use the Perfect Tense. This is usually the same for regular verbs as the Perfect Tense without the need for 'have'.
As both "to play" and „spielen“ are regular verbs, let's use those as our examples.
In English, to get the verb stem, we drop the use of the word "to".
In English, the regular pattern is to add "-ed" to the verb stem.
e.g "play" >>>> "played"
The key takeaway is this:
Using the English verb "to play."
Present Tense English Perfect Tense in English
I play have played
you (inf.) play have played
he/it plays has played
it plays has played
she/it plays has played
one plays has played
we play have played
you (pl. inf.) play have played
you (form.) play have played
they play have played
In German, we remove "en" from the end of the verb infinitive to get the verb stem.
In German, the regular pattern is to add "ge" to the front verb stem and „t“ to the end of the verb stem. Most verbs use „haben“ as the auxiliary.
Using the German verb „spielen“ as our example.
Present Tense in German Perfect Tense in German
ich spiele habe gespielt
du spielst hast gespielt
er spielt hat gespielt
es spielt hat gespielt
sie spielt hat gespielt
man spielt hat gespielt
wir spielen haben gespielt
ihr spielt habt gespielt
Sie spielen haben gespielt
sie spielen haben gespielt
Using „spielen“ as your model, can you do the same with „wohnen“, „flüstern,“ and „kochen“?
If you really want to drill the verbs into your brain, you could get this book!
Ein Quatschlied - Schlagerstyl
Donnerstag, den 26. September
With most of us wanting to improve from a not-that-high level, I will mainly stick to the A1 book and add some ideas to build the levels up where appropriate.
An ideal theme to start with is time and daily routine, which can be added to once different tenses have been introduced; these phrases can then be manipulated to change their tense.
E.g.
Usually, I get up at 8:00, but yesterday, I got up at 6:30; tomorrow, I will get up at 9:00. When I was a child, I used to get up at 7:00 etc...
Today - Time - die Uhrzeit
Mein Tagesablauf - Basic daily routine in the present tense. PPT Vocabulary
Revision of How to tell the time in German...
Daily Routine German
In slow German
Donnerstag, den 19. September
In the first lesson, we will look at what motivates you to improve your German, why you have signed up and what you are looking to get from the class (so I can best prepare for the next 9 weeks!) It is also how we can get to know each other.
It would be helpful to consider a few general themes and topics you would like to study.
In particular, please provide any grammatical features you feel you need to improve on. I will otherwise choose various topics and items from the German-speaking internet and news and possibly from one or two course books I have at my disposal.
Auf den ersten Blick
Einfach mal ausprobieren, etwas zur Sprache bringen, aus vollem Herz lachen, sich Zeit nehmen, sich grün und blau ärgern*, sich gemeinsam errinern, eine Lösung finden, Wünsche erfüllen...
Wie ist dein/Ihr Name?
Wie lange lernst du/lernen Sie schon Deutsch?
Woher kommst du/kommen Sie?
Warum machst du/machen Sie den Kurs?
Wofür nimmst du Dir regelmäßig Zeit?
* to get very annoyed (to be hopping mad)
We have two coursebooks available at the college, and I also have a few other coursebooks at my disposal to choose the odd theme.
To see how it goes at A2 we will look at arranging a school reunion...
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The above is the original and not so much watched as a much more recent rap below by some German Comedians.
Subordinating conjunctions in German send the verb to the end of a clause:
Als: When (with past tenses)
Bevor: Before
Daß: That
Nachdem: After, afterwards
Ob: Whether, if
Obwohl: Although
Weil: Because
Wenn: When (with present tense), if
Nachher: After, afterwards
Seitdem: Since
So dass: So that
Während: While
Warum: Why
So lange: As long as
Subordinating conjunctions are joining words that link two clauses into one. They can make German sentences more complex.
In contrast, coordinating conjunctions, such as "und", "aber", "denn", or "oder", do not change the word order.
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