Learn German with GermanPod101.com! Well, you made it to Munich after that painfully long night of driving and up ahead in the distance, you see a hotel. Your friend pulls into the hotel and you decide that he will do the talking since he speaks better German. As you approach the German hotel clerk, your friend tells him in German, “Good evening! We need a double room, please.” The clerk, looking annoyed at the interruption, asks in German, “What is your reservation number?” Getting annoyed himself after the long drive and the rudeness of the German clerk, your friend replies in German, “We don’t have a reservation. We have been driving all night and did not know if we could make it in time. Do you not have a free room?” The clerk, still acting rude, answers in German, “Yes, lucky for you (though you are beginning to think maybe not), we are not out of rooms yet. Here is your key, find it yourself.” Trying very hard to hold back because you both are exhausted and need a hot meal, your friend replies in German, “Thank you, we definitely will not need the room more than one night.”
Learning German with GermanPod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn German! This German Beginner lesson will teach you how to say “no” in German. You will also learn to express annoyance and book a hotel room in German. Finally, we will talk about the use of English in Germany. Visit us at GermanPod101 where you will find many more fantastic German lessons and learning materials! Leave us a message while you are there!
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This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Beginner Season 2 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
7 Responses to “Beginner Lesson S2 #38 - How Many Ways Can You Say ‘No’ in German?!”
Monday at 6:30 pm
Tuesday at 7:59 am
You don’t have to have 2 foreign languages for at least 5 years in order to go to university. I was at a Realschule and had 6 years English (from class 5 to 10) and then for the Abitur I had to take Spanish (it was the only other foreign language available) for 3 years. So I had 7 years of English (6 in Realschule and 1 in the Oberstufe) and 3 years of Spanish in total. Not 5 years of Spanish.
I also chose French in class 7 but dropped it easily after that year (I wasn’t very good at it *g*). Instead I took up social studies.
But I guess it is different from school to school and Bundesland to Bundesland. There are only a few schools that offer to start a new language in the Oberstufe.
Wednesday at 8:47 am
Ist es verwirrend, zwei Fremdsprachen zu lernen?
Wir mußten eine Fremdsprache für drei Jahre lernen. Ich studierte Deutsch, und dann mehr Deutsch in der Universität. Spanisch wäre hier nützlich, aber ich wisse es nicht. Alle die Klassen hier glauben, daß man bereits manchmal Spanisch weiß.
(Is it confusing to learn two foreign languages? We had to learn a foreign language for three years. I studied German, and then more German at the University. Spanish would be useful here, but I don’t know it. All the classes here assume that one already knows some Spanish.)
Wednesday at 9:36 am
Vanessa,
ich fand es nicht sehr verwirrend zwei Fremdsprachen zu lernen. Ich habe manchmal Vokabeln verwechselt, aber es war noch im Rahmen. Ein paar meiner Mitschüler, die schon Französisch konnten, empfanden dann Spanisch verwirrend, weil Spanisch und Französisch wohl sehr ähnlich sind.
And some correction for you as well
“Wir mussten eine Fremdsprache für drei Jahre lernen ” -> “wir mussten drei Jahre lang eine Fremdsprache lernen. to use “for …” is a common mistaken (also one situation where Germans make a msitake when they learn English.”
You say the time period (three years) and then lang (long) to indicate this is a timespan. In oder to say “this long and a bit” i.e. “over three years” you add über in front of it: “über drei Jahre lang” (some also say über drei Jahre hinweg which emphazies a bit more of the looong time that has past).
You may also only use “über” although then the listener isn’t sure wether or not you mean “for three years” or “over three years”
I am not sure what you mean with “I studied German”. In School or did you take some classes somewhere else?
“ich studierte Deutsch, und dann mehr Deutsch in der Universität.” This is not a typical German sentence because it doesn’t have enough information for a German listener (see above). Especially you use studieren, which is a word that you use almost exclusivity use for University related learning. Everybody else lernt (learns).
it is also not in der Universität but an der Universität.
“Spanisch wäre hier nützlich, aber ich wisse es nicht. ” Spanisch wäre hier nützlich, aber ich kann es nicht” you do not use wissen in this context. You do not WISSEN a langauge you KÖNNEN it. You also use simply present in the second half just like in English.
“Alle die Klassen hier glauben, daß man bereits manchmal Spanisch weiß.” -> “Hier setzen alle Klassen vorraus, dass man bereits etwas Spanisch kann.”
Assume in this case is voraussetzen. German classes do not glauben. Again “know” is wrongly translated as wissen. It is können. Ich kann Spanish or ich spreche Spanisch. No Ich weiß Spanisch
hopefully that was more useful that confusing.
Thursday at 12:09 pm
Vielen Dank!
Ich lernte Deutsch drei Jahre lang an der Hochschule (oder soll ich “Realschule” oder “Gymnasium” sagen? Es gab keine verschiedenen Schulen.) Ich studierte Deutsch weiter an der Universität.
Thursday at 9:45 pm
Schule reicht, du musst nicht spezifischer werden. (Schule is enough, you don’t have to be more specific)
Hochschule means Fachhochschule or Universität .- something you go to after you have completed school. Gymnasien and Realschulen aren’t Hochschulen.
It would be then in der Schule. In der schule but an der Uni (or Hochschule).
On a side note: a German wouldn’t use simple past. S/he would say: Ich habe Deutsch drei Jahre lang in der Schule studiert. And Ich habe deutsch weiter an der Universität gelernt.
Or if you still learn German at the university even simple present for the second sentence.
Monday at 9:32 pm
Eigentlich bin ich ja nicht so der “Blog-Fan” aber nach deinem Artikel ?berleg ich mir das glaube ich nochmal… Danke!
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