Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Fun and Easy German by GermanPod101.com!
Do you know how to describe where you're from in German? You're about to learn this and much more, so keep watching!
Hallo, ich bin Anja!
Hi everyone! I’m Anja.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself and more in German.
No matter where you are in the world, you will always meet people who are interested in hearing your story. This is why learning how to ask and answer typical questions in German, like who are you and where you’re from, is essential for conversing with German-speaking people.
In this video, we’ll teach you how to ask and answer the following questions (and more) in German:
"What’s your name?," "How old are you?," ''Where are you from?," "How’s the family?," "What are you doing here?," "What do you like to do?," "What do you do for a living?," and "Why are you learning German?"
Let’s start with the question, "Who are you?"
In German, "Who are you?" is
Wer bist du?
[SLOW] Wer bist du?
Wer bist du?
It’s not a very common question, so you probably won’t have to use it that much. Instead, you’ll likely ask,
Wie heißt du?
"What’s your name?"
[SLOW] Wie heißt du?
Wie heißt du?
To answer this question, or to introduce yourself, you can say, for example,
Ich heisse Anja.
"My name is Anja."
[SLOW] Ich heisse Anja.
Ich heisse Anja.
And of course, you’ll need to replace Anja with your own name.
Similarly, you can also just say,
Ich bin Anja.
"I’m Anja."
[SLOW] Ich bin Anja.
Ich bin Anja.
and again replace my name with your own.
If you want to ask about someone’s age, you can say:
Wie alt bist du?
"How old are you?"
[SLOW] Wie alt bist du?
Wie alt bist du?
To answer this question, replace twenty-six, or sechsundzwanzig, with your age and say,
Ich bin sechsundzwanzig Jahre alt.
"I’m twenty-six years old."
[SLOW] Ich bin sechsundzwanzig Jahre alt.
Ich bin sechsundzwanzig Jahre alt.
A question that often follows the previous one is, "Where are you from?".
In German, to say "Where are you from?," you say,
Woher kommst du?
[SLOW] Woher kommst du?
Woher kommst du?
There are two common ways to answer this:
Ich komme aus Russland.
"I come from Russia."
[SLOW] Ich komme aus Russland.
Ich komme aus Russland.
and
Ich bin Amerikaner.
"I’m an American."
[SLOW] Ich bin Amerikaner.
Ich bin Amerikaner.
If your home country is already known, however, you may be asked a question like,
Welche Stadt in Spanien?
"Which city in Spain?"
[SLOW] Welche Stadt in Spanien?
Welche Stadt in Spanien?
You can then answer the question by stating the city your from followed by Warst du schon da?, "Have you been there?"
For example,
Bilbao. Warst du schon da?
"Bilbao. Have you been there?"
[SLOW] Bilbao. Warst du schon da?
Bilbao. Warst du schon da?
And that’s where the conversation can get started.
If you happened to move to a different city or country, it may be helpful to know the verb
wohnen
meaning "to live in."
[SLOW] wohnen
wohnen
For example, if you live in Munich, you can say,
Jetzt wohne ich in München.
"I live in Munich now."
[SLOW] Jetzt wohne ich in München.
Jetzt wohne ich in München.
Now we’ll learn how to ask about the family.
It’s common in Germany for one of the first questions someone you’ve just met would ask you to be:
Hast du Geschwister?
"Do you have siblings?"
[SLOW] Hast du Geschwister?
Hast du Geschwister?
And a possible answer is:
Ja, ich habe einen Bruder und zwei Schwestern.
"Yes, I have a brother and two sisters."
[SLOW] Ja, ich habe einen Bruder und zwei Schwestern.
Ja, ich habe einen Bruder und zwei Schwestern.
You may also want to talk about your family members as well. You can say, for example,
Meine Mutter ist Juristin.
"My mother is a lawyer."
[SLOW] Meine Mutter ist Juristin.
Meine Mutter ist Juristin.
or
Meine Schwester wohnt in Ungarn.
"My sister lives in Hungary."
[SLOW] Meine Schwester wohnt in Ungarn.
Meine Schwester wohnt in Ungarn.
Next, let’s learn how to say, "What are you doing here?"
When translated into German, "What are you doing here?" is
Was machst du hier?
[SLOW] Was machst du hier?
Was machst du hier?
If you’re a traveler, a good idea is to share the length of your stay in that city, and ask for some recommendations.
You can say,
Ich bin hier im Urlaub.
which means "I’m here on vacation."
[SLOW] Ich bin hier im Urlaub.
Ich bin hier im Urlaub.
And then say something like,
Ich bin nur für ein paar Tage hier.
"I’m just here for a couple of days."
[SLOW] Ich bin nur für ein paar Tage hier.
Ich bin nur für ein paar Tage hier.
And remember, as you’re being asked different things, you can always kindly return the question by saying,
Und du?
"And you?"
[SLOW] Und du?
Und du?
To then ask for recommendations, you can say,
Was soll ich hier sehen?
"What should I see here?
[SLOW] Was soll ich hier sehen?
Was soll ich hier sehen?
As an alternative, you could mention the name of the city by asking something like,
Was soll ich in Hamburg sehen?
"What should I see in Hamburg?"
[SLOW] Was soll ich in Hamburg sehen?
Was soll ich in Hamburg sehen?
This is a great way to keep the conversation going and maybe even find out about some cool local spots.
If you feel like sharing your profession in German, the following questions will surely come in handy.
Firstly, to ask if someone’s a student, you can say,
Bist du ein Student?
"Are you a student?"
[SLOW] Bist du ein Student?
Bist du ein Student?
Actually, if you look very young, Germans might ask you this as well.
An important point to note, however, is that Student, for men, or Studentin for women, in German is used exclusively for university students. Younger students are instead referred to as Schüler, for boys, and Schülerin, for girls.
But there are two more ways of asking if someone’s a student; you can also say,
Studierst du?
"Do you study?"
[SLOW] Studierst du?
Studierst du?
Or if the person seems to be younger:
Gehst du noch zur Schule?
"Are you still attending school?"
[SLOW] Gehst du noch zur Schule?
Gehst du noch zur Schule?
To say "What do you do for a living?" in German, you say,
Was machst du beruflich?
"What do you do for a living?"
[SLOW] Was machst du beruflich?
Was machst du beruflich?
The answer to this question is simple, but there is something you need to be careful about.
Normally, the sentence structure of German is the same as that of English. In particular, you are able to translate word-for-word.
For example,
Ich bin ein Mann.
"I am a man."
[SLOW] Ich bin ein Mann.
Ich bin ein Mann.
But when it comes to occupations, the article ein/eine is dropped entirely. You would therefore say, for example,
Ich bin Schriftsteller.
"I am a writer."
[SLOW] Ich bin Schriftsteller
Ich bin Schriftsteller
Since every job title in German has a male and female version, though, women would instead say,
Ich bin Schriftstellerin.
"I am a writer."
[SLOW] Ich bin Schriftstellerin.
Ich bin Schriftstellerin.
If you don’t want to talk about your position, you can just say the name of your company. In German, we use the preposition bei for saying you work at so-and-so company.
For example,
Ich arbeite bei Google.
I work at Google.
[SLOW] Ich arbeite bei Google.
Ich arbeite bei Google.
Another question you should know how to ask is,
"What do you like to do?"
Was machen Sie gerne?
"What do you like to do?"
[SLOW] Was machen Sie gerne?
Was machen Sie gerne?
If you like to study languages, you can then answer this question with,
Ich lerne gern Sprachen.
"I enjoy learning languages."
[SLOW] Ich lerne gern Sprachen.
Ich lerne gern Sprachen.
Without a doubt, you’ll get people asking about just how far you’ve taken that interest. They might ask,
Wie viele Sprachen sprichst du?
"How many languages do you speak?"
[SLOW] Wie viele Sprachen sprichst du?
Wie viele Sprachen sprichst du?
You can then answer this question with, for example,
Ich spreche Englisch, Polnisch, Arabisch, und ein bisschen Deutsch.
"I speak English, Polish, Arabic, and a little German."
[SLOW] Ich spreche Englisch, Polnisch, Arabisch, und ein bisschen Deutsch.
Ich spreche Englisch, Polnisch, Arabisch, und ein bisschen Deutsch.
You might also hear someone’s language ability described with the verb beherrschen.
Sie beherrscht sechs Sprachen fliessend.
"She speaks six languages fluently."
[SLOW] Sie beherrscht sechs Sprachen fliessend.
Sie beherrscht sechs Sprachen fliessend.
It’s a pretty formal verb, and it implies a great mastery over the languages.
If you have other interests, aside from learning new languages, you could answer with, for example,
Ich besuche Kunstmuseen gern.
"I like going to art museums."
[SLOW] Ich besuche Kunstmuseen gern.
Ich besuche Kunstmuseen gern.
The sentence structure used here is an easy way to describe something that you like to do. Just say what you do —such as, "I go to museums"—and then add the word gern to express that doing so is enjoyable.
Another way to do this is by using the verb mögen, or "to like," combined with the noun form of the activity.
Here’s an example:
Ich mag Photographie.
"I like photography."
[SLOW] Ich mag Photographie.
Ich mag Photographie.
And lastly, something a native speaker will always ask you:
"Why are you learning German?"
Warum lernst du Deutsch?
"Why are you learning German?"
[SLOW] Warum lernst du Deutsch?
Warum lernst du Deutsch?
There are, of course, different reasons as to why you want to learn the German language. In this example, let’s say you’re learning because your family members were ethnically German, or spoke the language at home.
You could then say, for example,
Meine Großmutter kam aus Österreich.
"My grandmother came from Austria."
[SLOW] Meine Großmutter kam aus Österreich.
Meine Großmutter kam aus Österreich.
But what if you’re really just interested in European history, or if you just enjoy traveling around? In that case, you can use a sentence like,
Ich mag die deutsche Kunstgeschichte sehr gern.
"I really like German art history."
[SLOW] Ich mag die deutsche Kunstgeschichte sehr gern.
Ich mag die deutsche Kunstgeschichte sehr gern.
Or it could be that you have a fascination with German music or film.
If you like Johannes Brahms, for example, you could say,
Ich finde die Musik von Brahms absolut atemberaubend.
"I find the music of Brahms absolutely breathtaking."
[SLOW] Ich finde die Musik von Brahms absolut atemberaubend.
Ich finde die Musik von Brahms absolut atemberaubend.
All of these are valid answers!
Many people may also want to know how long you’ve been studying German.
The typical way of asking would be,
Wie lange lernst du schon Deutsch?
"How long have you been learning German?"
[SLOW] Wie lange lernst du schon Deutsch?
Wie lange lernst du schon Deutsch?
You can then answer with, for example,
Ein bisschen mehr als ein Jahr.
"A little more than a year."
[SLOW] Ein bisschen mehr als ein Jahr.
Ein bisschen mehr als ein Jahr.
Although it might sound a bit rude in English, German speakers might then reply with
Dafür sprichst du sehr gut!
"Then you already speak very well!"
[SLOW] Dafür sprichst du sehr gut!
Dafür sprichst du sehr gut!
Try to remember that this is just a compliment, and it is usually not seen as rude by Germans.
And that’s it!
You now know enough to confidently introduce yourself in German!
In this lesson, you learned the German translations and proper usage of the questions, "What’s your name?," "How old are you?," "Where are you from?," "How’s the family?," "What are you doing here?," "What do you do for a living?," "What do you like to do?," and "Why are you learning German?"
Want to learn German fast with PDF cheat sheets? You can get cheat sheets for all kinds of topics: travel, hobbies, love, and much more…
…and you'll learn all of the must-know words and phrases for each. Click the link in the lesson description and sign up for a free lifetime account to get them!
That’s it for today! See you next time!
Bis bald wieder!

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