Vocabulary

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Schön, dich kennenzulernen. Nice to meet you.
Sehr erfreut. Nice to meet you.
guten Tag good day
ich I
heiße to be called

Lesson Notes

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Grammar

The focus of this lesson is Self Introduction in German

 

Topic 1: How to Introduce yourself in an informal situation

 

Sentence from the lesson:

'Hallo, ich heiße Laura. Schön, dich kennen zu lernen'
"Hi, I'm Laura. Nice to meet you."

 

  1. Start by saying: Hallo, ich heiße ...
  2. Say your name. Hallo, ich heiße Laura.
  3. You say: Schön, dich kennenzulernen.



Topic 2: How to Introduce yourself in a formal situation

Sentence from the lesson:

'Guten Tag, ich heiße Laura Meier. Schön, Sie kennenzulernen.'
"Good day, I'm Laura Meier. Nice to meet you."

 

  1. Hallo has been substituted with the formal greeting Guten Tag, German for "good day."
  2. Ich heiße Laura has not been changed; ich heiße simply means "I am," however during a formal self introduction we also say our last name, so I said Laura Meier. Here, you would say your full name.
  3. Pay attention to the ending: we went from DICH kennenzulernen to SIE kennenzulernen. What is changing is the German word for "you." In a formal sentence, we use the more polite word Sie.

 

Language Tip!

When you introduce yourself, it's a good habit to shake hands. If you are not sure whether to use schön, dich kennennzulernen or schön, Sie kennenzulernen just say simply sehr erfreut, as I said at the beginning of this lesson. If you use the correct sentence with German people, they're definitely going to be impressed!

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Lesson Transcript

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Welcome to GermanPod101.com’s “Deutsch in 3 Minuten”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn German.
Hallo, ich heiße Laura. Sehr erfreut. Hi, I'm Laura. Nice to meet you.
In this series, we’re going to learn basic German expressions. It’s super easy and it only takes three minutes!
In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to introduce yourself in German. We’ll start speaking right away, but first it is important to clarify that in German there is a difference between the formal and the informal language.
Let’s first see how German people introduce themselves in an *informal* situation.
Hallo, ich heiße Laura. Schön, dich kennen zu lernen. Hi, I’m Laura. Nice to meet you.
[slowly] Hallo, ich heiße Laura. Schön, dich kennenzulernen.
Start by saying: Hallo, ich heiße ... then, say your name. Hallo, ich heiße Laura. Finally, say: Schön, dich kennenzulernen.
Hallo, ich heiße Laura. Schön, dich kennenzulernen.
And now let’s see the same sentence in formal speech,
Guten Tag, ich heiße Laura Meier. Schön, Sie kennenzulernen. Good day, I’m Laura Meier. Nice to meet you.
[slowly] Guten Tag, ich heiße Laura Meier. Schön, Sie kennenzulernen.
So, what has changed from the previous introduction?
Let’s take a close look at these expressions together.
Hallo has been substituted with the formal greeting Guten Tag, German for "good day."
Ich heiße Laura has not been changed; ich heisse simply means "I am," however during a formal self introduction we also say our last name, so I said Laura Meier. Here, you would say your full name.
Finally, pay attention to the ending: we went from DICH kennenzulernen to SIE kennenzulernen. What is changing is the German word for “you.” In a formal sentence, we use the more polite word “Sie.”
One more time: The informal way to introduce yourself in German is Hallo, ich heiße Laura. Schön, dich kennenzulernen. The formal way to introduce yourself is Guten Tag, ich heiße Laura Meier. Schön, Sie kennenzulernen.
Now it’s time for Laura’s Insights.
When you introduce yourself, it's a good habit to shake hands. If you are not sure whether to use schön, dich kennennzulernen or schön, Sie kennenzulernen just say simply sehr erfreut, as I said at the beginning of this lesson.
If you use the correct sentence with German people, they’re definitely going to be impressed!
That’s it for this lesson! Do you know how we say “thank you” in German? You’ll learn how to say this and many other words in the next lesson. Bis bald zur nächsten Lektion!
See you then!
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