Archive for April, 2009
Bundes… Words Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 29, 2009
We’re gonna take a look at some German words that begin with Bundes-. A lot of words have to do with politics and government. See if you can guess what they are in English without looking them up. You can post the answers in the comment section. der Bundeskanzler : also known as the head…
German Fairy Tales Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 27, 2009
One of the best ways to get a hold of the German language is to read fairy tales in German. You know what’s going to happen, so I’ll give you some idea of whether you’re comprehension in German is on the right track. Here are some fairy tales in German: (Rumpelstilzchen) : Rumpelstiltskin (Schneewittchen)…
German Greetings Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 26, 2009
We’re going to learn Grüße und Nettigkeiten or greetings and courtesies. These greetings are a great way to start a conversation in German Chances are you’ve probably heard this before, countless times: (Guten Tag) hello (Grüß Gott) also means hello, but it’s more common in southern Germany (Grüß dich) Hello in an informal way. One…
German R and Diphthongs Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 25, 2009
Time for the German Rs! Post vocalic r : does not sound like an English r. The syllable with the post vocalic r is pronounced slightly longer than the syllable without the r. To make this sound, spread your lips slightly apart. Words that contain this r : (der Herr) Mr., (hier) here Pre vocalic…
German Consonants Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 24, 2009
Letters b, d, g, p, t, k are pretty much the same as English, but there are exceptions. When b, d, g is at the end of the syllable it changes to p, t, k respectively. b to p: (abheben) is pronounced as apheben d to t: (sind) is pronounced as sint g to k…
German Vowels Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 23, 2009
We’re going to take a look at the short vowels first, and then go straight to the long vowels. The German word that contains these vowel will be in parentheses and the English translation of the word will follow. The German language does not mark the difference between long and short vowels with adequate punctuation…
Typing German Characters Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 22, 2009
Have you ever wondered how to type German characters on an English language keyboard? I have a PC and this is how I do it: 1) Go to control panel 2) Under Clock, Language, Region click on change keyboards 3) Go to keyboards and languages 4) Go to general 5) Click add 6) Click on…