Archive for 'Language'
The Genitive Case: Showing Possession, part 1 Posted by Sandra Rösner on Jun 11, 2012
Most learners of German seem to fall into despair when it comes to the language’s grammar cases. And when I read explanations in grammar books how to construct a German sentence with the correct cases, I can understand your discontent. The problem with grammar and its explanations is that they are just condensed information about…
Get nosy: Information questions in German Posted by Sandra Rösner on Jun 8, 2012
When you learn a new language, you often might feel a bit insecure. You only know a limited number of words and you have only a sketchy understanding of grammar. You point to things and ask “Was ist das?” (vAs ist dAs? – What is that?) or ask “Was bedeutet das?” (vAs be-doy-tuht dAs? –…
The German verb “kommen” Posted by Sandra Rösner on Jun 6, 2012
When you get in contact with strangers you would certainly like to find out more about them. Among other things, you would probably like know where a person does come from. In order to ask someone in German where a person is from you need to know the German verb “kommen” (to come). In order…
Starting a conversation in German Posted by Sandra Rösner on Jun 5, 2012
The best way to learn German, or any other language, is using it in communicative situations, i.e. face-to-face situations. So, do not wait to speak German until you have learned some more grammar, but use every opportunity to speak German to test you newly acquired language skills. Formal Greetings and Salutations German Pronunciation English…
Key: Easy ways to ask questions in German – And how to answer them Posted by Sandra Rösner on May 24, 2012
In my last post I told you how you can form yes/no-questions easily in German. In order to give you the chance to practice your German I gave you an exercise of which I would like to give you the key now. In addition to the correct questions I also provide the positive and negative…
Easy ways to ask questions in German Posted by Sandra Rösner on May 21, 2012
In order to be able to ask questions in German it is not necessary that you know a particular sentence structure for questions. There are several easy ways to start off your question formation. I. Intonation One way of asking questions in German easily is intonation. Just like in English, and probably in many…
German poetry: Spuren im Sand – Footprints in the Sand Posted by Sandra Rösner on May 18, 2012
I have just come across a very nice poem and it made me almost cry because I find it is such a soothing piece of work. Every one of us will sooner or later find him- or herself in a difficult situation where we feel alone, and maybe this poem will let you know that…