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# 2.2 Useful expressions

Here are some useful expressions for you to understand when reading about the German language.

- Vokabeln

- DeutschGerman

- Hochdeutschstandard German

- DeutscheGermans

- Land, ländercountry, countries

- Staat, staatenstate, states

- Sprachelanguage

- Muttersprachemother tongue

- Minderheitenspracheminority language

- Landessprachenational language

- offizielle Spracheofficial language

- sprechen, sprichtspeak, speaks

## Übung 10

Look at the extracts below to learn more about places where German is spoken. You will probably not understand all of it yet, but keep a look out for the countries mentioned in each paragraph. You may like to make some notes.

Bitte markieren Sie.

### Discussion

Translating some sentences, these are the countries mentioned in each text.

1. Germany, (the German part of) Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein

2. more than 60 countries where German is a minority language

3. Germany, Austria, Denmark, Italy, France

4. Germany, Namibia

5. Poland, Russia, Romania

6. places in the USA, Canada, (Southern) Brazil

7. Australia

## Übung 11

Now go through the extracts again. Even without understanding much German, can you guess what kind of information is given in each of them? Read the English summaries below and decide which one represents each of the German extracts.

Bitte ordnen Sie zu.

Extract 1

German is the national language in a number of European countries.

Extract 2

There are also countries all over the world where German is spoken as a minority language.

Extract 5

Many Germans left their home, for example for religious reasons, and went to live in Eastern Europe.

Extract 6

Germans also went overseas. For example, you can find a large number of Mennonites in both North and South America.

Extract 7

German emigration to Australia concentrated in the Barossa Valley, a famous wine-growing area which attracts many tourists.

Extract 4

Germany used to have some colonies, where German is still spoken today.

Extract 3

German is also spoken by some of the people who live in regions that share a border with Germany.

Using the following two lists, match each numbered item with the correct letter.

1. Extract 1

2. Extract 2

3. Extract 5

4. Extract 6

5. Extract 7

6. Extract 4

7. Extract 3

1. 1

   German is the national language in a number of European countries.

2. 2

   There are also countries all over the world where German is spoken as a minority language.

3. 3

   Many Germans left their home, for example for religious reasons, and went to live in Eastern Europe.

4. 4

   Germans also went overseas. For example, you can find a large number of Mennonites in both North and South America.

5. 5

   German emigration to Australia concentrated in the Barossa Valley, a famous wine-growing area which attracts many tourists.

6. 6

   Germany used to have some colonies, where German is still spoken today.

7. 7

   German is also spoken by some of the people who live in regions that share a border with Germany.

The correct answers are:

- 1 =
- 2 =
- 3 =
- 4 =
- 5 =
- 6 =
- 7 =

### Discussion

If you found the correct English extracts for some or all of the texts, you will have understood the most important information given. When reading in a foreign language it's important not to be scared by the number of new words and structures that are being used, but to concentrate on what you can understand.

## Übung 12

The following audio clip contains five short dialogues in which people talk about their origins. Listen and read the sentences below. They each contain one error. Rewrite the sentences correctly.

Hören Sie und korrigieren Sie die Sätze.

- Vokabeln
- Herr Mr
- FrauMrs, Miss, Ms
- meine Familiemy family
- meine Muttermy mother

This browser does not support audio playback.

Übung 12
Transcript

- 1. Marcos Schneider kommt aus Deutschland.

(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)

- 2(a). Frau Lahn kommt aus Hahndorf. Das ist in Namibia.

(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)

- 2(b). Frau Lahns Familie kommt aus Österreich.

(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)

- 3. Frau Lengenfelder kommt aus der Schweiz.

(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)

- 4. Herr Söder kommt aus Norddeutschland.

(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)

- 5. Frau Schweigert kommt aus Kanada.

(A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)

### Answer

Here are the corrected versions of the sentences:

- 1. Marcos Schneider kommt aus Brasilien.

- 2(a). Frau Lahn kommt aus Hahndorf. Das ist in Australien.

- 2(b). Frau Lahns Familie kommt aus Deutschland.

- 3. Frau Lengenfelder kommt aus Russland.

- 4. Herr Söder kommt aus Dänemark.

- 5. Frau Schweigert kommt aus Kasachstan.

In the dialogues the question word woher was used several times. It means ‘where from’.

◄Contents►Next: 2.3 Personal pronouns

OpenLearn - Beginners' German: Places and people
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