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Getting started with German 1
Getting started with German 1

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9 Summary of Week 1

At the end of each week we’ll suggest activities you may do to consolidate what you’ve been learning, before you progress to the next week. Remember that you’ll build your language skills little by little and it’s very important for you to keep returning to vocabulary and structures you’ve been learning, as well as adding new ones.

Without checking back, can you remember a formal and an informal way to say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’? How would you greet somebody in Northern Germany, what greetings are commonly used in Austria or Switzerland?

You may have answered these questions with ease, but how quickly will you remember the answers in two or three weeks’ time? Now is the time to get organised and start formalising the way you develop your language skills.

Building a language notebook

This is something you can develop week by week, which is entirely personal to you. You may find that you want to change the way you go about it as the weeks progress; don’t worry if that happens. The important thing is that you find a way to note down, each week, new vocabulary and expressions, and also tips about pronunciation, grammar, culture and communication in general that will support you as you start to learn German.

How will you do this? Whether you keep your notes on paper or digitally, it’s important to get organised, so here is an idea that may help, based on your Week 1 studies.

Table 5 Language notebook
Key phrases
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Pronunciation
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Culture
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Language
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Words: 0
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What would you write into each box, if anything? Would you add more boxes?

Discussion

Here’s a suggestion for how you could fill in our boxes:

Table 6 Example of a language notebook for Week 1
Key phrases

Hello: Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Grüß Gott, Gruezi, Hallo, Guten Abend;

Goodbye: Auf Wiedersehen; Tschüs

Mein Name ist…

Ich komme aus… Er/sie kommt aus…

Pronunciation

numbers,

remember these sounds:

  • ei => eins, zwei, drei;
  • ie => sieben
Culture

different greetings used in different regions;

  • informal greetings ( Hallo, Servus,) used with family and friends and young people.
  • Use more formal greetings (Guten Morgen, Guten Tag) in formal situations.
Language

Verb forms:

  • Ich komme (I come)
  • Er kommt (he comes)/ sie kommt (she comes)

You may have filled the boxes in differently, or you may have a different idea about how to build on what you’re learning. Your learning journey is personal, so you need to keep notes in a way that is appropriate to you.

Take some time, now, to establish your own personal language notebook.

You have come to the end of Week 1! Sehr gut!(Very good!)

Next week you’ll be learning more about places in German speaking countries and how to introduce yourself and others. You will also be working more on your pronunciation skills. Before moving on, though, reflect a little on what you’ve been learning. In the box below, note down what you’ve found easy, useful or fun, and what was more difficult:

Week 1 Reflection

What was easy, useful or fun this week?

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What was more difficult?

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