Rocket German 6 Day Course! -
Introductions Explained (text lesson)

If you’re going to understand the answer, though, you’ll need to be familiar with the German alphabet … which could be tricky at this stage in your learning! So it might just be easier for now to ask,

Or, you may need to say,

Most people will be happy to clarify what they said for you, so never feel embarrassed about asking!

May I introduce…?

Here’s the conversation that you learned last lesson. A friend has just introduced me and Nik, telling her, “Darf ich Paul vorstellen?.” May I introduce Paul. After shaking hands I said...

» German Conversation

This conversation is full of great questions that you’re sure to encounter if you do any traveling to a German-speaking country. Here is the conversation a second time, except in English.

» English Translation

What’s Your Name?

There are several ways to ask someone’s name is German. The simplest is: Wie heißt du? What’s your name? Many beginning students make the mistake of thinking that this is a direct translation of the question in English. It’s not! This question actually means: Wie heißt du? How are you called?

This sort of thing happens in German a lot. To convey the English meaning of a question, you’ll have to express it in a way that will seem unnatural at first. (Some people think of it as the difference between modern English and Shakespearean English!) But don’t worry… with practice, the German way of saying something will soon become so natural that you won’t be able to remember a time when it seemed strange.

Do you remember the explanation in the second part of this course about formal and informal modes of address, such as Wie geht es? versus Wie geht es Ihnen? Well, the same difference applies to the question for asking someone’s name.

To answer this question, you will say,

Looking back at the conversation you learned earlier, here’s what it will look like.

Where are You From?

Remember how I said that in German, words have to be juggled around a bit? The question, “Where are you from?” is one of those cases. In German, you’ll actually ask:

The word “wo” means where, while “her” means from. If you can memorize this question, you’ll also be able to ask two other enormously useful questions.

For example, someone may tell you, “Look at that bird!” You can respond, “Wo?” Where?

Kommst du translates as do you come. I guess that’s not too hard too remember. Don’t you think these German words sound quite similar to the English words? The question, “Where are you from?” can be asked in two different ways: one formal, one informal.

Your answer will start…

If you’re traveling abroad, your answer will probably look something like this:

If someone closer to home is asking you the question, they probably want to know what city or state you’re from. You can say something like…

How Much German do You Know?

In an ideal situation, you’ll be speaking German so well by this point that your German-speaking conversation partner will think you’re fluent. Hopefully, you’ll hear this comment:

Of course you do!… Don’t you?

If you don’t think you speak German very well, or if you want to make sure that the person doesn’t assume that you know more than you do, you can use one of these useful phrases:

If, on the other hand, your conversation partner doesn’t tell you that you speak German very well—in fact, you may find that you simply can’t understand what your conversation partner is saying—here are a few useful phrases to have on hand.

By the way, did you notice that the word for German is deutsch? It is very similar to the word for the country of Germany, which is Deutschland. The word for English is englisch.

Das war’s!

Well, that’s it for today’s lesson. In your next email, you’ll receive the final audio lesson for this course. You’ll learn how to say what you want, would like or need, which is very useful when you feel like having a cup of coffee.

Until next time!, Bis bald.

Paul Weber
Rocket German

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