Foreign Service Institute German Basic Course
Unit 2: Part 1
In München
Basic Sentences [mp3 2.1]
I II III IV V VI |
I II III IV V VI |
Bei der Passkontrolle und beim Zoll
VII VIII |
VII VIII |
*End of mp3 2.1*
Changes since the 1960's : Gnädige Frau might have been considered polite 50 years ago in diplomatic circles but it is very old-fashioned today. Dame is very formal in Germany, but still commonly used in Austria.
Austrian German: Da means something nearby and dort is
something very far away in Austrian German. It's really a matter of feeling
but even in Austria they are becoming more and more interchangeable everyday.
However, there are examples where dort instead of da would sound odd:
If you want to call Thomas, but his mother answers the phone you would
ask: Ist Thomas da? (meaning "at home", near the mother).
Da can create confusion if Austrians and Germans talk
to each other. In Austria it almost always means the same
as hier (here) while in Germany da has the notion of either being present,
having arrived (Ist Herr Müller schon da?) or it refers to a place
which is somewhere else (i.e. synonomous to dort). It can also be used
to refer to a point in the past (da habe ich mich sehr gefreut). So,
apart from the latter use, if a German speaks to you, you can safely
translate da to there, while if it's an Austrian you probably have to
translate it to here.
[Thanks to kflavin84 & chrismes for some of these updates!]
Notes on Pronunciation [mp3 2.2]
A. Long and short vowels
Practice 1:
| ihn - in bieten - bitten Lied - litt mieten - mitten |
Beet - Bett beten - Betten den - denn Sehne - Senne |
Staat - Stadt wate - Watte Wahn - wann bahne - banne |
bog - Bock wohne - Wonne lohte - Lotte Ofen - offen |
| Mus - muss Pute - Putte bucht - Bucht Muhme - Mumme |
König - können Höhle - Hölle böge - Böcke Goethe - Götter |
Hüte - Hütte fühle - fülle müder - Mütter Lüge - Lücke |
B. Diphthongs
Ask your instructor to say German Wein, then say English "wine“. Notice that the duration of the German vowel combination is considerably shorter than the English.
Practice 2:
| mein Wein nein leider |
Haus Maus auch glaube |
neu neun deutsch Leute |
C. Post-vocalic r
Post-vocalic r in German has a vowel-like sound. It does not sound like the English r. Listen carefully to the following pairs of words and imitate them to the satisfaction of your instructor.
Practice 3:
| diese - dieser eine - einer Liebe - lieber Ode - oder |
Miete - Mieter Alte - Alter bitte - bitter welche - welcher |
älter - Eltern Vetter - Vettern Kinder - Kindern |
Gästen - gestern locken - lockern fetten - Vettern |
Note that the syllable with post-vocalic r is in every case slightly longer than the syllable without it. If you watch your instructor's lips carefully you may also see that they are slightly farther apart, his mouth slightly more open on this syllable.
Now practice the following groups, first the long vowels and then the pairs of long and short vowels with post-vocalic r, and finally the vowels followed by r and a consonant.
Practice 4:
hier Hark |
sehr dort |
Uhr Herrn |
Ohr Furt |
her - Herr Wirt |
D. Pre-vocalic r (voiceless)
The pre-vocalic r differs from the post-vocalic r. Most speakers of German make the pre-vocalic r with slight friction between the back of the tongue and the soft palate, the region back of the mouth near the uvula. This sound is very similar to the final sound in noch and nach. Practice the following groups:
Practice 5:
| noch doch nach auch |
lachen pochen tauchen |
Dachau Bochum Bucholz |
Now try making the same sound right after the initial consonants in the following groups:
Practice 6:
| Frau fragen froh |
Trost traute treffen |
Prost prall Preis |
Krone Kragen Krumm |
You may find it necessary at first to whisper an extra syllable at the beginning of these words and pronounce Pochau, Tochost, pochall, Kochone, etc. Don't hesitate to try this if necessary.
