Slide 1 : Welcome to the first of a series of four introductory lessons
about the German Language.
My Name is Kirsten Winkler. I am a language coach, online
education expert and founder of websites like
www.deutschhappen.com
www.learngerman4free.com
www.kirstenwinkler.com
...
Slide 2 : German is part of the Germanic Languages.
Most widely spoken Germanic languages are:
English 310-375 million
German over 100 million
Other major languages:
Dutch 23 million
Afrikaans 6 million
North Germanic languages:
Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic
and Faroese combined about 20 million
Slide 3 : The German Language is
the most widely spoken mother tongue in the EU
spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers
spoken by about 80 million non-native speakers
official Language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
Liechtenstein, Belgium and Luxembourg
Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities
and Goethe Institutes worldwide.
Slide 4 : The German Alphabet
Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj,
Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt,
Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz
ß
Ää, Öö, Üü
Slide 5 : Vowels
Slide 6 : Diphtongs
Slide 7 : Consonants ck
used to indicate that the preceding vowel is short.
backen, Sack, Stuck, Rock
ch
[ç] after ä, ai, äu, e, ei, eu, i, ö, ü and after consonants
Bäche, Laich, Bräuche, echt, leicht, euch, ich, röcheln, Bücher
diminutive suffix -chen
Mädchen, Häuschen
beginning of a word
Chemie, China
[x] (after a, au, o, u)
Dach, Bauch, doch, Buch
Slide 8 : Consonants h
[h]
Haus, Hamster, Hamburg
after a vowel it is silent and only lengthens the vowel
Reh, Vieh, nah, Kohl
Slide 9 : Consonants q
[kv] only exists in combination with u
Qualle, quer, Quittung
s
[z] if it forms the syllable onset
Sohn, Sahne, setzen
otherwise [s]
Bus, Gas
Slide 10 : Consonants st and sp
at the beginning of words [?t] and [?p]
Stuhl, stimmt, Spaß, Spur
v
[f] in words of Germanic origin
Vater, Vetter, Vogel
[v] in most other words
Vase, Violine
Slide 11 : Consonants w
[v]
Wasser, wo, Winter, wer
z
[?]
Zug, Zahl, Zelle, Zoo
Slide 12 : Time for your
questions
Slide 13 : Thank you
for joining this class!
You can join me on
www.kirstenwinkler.com
www.deutschhappen.com
www.facebook.com