Hallo alle zusammen!

Let’s warm up with our daily small talk (Tagesminiplausch) and a brief review (Wiederholung). If you do not remember how to do the Tagesminiplausch, you can find the instructions in lesson 1.1.

Wiederholung

In the previous lesson, you learned how to state your intention to introduce someone (das ist mein Freund), introduce that person to another (er/sie/xier heißt…), and say their pronouns (Seine/ihre/xiere Pronomen sind…). Let’s review what you have learned.

Lektionsüberblick (Lesson overview)

Getting comfortable with the alphabet can make us feel like we are back in preschool, but being able to both fluently say letters and understand letters spoken in German will ease your life in a German-speaking country. From spelling your own name to understanding how someone’s name or a street name is spelled to differentiating between the letters A-E in order to stand on the correct part of the platform while waiting for a train or finding the right bus stop, the alphabet is ever present.

In this lesson, we will focus on becoming more comfortable with the letters of the alphabet. You will also learn about the Buchstabieralphabet (spelling alphabet), which is often used to clarify which letters are being said, since some, like “n” and “m” can be hard to differentiate, especially on the phone. In the end, you will be able to 1) ask how to spell someone’s name, 2) understand names being spelled with the standard alphabet, 3) spell names with the standard alphabet, and 4) understand names being spelled with the Buchstabieralphabet.

Was weißt du schon?

There are some things you should already know at this point in your language journey in order to complete today’s lesson comfortably — for example, how to ask Wie heißt du?  You should also know how to spell your own name, say “nice to meet you”, and say goodbye. If you don’t know or remember these concepts, keine Sorgen (no worries), we will link you to information that will help after these exercises.

1) Ask how to spell something

Spelling can be tricky in any language. That’s why it’s important to know how to ask for clarification. Let’s practice how to ask, Wie schreibt man das?

2) Understanding the standard alphabet

Do you remember the alphabet in German? If not, here is a review.

If you enjoy learning by song, here is a video of the German alphabet song.

Let’s practice listening and spelling.

3) Using the standard alphabet

Think of  how often you have to spell a word for someone. Maybe it’s your first or last name or the name of your street. Let’s practice spelling for a moment to build your spelling confidence.

4) Understanding the Buchstabieralphabet

Since it is not always easy to understand the letters being spoken, many German speakers will use the Buchstabieralphabet (spelling or phonetic alphabet) to make the spelling of a word more obvious. This alphabet has changed over time and you may hear different words for some of the letters as can be seen in the image to the left from Austria and the table below.

Since 2022, there is a new alphabet with a different set of words created for the economic and administrative sectors (Deutsche Buchstabiertafel für Wirtschaft und Verwaltung), which mostly uses German city names, instead of mostly first names. In the end, the specific word is often not relevant, if you can hear what the initial letter is. This spelltool website lets you enter a name, and it will give you that name spelled out with the Buchstabieralphabet.

🎥 Interested in hearing how this sounds? You can watch this GermanToGo video.

Now let’s practice. Be sure to click through to each question.

*As you conclude this lesson, don’t forget to check Canvas!*