1.1 Mein Alltag und Zuhause
Lektionsüberblick
The things you do daily should be among the things you feel most confident about when speaking German. Many conversations we have with friends, family, classmates, and even strangers are about what we have going now and what we have done. The “what you are doing now” part was covered in first year German and will be quickly reviewed here. The “what you have done” part will be the focus. In the end, you will be able to 1) talk about your daily routine, 2) say how often you perform elements of your care routine, and 3) talk about your daily routine yesterday.
BECKI – THE 1020 BOOK HAD SIMPLIFIED H5PS OF MORGENS/NACHMITTAGS/AND ABENDS ROUTINES IN CASE YOU PREFER THOSE TO WHAT IS BELOW. HERE IS THE LINK: 5.8 Alltagsaktivitäten – Deutsch im Alltag II (DE). PPS I DIDN’T CHANGE THE “ICH SURFE IM INTERNET” EVEN THOUGH WE TALKED ABOUT IT BEING DATED BECAUSE IT COMES UP MULTIPLE TIMES AND WASN’T SURE HOW CRUCIAL IT WAS.
1) Meine Tagesroutine
Wie ist deine Tagesroutine?
What is your daily routine like? Think about the words and phrases you already know on this topic. Then review some common daily tasks. Which ones do you do? Which ones are missing?
Now let’s break it down a little further.
Die Körperpflege
In the presentation above, we remembered how to say when we get up, shower, have breakfast, go to campus, etc. But what about the in-between steps like getting dressed and brushing our teeth? Let’s look at the first set of phrases of a care and hygiene routine. Be sure to listen to the audio before turning the card over. If you want to challenge yourself, write down what you hear, before turning the card over.
You may have noticed that many of those phrases look a bit different from the way we talk about care in English. Every sentence had the word mich in it, which means “myself” when ich is the subject. The biggest difference in these phrases is that you can’t leave off the mich in German like you often can in English. Yet another reason to enter your “German mindset” while learning and then using German, instead of thinking of German through English!
You may be wondering where the other bits of the personal care routine are, like brushing one’s teeth. Let’s look at the next set of phrases. Pay closest attention to the phrases that are most relevant to you! Be sure to listen to the audio before turning the card over. If you want to challenge yourself, write down what you hear, before turning the card over.
Let’s practice.
Wie ist deine Tagesroutine? Zum Beispiel: Wann stehst du auf? Frühstückst du? Gehst du an die Uni? Using the model sentences from the presentations, write down your daily routine, including morning, afternoon, and evening tasks. When you are done, look over the model again and check if your spelling and structures match with the model.
When you are done, record your daily tasks in your audio journal. Be sure to listen to your recording and rerecord, if you are not satisfied.
Zürich im Blickpunkt
Die Schweiz hat sehr sauberes Trinkwasser. In Zürich, der größten Stadt der Schweiz, gibt es mehr als 1.200 Brunnen mit Trinkwasser. Die Brunnen sind für alle Menschen zu benutzen und gehören zur Stadt. Viele Menschen benutzen sie jeden Tag, besonders im Sommer. Touristen und Einwohner können dort kostenlos Wasser trinken oder ihre Flaschen auffüllen.
Switzerland has very clean drinking water. In Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, there are more than 1,200 drinking water fountains. These fountains are available for everyone to use and belong to the city. Many people use them every day, especially in the summer. Tourists and residents alike can drink water or refill their bottles there free of charge.
2) Einmal am Tag, zweimal am Tag…
Wie oft putzt du dir die Zähne? Wie oft wäscht du dir die Haare? Wie oft schneidest du dir die Nägel?
Do you have the same answer to all of these questions? Or do you perform some care activities more frequently than others? For example, a dentist will recommend that you brush your teeth at least twice a day, but maybe you do so more (or less) often. This section reviews and introduces different ways of talking about frequency, when it comes to your care routine. You might remember from Deutsch im Alltag II that you learned many frequency phrases. You might choose to return to that Lektion before moving on.
Jetzt bist du dran!
Go back to the phrases from #1 that fit your morning routine. Rewrite each sentence adding the detail of how often you do each thing. For example,
Ich dusche mich jeden Tag, aber ich wasche mir die Haare alle zwei Tage. Ich putze mir die Zähne zweimal am Tag.
3) Meine Tagesroutine – gestern
Was hast du gestern gemacht?
What did you do yesterday? Did you do all of the same daily tasks from #1 yesterday?
Let’s see how Germans-speakers talk about gestern (yesterday) – gestern Morgen, gestern Mittag, gestern Abend. Be sure to click through each slide and complete the questions embedded in the presentations.
Kleiner Hinweis
As you learn how to talk about things in the past, it is more important than ever to enter your German mindset – rather than thinking English thoughts and then translating them into German. Look at what the following sentences mean in translation:
| German | Translation |
|---|---|
| Ich bin aufgestanden. | = I got up. = I have gotten up. |
| Ich habe geduscht. | = I showered. = I have showered. |
| Ich habe gefrühstückt. | = I ate breakfast. = I have eaten breakfast. |
| Ich bin an die Uni gegangen. | = I went to campus. = I have gone to campus. |
As you can see, in English, we differentiate between using the 1-verb past tense (called the imperfect, e.g. I went) and the 2-verb past tense (called the present perfect, e.g. I have gone). In German, by contrast, all of the sentences use the 2-word past tense (Ich bin gegangen). It is not important to learn what these various tenses are called. Instead, focus on repeating the modeled language. This will bring you closer to speaking fluently.
A final difference worth noting is the location of the second verb (called the past participle). In English, the second verb immediately follows the first (I have gone to campus), but in German, the second verb comes at the end of the phrase (Ich bin an die Uni gegangen).
Let’s Practice.
Drag and drop the sentences into the correct “time of day” box. Read each sentence aloud as you work through the activity.
Was hast du gestern gemacht? Wann bist du aufgestanden? Wann hast du zu Mittag gegessen? Using the model sentences from the presentations, copy the sentences indicating what you did yesterday. When you are done, look over the model again and check if your spelling and structures match with the model.
Then record your description in your audio journal. Be sure to listen to your recording and rerecord, if you are not satisfied.
Jetzt kombinieren
BECKI – I LIKED THIS EXISTING ACTIVITY BUT IT DOES NOT INCORPORATE SLO 2. WONDERING IF THAT IS OKAY. I ADDED IN ONE SENTENCE AFTER THE EXAMPLE SENTENCES ENCOURAGING STUDENTS TO BUILD AT LEAST ONE SENTENCE THAT IS A “HOW OFTEN” SENTENCE.
In this lesson, you reviewed how to 1) talk about your daily routine, 2) say how often you perform elements of your care routine, and 3) talk about your daily routine yesterday.
In this combination activity, you can either imagine a scenario, in which you are recording your actions in real-time throughout the day and then comparing them to yesterday, or you can actually do it. Just keep your written journal with you throughout the day and periodically write down a sentence in German about what you are doing. Then think about what that activity looked yesterday. For example,
Heute stehe ich um 7 Uhr auf. Gestern bin ich um 10 Uhr aufgestanden.
Ich esse heute um 12 Uhr zu Mittag. Gestern habe ich um 13 Uhr zu Mittag gegessen.
Heute lerne ich 3 Stunden in der Bibliothek. Gestern habe ich nicht in der Bibliothek gelernt. Ich habe nur zu Hause gelernt.
Try to include at least one sentence in which you compare the number of times you performed a specific task.
Whether you are writing down your activities in real-time or all in one setting, be sure to compare your spelling and structures with the vocabulary in this lesson. Once you are done, record your comparisons in your audio journal. Be sure to listen to your recording and rerecord, if you are not satisfied.
Below is a sentence bank that you can use to help guide the formation of your past tense sentences. Focus on copying them as they are and insert the applicable time as indicated, if that information is relevant. Or, add the word nicht if you did not do that activity. Feel free to add other activities from the presentations above if you don’t see one listed below.
BECKI – I TOOK THESE OUT OF THE TABLE AND INTO A BULLETED LIST FOR ADA.
- Gestern bin ich um [time] aufgestanden.
- Gestern habe ich um [time] gelernt.
- Gestern habe ich um [time] geduscht.
- Gestern habe ich um [time] aufgeräumt.
- Gestern habe ich um [time] gefrühstückt.
- Gestern habe ich um [time] zu Abend gegessen.
- Gestern habe ich um [time] zu Mittag gegessen.
- Gestern bin ich um [time] ins Bett gegangen.
- Gestern habe ich nicht gefrühstückt.
- Gestern habe ich nicht aufgeräumt.
Media Attributions
- 2030-2040 ch banner reduced size
- Photo of Fountain in Zürich by Djole Sh at Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/the-geiser-fountain-under-cloudy-sky-11270272/
