5.4 Urlaubserlebnisse
Lektionsüberblick
In this final lesson on Familienurlaub, we will work on your ability to round out your story or stories to include details like timing, companions, and post-trip evaluations. In the end, you will be able to say 1) wann (when) and wie lange (how long) your trip lasted, 2) mit wem (with whom) you traveled, and 3) das Beste/Schlechteste (the best/worst parts) of the trip.
1) Wann und wie lange bist du in den Urlaub gefahren?
Watch the following interviews and pay attention to wohin (where), wann (when), and wie lange (how long) they went on vacation. Then answer the questions.
Christines letzte Reise
Peters schönste Reise –> Deutsch/Englisch Transkript
Now let’s practice talking about when and how long we went on vacation.
Jetzt bist du dran!
Wann und wie lange bist du in den letzten Familienurlaub gefahren? Using the modeled language from the previous videos and practice exercises, answer the question in your written journal. Then record your answer in your audio journal.
2) Mit wem bist du in den Urlaub gefahren?
Watch the following videos (again) and pay attention to mit wem (with whom) the interviewer says s/he traveled. Then answer the questions below.
Now let’s practice talking about traveling with our family members.
Jetzt bist du dran!
Mit wem bist du in den Familienurlaub gefahren? Using the modeled language from the previous videos and practice exercises, answer the question in your written journal. Then record your answer in your audio journal.
3) Der beste Urlaub – die schlechteste Reise
Watch the following video and pay attention to how the speaker evaluates their vacations. Do they say what was das Beste (the best) or das Schlechteste/das Schlimmste (the worse)? Was gefällt ihnen? What do they like? Was gefällt ihnen nicht? What don’t they like? What Schwierigkeiten (troubles) do they speak about? When you have watched the videos, work through the activity below to check your comprehension.
Peters schönste Reise –> Deutsch/Englisch Transkript
Adan, wie hat dir Heidelberg gefallen?
It’s time for your comprehension check.
Kersten and Peter were asked about the beste Reise (best trip). By now, you have seen that the way to compare things in German has some similarity to English comparisons.
| Ein Donut schmeckt gut.
Eis schmeckt besser als ein Donut . Schokoladenkuchen schmeckt am besten. Das beste Essen ist Schokoladenkuchen. |
A Donut tastes gut.
Ice cream tastes better than a donut. Chocolate cake tastes the best. The best food is chocolate cake. |
In fact, the German comparative (besser = better) and superlative (am besten = the best) is much more straightforward than the English forms. The German comparisons always add an -er for a simple comparison and -st- for the so-called superlative, where as English comparisons may need an -er and -est or you may need to use the word more and the most before the adjective. See the following examples:
| schön -> schöner -> am schönsten
intelligent -> intelligenter -> am intelligentesten die schönste Blume |
beautiful -> more beautiful -> the most beautiful
intelligent -> more intelligent -> the most intelligent the most beautiful flower |
When making comparisons in German, it is, once again, important to be in your German mindset, instead of speaking/writing German through English. Just translating an English comparison that uses more or the most word for word instead of using the simpler German structure can lead to significant communication difficulties. To be sure, the words mehr (more) and am meisten (the most) exist in German, but they are only ever used in their standalone context (Ich möchte mehr Eis, bitte. Am meisten vermisse ich deutsches Brot.)
Let’s look at some more examples in context, by learning more about Swiss geography and nature.
Now we’ll practice the comparative structures.
Jetzt bist du dran!
Was war dein bester Urlaub bisher? Using the modeled language above, answer the question in your written journal. Then record your answer in your audio journal.
Jetzt kombinieren
In this lesson, you learned how to talk about able talk about 1) wann (when) and wie lange (how long) your trip lasted, 2) mit wem (with whom) you traveled, and 3) das Beste/Schlechteste (the best/worst parts) of the trip. Now let’s combine everything!
Erzähl mal von deinem letzten Familienurlaub! Wann und wie lange bist du gefahren? Mit wem bist du gefahren? Was war das Beste daran? Was war das Schlechteste? Answer the questions in your written journal using the modeled language from this and the previous lessons. If you want to challenge yourself, after you have answered the questions from the ich-Perspektive, write them again from the wir-Perspektive.
When you are done, and you’ve checked your written work, record yourself in your audio journal.
Media Attributions
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