5.2 Wie lange lernst du schon Deutsch?
Hallo allerseits!
Zum Aufwärmen machen wir unseren Tagesminiplausch und eine Wiederholung.
Wiederholung
In the previous lesson, you learned to say where you go to school, what you are studying, and where you are at on your educational journey. Let’s review.
Read the descriptions of the subjects and choose the field of study being described.
Wo and was studierst du? Write your answers down in your written journal. Then practice saying both answers aloud. These are questions that you will be asked during your conversations with native speakers. Preparation increases confidence.
Lektionsüberblick
When you are speaking German in Austria or in any of the German-speaking countries, people will be impressed to encounter an American learning German. They will inevitably ask how long (and why) you are learning German. (Being able to respond to “why” requires more complicated structures, so we’ll return to that in the next semester.) We will also review and expand on a previous conversation topic: the languages you already speak. In the end, you will be able to 1) say how long you have been learning German and 2) say what other languages you speak.
1) Ich lerne Deutsch seit…
Recall the little word seit as in, Ich kenne meine beste Freundin seit zwei Jahren. We have the opportunity to use the little word again. See if you can catch the meaning in the comic below.
 |
Let’s practice.
Jetzt bist du dran!
2) Kannst du andere Sprachen sprechen?
When talking about learning German, you may be asked whether you speak additional languages. Or you may wish to say that you speak languages other than English. In Lektion 2.4, you learned how to say that you speak a language other than English at home, e.g. “Ich spreche Spanisch zu Hause.”
Let’s look at how to say that you can speak another language, if it is not a language you speak at home.
 |
Ich spreche Spanisch Ich kann Spanisch sprechen. |
|
Don’t forget the spectrum of words you can use to show how much.
Ich spreche ein bisschen/etwas italianisch.
Ich spreche nicht viel italianisch.
Let’s practice.
Kleiner Hinweis
Österreichische Sprachen im Blickpunkt
The official language of Austria is German. It is what one hears on the news, in schools, and in any official proceedings. However, Austria is also home to many dialects, foreign languages, and minority languages. Bairisch-Österreichisch (Austro-Bavarian) is the primary dialect spoken outside of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. Interestingly, it has no standard written orthography and is only a spoken dialect. The sign on the left is an example of Bairisch. You can hear it here.
| Hochdeutsch | Englisch |
|
Für alle Autofahrer, die nur “Singen und Klatschen” in der Schule hatten: DIES IST EINE AUSFAHRT! HIER KOMMEN AUTOS RAUS! Selbst wenn du deinen Namen tanzen kannst ist hier PARKEN VERBOTEN! |
For all drivers, who only had “singing and clapping” in school: THIS IS AN EXIT! CARS COME OUT OF HERE! Even if you can dance your name, |
Alemannisch (Swiss German and Alsatian are also Alemannic dialects) is the most commonly spoken dialect in Vorarlberg. Depending on the region in Austria, you might hear Türkisch (Turkish), Kroatisch (Croatian), Polnisch (Polish), Romani, Italienisch (Italian), Serbisch (Serbian), and Tschechisch (Czech) to name a few languages.
Jetzt bist du dran!
Zum Schluß
*As you conclude this lesson, don’t forget to check Canvas!*
Media Attributions
- “Languages in Austria” text sourced from the Wikipedia articles: Bairisch, Alemannische Dialekte, and Languages of Austria, licensed under CC BY 4.0 International License.
Media Attributions
- Private: 1010-at-banner-large
- 5.2 seit
