Introduction:
German is the official language of Germany. German is also spoken by around a hundred and twenty million people in the European country, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and in many parts of Eastern France. In addition, German belongs to the 10 most well preferred languages worldwide. German is considered a rich language because of its uniqueness in creating words by joining single words together to make one word.
German is also known for sharing false friends with English. False friends are the words in two different languages which sound or look alike, but which do not share the same meaning.
Few of them are:
| English Word | German Translation |
False Friend |
Correct English Translation |
| ARM | ARM | ARM | POOR |
| HOSE | SCHLAUCH | HOSE | PANTS |
| HUT | HÜTTE | HUT | HAT |
| RABBIT | HASE | RABATT | DISCOUNT |
| RAT | RATTE | RAT | ADVICE |
In the world’s largest and strongest economic area, the European Union, German is by far the most spoken native language, thus hinting at potential career growth, one can avail once learnt German.
Now let's see some ways to master German:
- Learn alphabets:
A good understanding and knowledge of the basic German alphabet and how its vowels and consonants are pronounced properly, is essential. Start your journey of learning German by learning the basic German alphabet characters and their respective pronunciations. Using one of the olden days’ techniques of learning alphabets through ‘Alphabet Song’ is a good idea. Learning the alphabet will help to form the basis of the language and communication for a lifetime. It will give you a strong foundation for your spoken skill, as you will know how letters and words are pronounced, how to think in a language, and how to spell in that language.
- Learn all kinds of Vocabulary:
Having a basic German vocabulary in the palm of your hand will make your learning of the language much more enjoyable. Expanding your vocabulary knowledge is very important for both better comprehension and speaking. One can start learning basic vocabulary or phrases like A (Yes), Nein (No), Bitte (Please), Danke (Thank you) and go up to learning the complex ones. You can yourself start to learn new words even before you know exactly how or why the phrases are formed how they are, with an idea of just getting familiar with them.
- Learn Basic Grammar:
Learning the parts of speech is important to know how they behave in different contexts and conjugations which brings us to know better how sentences are constructed. Follow the rules of grammar and try practicing those to have a good hold of the language. In German, Verbs come second most of the time, e.g., Ich mag dich (I like you). A noun in German has to be capitalized. Such rules, if learned and retained, can help in achieving mastery of the German language. Also, try reading content once in English and then again in the German language in order to understand the natural way that German flows and get used to German writing styles while being able to compare it to the English version.
- Learn while watching movies:
No one can deny that technology lets any language learner seek new ways of enhancing the learning process through online programs of language exchange or music or movies. Learning while watching movies can be fun yet informative as one will get to know how natives pronounced a particular word and also the word meanings. Watch movies first with English subtitles as it will help your brain to make connections between the German words and their translation which will help you in making a strong base of German vocabulary. Later one can get to German subtitles to focus more on pronunciation and intonations. This cannot be the only way to learn German but yes one of the best ways, for sure.
Conclusion:
Take it slow but in a systematic manner. Yes sometimes one may find learning German overwhelming, but just remember to take baby steps in the beginning and gradually increase the levels and enjoy it thoroughly. So that when you move on to the next step, be confident of what you’ve learned earlier. To get to know more about the best ways to learn German, get in touch with the team of Multibhashi.
Happy Learning!
