Topic One (1.1): Wie heißt du?
Objectives for this topic
- Introducing yourself
- Finding out about gender (masculine, feminine, neuter words) and articles (a, an, the)
- German alphabet and pronunciation
Introduction
In this topic, you will find out interesting cultural information about Germany. In terms of language, you will learn how to introduce yourself in German. You will discover that nouns in German have a gender (masculine, feminine or neuter) and you will learn what the correct article (a, an, the) for each of those three different genders is. You will also learn the German alphabet and the rules of German pronunciation.
Working through your coursebook
Please work through the following sections in your coursebook, completing all listed exercises:
- Read through the facts about Germany on page 5 and choose three facts that you find the most interesting. If you like, share these facts with a friend or a member of your family. Find the towns and cities mentioned in the text on the map on page 4.
- Complete exercise 1 on page 8: match the words with the corresponding pictures
- Compete exercise 2 on page 9: rearrange the English text so it corresponds with the German text. Then identify the two rivers on the map on page 4.
- Complete exercise 4 on page 9: which of these words do you already know? Put them into a sentence.
Extra: Can you find four more words which are German, but which are used in the English language, too? Feel free to use google to find some more German loanwords. You may well be surprised how many German words there are in the English language!
- Complete exercise 5 on page 9: research interesting facts about Germany, Austria or Switzerland and write a paragraph about them in English.
- Complete exercise 1 on page 10: listen to the audio and write down what you hear.
LISTEN – Audio Exercise 1 Links to an external site.
- Complete exercise 2 on page 10: listen to the audio and write down the names.
LISTEN – Audio Exercise 2 Links to an external site.
- Using the notes on German pronunciation provided as an extra exercise to this unit (see below), complete exercise 3 on page 10: try to pronounce the names the German way. Careful: this might not always be the same way as it is pronounced in English! Once done, listen to this audio to see if you got all names correct:
LISTEN – Audio Exercise 4 Links to an external site.
- Complete exercise 5 on page 11. First try reading the text out loud yourself. Then listen to the audio file to see if you pronounced each word correctly:
LISTEN – Audio Exercise 5 Links to an external site.
Extra: for additional learning benefit, why not listen to the audio word by word and repeat each word as you hear it?
- Complete exercise 6 on page 11: translate the sentences from English into German. Note: Be sure to check your spelling (especially the use of capital letters for nouns and names).
- Complete exercise 7 on page 11: create dialogues using the four names given, practising the language you learned in this unit.
Extra: why not try acting these dialogues out with a member of your family or a friend? You could even do it yourself by speaking with two different voices!
Review
- Choose 5 random English words and try to spell them in German.
Extra: Why not find out the German translation of these English words and add them to your vocabulary list?
- Write a dialogue (similar to the one from exercise 7) about two famous people of your choice. For example, you could have David Beckham having a chat with Prince William!
Interactive Kerboodle activities
Log into Kerboodle and complete the following activities for this module:
- Complete this listening activity to practise introductions and the German alphabet:
PRACTISE – Names and introductions (Kerboodle) Links to an external site.
- Complete this grammar activity on recognising the definite and indefinite article:
PRACTISE – Gender and Articles (Kerboodle) Links to an external site.
Interactive LanguageNut activities
Log into LanguageNut and complete the interactive activities for the grammar covered in this topic. Once you are in the German section, select Grammar and Verbs then Grammar then Beginner then Nominative der/die/das. In future this chain will be indicated in the following way:
Language Nut – Grammar and Verbs – Grammar – Beginner – Nominative der/die/das
Support and extension exercises for this topic
- Watch this video on youtube to get to know the German alphabet. Try singing along, so you get used to saying the letters in German.
WATCH – German Alphabet (YouTube) Links to an external site.
- Study the following Powerpoint on German Pronunciation and listen to the explanations:
READ AND LISTEN – German Pronunciation
- How to memorise vocabulary: if you are new to learning vocabulary, you might want to experiment with different ways of how to learn vocabulary. This is different for everyone and what works for one person, might not necessarily work for another person. There are plenty of resources and suggestions for this online.
One method is to use flash cards. Write the English word on one side of a small piece of paper and the German translation on the other side. Then shuffle the cards and keep testing yourself. Make sure you test yourself both on translating from English into German and from German into English. For even better retention, it is a good idea to add a sample sentence for each new word on to the card, so you can see what it looks like in context.
Here is a link with a bit more information about how to use flash cards to learn vocabulary:
WATCH – Using Flashcards (YouTube) Links to an external site.
Check your answers
If you would like to check your answers for this topic, you can do so by consulting the Echt module answers for Topic 1.1.
CHECK – Answers 1.1 Download CHECK – Answers 1.1
You can find transcripts for the audio activities in this topic here:
CHECK – Audio Transcripts Links to an external site.
Grammar Alert
Read the Grammatik box on page 11 and take notes.
Vocabulary
Study the vocabulary section ‘Wie heißt du’ on page 28.