My first German class

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Hi! Today I feel very happy because I had my first German class. To be honest, at the beginning I felt nervous because German has the stereotype of being a difficult language. I was also worried about the schedule my classes are on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., and it was my first time being at the faculty at night.

However, in the end, it was a great experience. I met a guy who studies Economics at CU, and he decided to take the German class because he lives near the Faculty of Languages.

What I Learned Today

I learned very basic but very important vocabulary words we use every day no matter our language level. I’m talking about greetings.

In German, just like in English and Spanish, there are two ways to greet people: informal and formal. Below, I’m sharing some common German greetings with their English equivalents.

German Greetings

INFORMALENGLISHFORMALENGLISH
Hallo!Hello!Hallo!Hello!
Tag!Day!Guten Tag!Good day!
Morgen!Morning!Guten Morgen!Good morning!
Abend!Afternoon / Evening!Guten Abend!Good afternoon / evening!


Gute Nacht!Good night!

Something interesting is that, just like in English and French, there is a difference between Guten Abend and Gute Nacht.

  • Guten Abend is used as a greeting, for example, if you meet your neighbor on the street between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m.

  • Gute Nacht is only used when you are about to go to sleep.

Also, we say Guten Tag / Guten Morgen / Guten Abend, but we say Gute Nacht (without the -n) because Nacht is a feminine noun in German.


Capital Letters in German

One important rule in German is that all nouns are written with capital letters.

Examples:

  • Auto – Car

  • Alphabet – Alphabet

  • Baum – Tree

  • Deutsch – German

  • Deutschlehrer – Teacher


Introducing Yourself in German

Just like in English, there are two common ways to introduce yourself:

  • Mein Name ist Gaby. – My name is Gaby.

  • Ich bin Gaby. – I am Gaby.


Attendance in Class

When the teacher takes attendance, we answer almost the same way as in English:

GERMANENGLISH
Hier!Here!


The Last Words I Learned

GERMANENGLISH
HörenListen
LesenRead
SchreibenWrite
SprechenSpeak
Auf Wiedersehen!Goodbye!


This was my first step into learning German, and even though it seemed intimidating at first, I’m really enjoying the process so far. 😊







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