Easy German Words 3/3/06
For many of us native English speakers, German is a much more
difficult language to learn than Spanish or Italian. Pronunciation,
inflection, forming plurals, and word order are among the things that make
butchered Italian or Spanish more easily understood than German. But there
is a huge missed opportunity in the teaching of German and that is the long list of words that are identical or similar to their
English counterparts. Review these word lists periodically as you are learning
your traveler's German from another source and almost instantly expand your
vocabulary by over 200 words.
Granted, not all of these words will come up in your
conversations or reading, but the more words you know you know, the more
attention you can devote to the ones that you don't know. And communicating is
like putting the pieces of a puzzle together--unlikely pieces will often help
you see the big picture even when it is incomplete.
Pronunciation is critical in German, so focus your attention
on it above all else. It seems that more than in some languages, a slight
miss-pronunciation will leave your word totally unrecognized. And if you are
embarking on your first effort with German, try hard to start your studies at
least 6 months before you travel. When one is learning a brand new skill
involving muscles, as with pronouncing new sounds, your nervous system needs 6
months to lay down new pathways for the job. So even a little effort spread out
over 6 months will likely be more effective than the same amount of study in the
last month before you travel.
As is proper in German, the nouns are capitalized and given with
their gender-based article for those who are more motivated. Let us know if you
spot any mistakes and enjoy watching for the words that should have been on
these lists.
German Words You Likely Already Know
achtung (attention)
Angst, der (fear)
Kindergarten, der
Kirsche, die (cherry)
Konditerei, die (pastry shop)
Kraut, das (sauerkraut)
Rucksack, der (backpack)
schnell (quickly)
Verboten (prohibited)
Wurst, die (sausage)
Words Spelled Identically | |||
Alarm, der Album, das Arm, der Asphalt, der Auto, das Baby, das Ball, der Bank, die Bar, die Bonbons, das (candy) Bungalow, der Bunker, der Bus, der Couch, die Clown, der Computer, der Delta, das E-Mail, das |
fair (just) Film, der (movie) Finger, der Garage, die Gold, das Hand, die Handlotion, die Hotel, das Humor, der Hunger, der illegal Inflation, die Internet, das Interpretation, der
Land, das (country)
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macho Marathon, der Massage, die Maximum, das Million, die mini minus Museum, das Nation, die national normal Nest, das Pass, der (mountain) Pause, die Person, die Pilot, der Poncho, der Radio, das Rose, die |
Sack, der Sand, der Sex, der Stall, der (stable) Taxi, das Ticket, das Tip, der (hint) Toast, der Tour, die wild (adjective) Wind, der Winter, der Zone, die Zoo, der |
Words with the Same Meaning but Slightly Different Spelling | |||
Adresse, die Afrika, das aggressiv Amerika, das Apotheke, die Armee, die attractiv Balkon, der (balcony) besser (better) Bett, das (bed) Blume, die (bloom, flower) Bluse, die (blouse) Demokratie, die Diamant, der (diamond) direkt dumm elastisch Ende, das Europa, das fallen falsch (false) Familie, die Feld, das (field) Fest, das (festival) Foto, das Fotokopie,die |
frisch (fresh) für (for) Fotokopie,die frisch (fresh) für (for) Garten, der |
Keramik, die Klasse, die Kliff, das Klima, das (climate) Kloster, das (cloister) komfortabel Konzert, das Kopie, die Korruption, die Krater, der Kreditkarte, die Lamm, das |
Parken, das (parking) Papier, das perfeckt Picknick, das Pionier, der (pioneer) Plastik, das populär pressen (press) privat Programm, das Pyramide, die Qualität, die (characteristic) |
The Months
(all with "der") Januar Februar März April Mai Juni Juli August September Oktober November Dezember |
Food Words Alcohol, der Apfel, der Banane, die Bier, das (beer) Brokkoli, die Butter, die Dill, der Fisch, der frisch (fresh) Gas, das (carbonated) gross (big) halb (half) Hering, der Karamel, der Karaffe, die Kalorie, die Salami,die Salat, der Salz, das (salt) Tomate, die |
The Basic Colors Are Easy blau (blue) braun (brown) gelb (yellow) grau (gray) grün (green) orange rosa (pink) rot (red) schwarz weiss (white) Words with Possibly Useful Associations
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And Words That Aren't What They Seem Ananas, die (pineapple) Boot, das (boat) Box, die (loud speaker) Email, das (enamel) Fabrik, die (factory) Gas, das (carbonation) Hut, der (hat) Krabbe, die (shrimp) Paprika (bell pepper) Police, die (insurance policy) Rock, der (shirt) Sonne, die (sun) war (form of 'to be') was (what) |