by D.C. Cushman

Created on: April 23, 2008   Last Updated: August 08, 2009

Beginning conversations in German is more simple than most people believe it to be. German is not a language made up of spitting, hacking and grunting like many people may believe it is. In fact, English is a Germanic language. Sure, English has direct ties to Latin and Arabic, but a lot of people don't realize that some of the first speakers of the English language came from Germanic tribes. Therefore, English and German are very close.

The first thing a beginner to German (or any language) should learn are the basics for beginning a conversation. It is always considered polite to try and speak German, regardless of your skill level. Germans have a lot of respect and appreciation for those making an effort.

Some rules before we begin:

When you see "ch" together, it's a guttural throat sound. Practice by saying Bach, and pretend like you're trying to clear your throat. It's not a hard sound, so practice getting softer when repeating.

When you see "sch" together, it makes the "shhh" sound.

When you see an "ie" or ei" together, the second vowel is the one that is pronounced long.

When you see the vowels a,o and u with an "e" afterward, it usually means that the first vowel has an umlaut (two little dots over it, but is written out long because symbols are unable to be entered or used.

The ess set looks like a B, said softly like the word snake. For the purposes of this article and being unable to input the actual symbol, it is used as a "B".

The Basics of Conversation:

Yes and no are must knows. Ja (Pronounced: yah) and Nein (Pronounced: nine).

Hello is always said Hallo (Pronounce it: Hah-low). There are other ways people greet each other, but this is the most popular way, especially when you are unfamiliar with someone.

Goodbye can be said 4 different ways. Auf Wiedersehen (Pronounce it: ow-ff Vee-dur-zay-un) is the proper way to say "Until we meet again", which to us English speakers is the equivalent of goodbye. Or, you can just say Wiedersehen. The most popular way to depart is by saying TschueB (Pronounce it: Choo-ooss). Everyone uses this, shopkeepers, the waiter, and your new friends at the pub. However, it is also common to hear Tschau (Pronounced: Like the Italian Ciao), especially in southern Germany.

Introducing yourself is very important to the Germans. They do this upon answering the phone, and expect you to do so in return. Ich heiBe Mike. (Pronounced: Ih-ch hi-suh). You can also say Ich bin Mike (Pronounced: Ih-ch bin). The former

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