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Better German Podcast with Susi

Susanne Schilk-Blümel
Since 09/2023 56 episodes

32 Uncommon German Vocabulary: gerne, gell etc.

Learn Some Unexpected Words You Won't Find in Books

2024-04-18 17 min

Description & Show Notes

In Episode 32 of the Better German Podcast, Susi introduces and explains the meanings of typical German words like 'eh', 'jö', 'gell', 'na ja', and 'gerne'. It also touches on the Better German Academy, a project aiming to provide comprehensive learning materials for German language learners.

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Summary
In this episode of Better German, host Susi Blumel takes you on a journey through some typical German words that you might not find in a textbook. These words are often used in spoken German and carry unique meanings that don't have direct translations. Susi goes into the nuances of words like "eh," "gell" and "na," shedding light on their various uses and regional distinctions, such as in Austrian dialects. She also provides a glimpse into the upcoming Better German Academy, where listeners can explore specialized courses, including those focused on small but impactful words like the ones discussed in this episode. Susi's passion for teaching German and her commitment to providing valuable learning resources shine through in this engaging and informative episode. So, join us as we uncover the richness of the German language and discover new words to add to your linguistic repertoire.

Key Topics and Bullet Points

Primary Topic: Introduction to Typical German Words
  • The host explains the purpose of the episode: to teach listeners about typical German words that are commonly used in spoken German but may not be found in textbooks
  • Explains that these words do not have easy literal translations and are used in various contexts
Primary Topic: Word "eh"
  • Host provides examples of how "eh" is used in German
  • Explains different meanings and usage of the word "eh" in various contexts
Primary Topic: Word "jö"
  • Host discusses the usage and meaning of "jö" in spoken German
  • Provides examples of when to use "jö" in conversations and its significance
Primary Topic: Word "gell"
  • Host explains the meaning and usage of "gell" in spoken German
  • Discusses how "gell" is added to sentences to emphasize or seek verification
  • Mentions its colloquial usage in the southern region
Primary Topic: Word "na" & "naja"
  • Host explores the multiple meanings of "na" and its usage in different contexts
  • Elaborates on how "naja" conveys agreement, skepticism, and hesitation
  • Mentions its colloquial usage in expressing dissatisfaction
Primary Topic: Word "gerne"
  • Host discusses the usage and meaning of "gerne" in German
  • Provides examples of how "gerne" is used to express preferences and desires and is how you say that you       like to do something.
Primary Topic: Better German Academy
  • Host introduces the Better German Academy as a resource for German language learning
  • Describes the various courses, materials, and resources available in the academy
  • Explains the development of the academy and its purpose in providing comprehensive learning materials for German learners 
Primary Topic: Conclusion
  • Host wraps up the episode and encourages feedback from listeners
  • Expresses willingness to cover more episodes on similar topics based on audience interests
Related Episodes
Episode 30: "To Be" in German
Episode 31: "The Sound of Music"                      

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Transcript

Welcome! It's so nice to talk to you again. In this episode, I'm going to teach you or tell you about a few typical German words, some of them maybe Austrian, then I'll tell you, that you will not learn from a book. They're used very much in spoken German, and they're used a lot. And actually all of them don't really have an easy literal translation. So the first word is "eh". You write that with E and H. And that is a word, a small word, that would be used for example, in connection with "Ja,"— "ja eh".. You say that as a response, and you say, "yeah," or like, "yeahh..", it's kind of like a, a yes, but, so you have some sort of a hesitation that you want to say. Or you could say something like, "Ich seh in morgen eh." "I will see him tomorrow anyway." So in that case, it's "anyway." And the meaning would be no matter what has been said already or independently of what has been said, anyway. So you could say, "I'll see him tomorrow anyway," and independently of the discussion that has been going on, we can clear it, for example. Or another meaning, and then I'm finished with "eh," is like, "no matter what happens." So, it could be something like, "Es hilft eh nix." oder (or), "Ich kann eh nix tun." "I can't do anything anyway." So, "eh nicht" means "anyway nothing." So, another word, completely different meaning, is "jö".. So that's a word, that's a kind of a nice word, It's kind of instead of a whole sentence, and you say that when you're surprised in a good way. When you're happy about something, when somebody gives you something or you see something that you like. So when somebody gives you something that you like, or you see something that you think is very nice, you say, "jö"., You get a birthday cake and you didn't expect it. You say, "jö". It's just two letters, J, and then Ö. Ö is one of the special letters of the German alphabet and it is an O with two dots. That's an Ö. By the way, there is a, an episode about the alphabet. and it's Episode 18. So, if you want to hear more about that, and we have the additional sounds in there as well. Like this additional letter Ö. Good, so that's "jö." And I noticed that, by the way, the reason why I'm even, why I got the idea for this episode is I was teaching a student and I noticed, how would they know them, you can't really look these up easily in a dictionary. You may or may not get lucky and actually understand what they are. So the next word we're going to cover is "gell." So, and that's Like "right?" at the end of a sentence. So you add that to a sentence to get an agreement. So I could say, "You are doing your homework," or "Du machst deine Hausaufgabe, gell?" So "you're doing your homework, right?" Or, you can also say it at the beginning of a sentence. You can say, "Gell, er kommt morgen. That would mean, "He comes tomorrow, right?" Or, "Right, he comes tomorrow." So in German we can put it also in the beginning, not just the ending. So that's, "gell." You could also use it like "isn't it," "doesn't he." So you could say, "She's beautiful, isn't she?" So in German, you can just say, "Sie ist schön, gell?" So, and that is a colloquial term that is used more in the South. By the way, also the "eh" is a word that's more used in the South. So, when I say in the South, I'm speaking in the South, saying, I'm referring to the South of the German-speaking area. So, if you consider the whole German-speaking area, that's Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, mainly, more or less, and then the South is, you could say, more or less, the south of, of Germany, plus Switzerland and Austria. And these are, to some degree, similar, or they, they share similarities in language. So this "eh" and "gell" is something that people would say more in the south. And it's a very, very typical thing that people will say. So "gell?" You can add to any sentence to give it more emphasis. Or you can like add it to a question to kind of verify, that you're right. You're assuming that the answer is yes. "She's coming tomorrow, right?" So that's "gell".. And what else do we have? The word is "na." That could have different meanings, and part of them are slang. So in Austria, we say instead of "nein," "na" So, if we want to say very shortly," nein," —"no," we just say "na." It's a little shorter, "nein,"— "na." However, that's Austria —"na." Very often said like "naaa." Like with a long aaah, —"naaaa." And that means "nein." But then there is another meaning for "na," and it could be something like, "na, komm". And in that case, it expresses that you're a little bit impatient, it's still colloquial, but it could be anywhere in the German-speaking area. Or it could be surprise, if you say, "Na, so was." That's, that would be translated, "Oh!" probably. So it would be surprise in this case. "Na," if you look at all of "na," you actually have almost 15 meanings. I'm not going to go into all of these. There are more meanings to "na." So that's a very good word, and by the way, it is— don't get overwhelmed by these words. Never. They can be very, very interesting, and they only give you trouble if you don't realize that they can have more meanings, and if you don't have a way of learning them. It's the same way in English. We have like, I think 42 meanings, depending on which dictionary you look in, for "in" in English. So they're there and you can learn them. It's okay. Actually at this point, I'm going to take a minute because that is a very good example of one of the things that I'm going to cover in the Better German Academy. So I'm going to give you a little roadmap and a very short story of what I'm doing. I'm a German teacher. Actually, the first beginning, I have to be very honest, I didn't want to teach German. People were approaching me to teach German because they knew me as an English teacher and I was teaching English and I could do that successfully. And I liked doing it, and they were like, "Hmm, well, your native language is German. Can't you just teach German as well?" And, then I realized, and I looked for a long time, that there were no materials to teach German. German is a little bit different than English, and a few things, in the grammar look like it's harder to learn German. I don't really think it's that much different. Just there are not good materials or there weren't any good materials in the beginning. And then after many years, a colleague and friend of mine, she actually started to develop her own German materials based on the same principles that we were already teaching English with, and these were for me a breakthrough. I could start teaching German and then I started teaching German. I was teaching quite a lot of German and I started to also develop my own materials and make videos and make exercises based on what I saw was needed. And, there was a real need for more materials to help more people learn. And that's what I started. So I started the podcast because I just had to start at some point and that podcast is going to be there and people who are interested in the language can listen to it, or people who are maybe thinking about learning German and they're not sure, or people, who are learning German and want to have some additional materials, they can listen to the podcast and that's going to be there. I Another project that I'm working on is, and that's kind of the biggest project that I'm working on is the Better German Academy, and the Better German Academy is a place where you can go and you can find all the courses that are going to be in there. And there is going to be courses from very beginners to advanced, and then there is going to be courses about special subjects, and one of the special subjects that is going to be covered in a course or maybe several courses, are small words. So there will be courses in there in the Better German Academy about German small words. There will also be books in the Better German Academy. Books for practicing, but also books for reading, graded books that are like on. Graded books is a concept that you have for beginners, easy books that fit with the vocabulary and the, the grammar, to the thing that you're learning, and they kind of grow in difficulty of both vocabulary and grammar with the ability of the student. And also there's a YouTube channel. So by the way, all the podcasts episodes are. At some point, also available on YouTube So this is like a little bit of an giving you an idea of what you can expect. So. Small words, they're also going to be part of the Better German Academy. At this point in time, I'm working on recording a lot of podcast episodes, And then I'm going to work on my courses again, more intensively. So, just so you know what's in it for you, what's coming. And I, I love to hear from you, by the way, so let me know what you need and I'll tell you when it's there. Okay good. So that was "na" and a little bit of an outlook of what's going to happen The next word that I have here is fits to it. You could consider it two different words or one And the word is "naja" and you write it together like "na." "na" by the way, you write "na." So "na ja." Is literally could be considered "na" like "nein" (no) and "ja", yes. . But basically that's, that's kind of like, it gives you an idea of German. Okay. So if you ask me a question and I say "naja" , then that's a little bit typical Austrian, I guess. And it could mean like a gradient of an agreement. So "das ist doch schon." "This is beautiful, right?" "Naja." , that means you don't really think it's beautiful . Or, it could also say it's, it is sort of skepticism. It means, like, when I ask, when you ask me, "How are you doing?" And I say, "naja," then it means that I'm not really doing good. So, or if you, if you ask, "How is the weather?" And the person says, "na ja" it means, no, it's not really good. So "naja" means it's not really good, and you may be too friendly to say that you think something is really bad. That's "naja." Or it's just like you have a hesitation. You don't really, you cannot really agree to something. That's "naja." And then I have one last word for this episode, and that is "gerne." "gerne" is a very standard German word. It's a way of expressing that you like something. So, if you want to say in English, for example, "I like chocolate," you could say in German, "Ja, ich mag Schokolade." But you could also say, "Ich habe Schokolade gerne." Oder (or) "Esse gerne Schokolade." You can just add "gerne" to the sentence and you can say something like, "I like to eat chocolate." "Ich esse Schokolade gerne." You add it to the sentence and then it means that you like to do something. Or you can even use it as a short answer. Like, "Would you like some coffee?" "Magst du Kaffee? "Magst du einen Kaffee?" "Gerne." "I'd like to." So, "gerne" is a word that you can add to a lot of sentences and it expresses that you like something. "Ich schwimme gerne im Sommer." "I like to swim in summer." "Ich schwimme gerne." So, "Ich schwimme im Sommer" means "I swim in the, in summer." "Und ich schwimme gerne im Sommer" means "I'd like to swim in summer." Unfortunately, there is no direct translation like, that, that is the same kind of word. It's just a different way of saying it, and that's why you will probably never look it up in the dictionary and find "gerne" as an answer. So that's why I wanted to tell you. Or you can say, "Sie liest gerne." "She likes to read." And you can even say, "Sie liest sehr gerne." "She likes to read very much." Oder (or) "ich trinke gerne Kakao." "I like to drink hot chocolate." "Kakao" is "hot chocolate." "Er fährt nicht gerne Auto." You can also say "not." "He doesn't like to drive a car." "Er fährt nicht gerne Auto." Okay, good. So I, that's the end of this episode. That's all I have for this episode. I wanted to give you a few of these words and, I hope you have fun with them and let me know if you like this kind of episode and then I'm going to do more. Bye bye.

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