Episode 9 - Greeting and Introducing Yourself in German
2023-10-26 16 min Susanne Schilk-Blümel
Description & Show Notes
In this episode you are going to learn all the basic words you need to understand phrases to introduce yourself and greet other people, and you will also learn the phrases. This is something you should learn early on, so dive into it and have fun!
Summary
In this episode of the Better German podcast, host Susi Blumel focuses on greetings and introducing oneself in German. She provides listeners with essential phrases and vocabulary to confidently say hello and introduce themselves. Susi also discusses the informal and formal forms of address in German and provides examples of how to use these phrases in both contexts. Listeners are encouraged to download the accompanying PDF for additional materials and practice. Overall, this episode serves as a useful guide for those looking to navigate introductory conversations in German.
Key Topics and Bullet Points
Primary Topic: Greeting and Introducing Yourself in German
- Importance of learning ways to say hello and introducing oneself
- PDF available for download with show notes, transcript, and additional material
Sub-topics:
- Ways of introducing oneself:
- "My name is [name]"
- Using first name vs. full name
- Asking for someone's name:
- "What is your name?"
- Informal vs. formal ways of asking
- Mentioning one's age and where they are from:
- "I am [age] years old"
- "I am from [place]"
- Mentioning Austria and Germany as examples
- Talking about where one lives:
- "I live in [place]"
- Differentiating between living and being from a place
- Different ways to say "nice to meet you":
- "Nice to meet you" (informal)
- "Nice to meet you" (formal)
- Expressing happiness in meeting someone:
- "I am happy to meet you" (informal)
- "I am happy to meet you" (formal)
- Providing a short version of introductions:
- Saying "I am [name]" as a simpler alternative
Note: These topics and sub-topics cover the core content of the episode and the phrases used in German for greeting and introducing oneself.
Links
- Interactive Movie Guide to help you find German movies with subtitles on your level.
In this episode of the Better German podcast, host Susi Blumel focuses on greetings and introducing oneself in German. She provides listeners with essential phrases and vocabulary to confidently say hello and introduce themselves. Susi also discusses the informal and formal forms of address in German and provides examples of how to use these phrases in both contexts. Listeners are encouraged to download the accompanying PDF for additional materials and practice. Overall, this episode serves as a useful guide for those looking to navigate introductory conversations in German.
Key Topics and Bullet Points
Primary Topic: Greeting and Introducing Yourself in German
- Importance of learning ways to say hello and introducing oneself
- PDF available for download with show notes, transcript, and additional material
Sub-topics:
- Ways of introducing oneself:
- "My name is [name]"
- Using first name vs. full name
- Asking for someone's name:
- "What is your name?"
- Informal vs. formal ways of asking
- Mentioning one's age and where they are from:
- "I am [age] years old"
- "I am from [place]"
- Mentioning Austria and Germany as examples
- Talking about where one lives:
- "I live in [place]"
- Differentiating between living and being from a place
- Different ways to say "nice to meet you":
- "Nice to meet you" (informal)
- "Nice to meet you" (formal)
- Expressing happiness in meeting someone:
- "I am happy to meet you" (informal)
- "I am happy to meet you" (formal)
- Providing a short version of introductions:
- Saying "I am [name]" as a simpler alternative
Note: These topics and sub-topics cover the core content of the episode and the phrases used in German for greeting and introducing oneself.
Links
- Interactive Movie Guide to help you find German movies with subtitles on your level.
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I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please subscribe and share the podcast.
I would love to stay in touch, so for news, new courses and books, subscribe to my newsletter.
Do let me know, which subjects you would like covered!
And watch out for the next episode!
Transcript
Welcome to the Better German podcast.
My name is Susi Blümel, and I will teach
you German and everything around the
language , the countries and the culture.
Hello.
Welcome to this episode.
This is episode number nine
of the Better German podcast.
And it's called Greeting
and Introducing Yourself.
Obviously, when you want to speak with
someone, one of the very first things
you probably need is ways of saying
hello and ways of introducing yourself.
And this is what this episode is about.
This is in no way, obviously a complete
list of possible ways of saying hello or
possible ways of introducing yourself.
I'm just trying to give you a few things.
There is a PDF you can download.
You find the show notes and all
the information and a transcript
to download on bettergerman.info/9,
because this is episode nine.
You can find the link where you can
register and get access to all the
additional material for the podcast.
For every sentence I'm going
to give you, we're going to
go through a few words first.
So repeat it after me.
Whenever I say a word that is new, I
will just leave a blank afterwards,
and you'll say it after me.
If you cannot speak right now,
you can try to silently say
it or repeat it in your head.
But come back and when you can actually
speak and say it out loudly and proudly.
That helps you to learn.
Okay.
"Der Name" that's the name.
"mein" That means my.
ist.
ist.
means is.
So the sentence is: Mein Name ist Susi
That means: My name is Susi.
So, when I say the sentence again, I
want you to repeat the sentence, but with
your name, maybe you already did that.
So I'll say my name, you'll say your name.
Mein Name ist Susi.
You can use the very same pattern
with the full name in this
case, I just said my first name.
This is "Vorname", by the way.
Okay.
In this case I said, my name is Susi.
My name is Susi.
I just used my first name.
"der Vorname" is the first name,
but you can also use your full
name and then in that case, this
would be my mama is Susanne Blumel.
You just say the same
thing with your full name.
Or however full you want to say.
"Mein Name ist Susanne Blumel."
Good.
another way of saying the same thing, what
your name is, the word is "heißen" and
that's, a word that means to have an name.
You can say instead of "Mein Name ist
Susi" which means "My name is Susi."
You can say "Ich heiße Susi".
"I am called Susi", would be
the most direct translation.
You will hear it a lot.
"heißen", means be called.
Then, one of the next words
that is good for introducing is:
"bin", it means "am" like I am.
"bin".
So another word is: "das
Jahr", that's the year.
What we're heading at is to say an age.
"alt" is old.
The sentence "I am 40 years old"
would be "Ich bin 40 Jahre alt."
There will be an episode
coming soon for numbers.
And then the next sentence.
Or the next word you need for the next
sentence is "aus", that means from.
Where you are coming from.
"Ich bin aus Wien" means I am from Vienna.
So I want you to say when I repeat
that again, where you're from.
Ich bin aus Wien.
Next sentence is "Ich bin aus Österreich".
I am from Austria.
"Österreich" is Austria in German.
So I am from Austria.
I'm going to also include Germany in here.
Deutschland..
So maybe somebody, you hear somebody
say "Ich bin aus Deutschland" and
that would mean "I am from Germany."
I'm going to say and you are
saying, where are you from.
Ich bin aus Österreich.
good.
So the next word is: "leben".
That means to live.
By the way really, I highly encourage
you, to go and get that PDF that
you can download, and it has all of
these words and it has all of the
sentences and their translation.
So "leben" is to live.
"Ich leben in Wien" (I live in Vienna).
You say it:
Good.
If you live somewhere else, then you
just say now "Ich lebe _____" and
then you say wherever you live
"Ich lebe in
_____"
Very good.
So, now the next word
we have is "wie" "wie".
In this case "what".
So the sentence I'm telling
you is "Wie ist dein Name?"
And that is: "What is your name?"
"Wie ist dein Name?"
That's: What is your name?
So say that after me.
Wie ist dein Name?
Okay.
Remember I can say "Mein Name ist Susi",
and I can say also "Ich heiße Susi".
It means the same thing.
So when you ask, you can do the same
thing, basically you can either say
"Wie ist dein Name?"
Or you can say "Wie heißt du?"
That means the same thing.
So repeat that after me.
"Wie ist dein Name?"
"Wie heißt du?"
Good.
So now, in German we have two
different forms of speaking.
We can speak like the way you would
speak to a friend, or to a family member.
And you can have a formal
way, of addressing someone.
Are you going to have a formal
way of addressing someone?
Formal means that's a way how
you would speak to your boss.
Or to someone you don't
know, maybe on the street.
These are the two versions that
we have to speak to someone.
This exists in many other languages.
I know that it exists
in the Slavic languages.
For example.
It exists in French.
It does not exist in English.
So if English is your native language,
it may take some getting used to.
If you are trying to get a job, and
you introduce yourself, then you should
definitely use the formal version.
Other than that I think overall
German is becoming less formal.
So if you meet someone on the street or in
a restaurant, and they're around your age,
then it's a good chance that they will not
expect you to speak with them formally.
But on the other hand, you're never on
the wrong side, if there's someone you
don't know and you address them formally.
So anyway.
Going back to that question.
What is your name?
We already had "Wie ist dein Name?
And then if you say it in a
formal way, "Wie ist Ihr Name?"
So "Wie ist Ihr Name?"
You repeat it.
That's also, what is your name?
But formal.
And then the other version
we had, "Wie heißt Du?".
That's informal "Wie heißt du?".
And formal "Wie heißen Sie?"
That's the formal way.
So I'll say you repeat it.
First informal.
"Wie ist dein Name?".
"Wie heißt du?".
So you say either of them,
you don't say both of them.
And then the formal one again,
repeat after me, "Wie ist Ihr Name?"
"Wie heißen Sie?"
Good.
The next word is "schön".
That's nice in this case could be also
beautiful, but in this case, it's nice.
And another word, the next word is to
meet someone, to get to know them, to meet
them for the first time "kennenlernen".
I'll say it a little slower
"kennenlernen" that's one word.
"kennenlernen".
I'll say it again, "kennenlernen"
Okay.
So what can we do with this word?
"Dich".
It's another word.
"dich".
That means "you" in this case.
And then we have another word
and that's "Sie" that's the same
thing is "dich", but formal.
So, don't worry about grammar to much at
this point, we'll just do the sentences.
Okay.
So we had the words "schön", meaning nice,
"kennenlernen", to get to know someone, to
meet someone, und "dich", that means you.
So, what do we do with this?
We can say "Schön, dich kennenzulernen."
And that means "nice to meet you".
"Schön, dich kennenzulernen."
"Schön, dich kennenzulernen."
Good.
And then the same thing,
in the formal version.
"Schön, Sie kennen zu lernen".
Nice to meet you.
"Schön, Sie kennen zu lernen".
"Schön, Sie kennen zu lernen".
By the way for all of this, you
can just listen to it again and
again, don't worry, try to say it.
Obviously, if you were in a class
with me life, I would help you
out, if I saw that there are
specific things difficult for you.
But you can just keep listening to it
and try to say it, listen to it, try to
say it, until you feel good about it.
You'll be fine.
That's how kids learn as well.
"Schön, dich kennen zu lernen".
-informal.
"Schön, Sie kennen zu lernen".
Another way of saying that you're happy
to meet someone - we need a word first.
It's "freuen": that means
to be happy about something.
"Ich freue mich" means "I'm happy.
So "Freut mich, dich kennen zu lernen".
That means literally.
"I'm me happy to meet you" basically.
It's, one way of saying that we're glad to
see someone . So "Freut mich, dich kennen
zu lernen" that's "Nice to meet you, I'm
happy to meet you, and it's informal.
And then the same thing, with the formal
way is: "Freut mich, Sie kennen zu lernen"
Again, that means I'm happy to meet
you, but it's formal communication.
So, if you meet a person you want to
maybe work for, then it's a better idea
to say "Freut mich, Sie kennen zu lernen".
So, now maybe you think this
"kennenlernen", - it's so
long, and I understand it's
a little long for a beginner.
So good news is, if someone tells you.
My name is Susi.
Mein Name ist Susi.
And you don't want to say:
"Freut mich, Sie kennen zu lernen" oder
"Freut mich, dich kennen zu lernen",
you can just say: "Freut mich" (I'm
happy, short for "happy to see you".
That's the short version
of saying it: "Freut mich."
So maybe, the whole conversation
could be, you start saying:
"Mein Name ist Nadia."
And then I will say:
"Mein Name ist Susi", and then
you can save "Freut mich"..
That's the short version of "I'm happy
to meet you", basically just means "I'm
happy", but we mean I'm happy to meet you.
Thank you for listening to this episode.
You can find a transcript
of this episode at www.
bettergerman.
info and slash and then
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Bye bye!