I'm visiting Berlin and Austria, and Italy. I am trying to learn a little German before I leave. Could some body help me with it? Just help me translate a few sentences like
"Good morning/afternoon/evening"
"Excuse me, do you speak English"
"Could you help me?"
"How do I get to --"
I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me how to pronouce them correctly, in case I made a mistake and offend some locals!
I'm living in Russia, they don't sell dictionaries which translates into english, so I'm at a huge disadvantage here. So far, I haven't found a website that teaches only to cater for needs of tourists...
2006-12-16 07:32:08 · 9 answers · asked by Aleckii 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Auf Deutsch--in German
(off Doitch)
Guten Morgen/Nachmitag/Abend
(goo' ten mor' gen/nak' me tag/ah' bent)
Entshuldigung Sie bitte, sprechen Sie Englisch?
(en tshuul' de gohng si bit' tay, shprek' en si EEn' glaish?)
Koennen Sie mir helfen, bitte?
(KOn' nen si mEEr helf' en, bit' tay?)
Wie kommst man nach....location...like steet or city?
(VEE' kOmst mahn nak.......?)
another phrase that will help you a lot is
langsam bitte - slow please
(lahng' sahm, bit' tay)
bitte [or] wieder bitte - again or again please
(bit' tay [or] vee' der bit' tay)
mein Deutsch ist weg, auf English bitte- my German is lost, in English please
(mIn...like mine in english...Doitch EEst vAg....like vague in English.... off EEn' glaish bit' tay)
hope that helps some I don't have proper diction syllables on my keyboard
2006-12-16 07:47:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
German has nothing to do with Latin and the difficulties lie rather on the cases and the vocabulary than on pronunciation. Much to the contrary, German is a very phonetical language. You will take some time to learn the cases, but it's the same as when you learned the many verbs tenses in Spanish and French, you probably took some time to know all of them by heart. In my opinion it's all manageable and I'd say German is one of the most logical languages and a cultural treasure after learning it. German will give you access to the culture of three awesome countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). With Italian you won't have as much trouble since you already know Spanish and French, which are really close to Italian. Just think this way: If you learn German you will get to know a totally new world, you will learn concepts that will later help you to learn more complex languages (e.g.: Russian), whereas with Italian you will expand your knowledge on Romance languages. Anyway, I wouldn't choose a language I don't like, so I think you should think thoroughly about both languages in all aspects, how it sounds, how are the people and the culture, what to expect, etc. This should help you to decide. Btw, it's good that your dad speaks German, so if you choose it, you two could practice it together and he could help you.
2016-03-28 21:25:47 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good morning/afternoon/evening-Guten morgen, Nachmittag, Abend
Excuse me, do you speak English-mich entschuldigen, du sprechen Englisch
Could You Help me-könntest du mir helfen
How Do I Get To- an wie ich gelange
Spaß in deinen spielräumen haben!!
2006-12-16 09:42:50 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://german.about.com/od/travelreisen/German_Travel.htm
here you go. They have topics there directed toward travelers, you can also sign up for a newsletter and they will send you one lesson a week for 6 weeks. I think that will be the best source of info, because you can't communicate much just from a few words and phrases you can learn here, plus many of the German answers people gave you contained spelling/grammar/pronunciation/word choice (i.e using du instead of Sie which is more polite and appropriate) errors. And if you actually want to hear a word, try dict.leo.org, type in a word, click on the "I", then click on Aussprache to hear a person saying it.
2006-12-16 19:10:13 · answer #4 · answered by u_wish1984 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
German
Good morning - Guten Morgen
Good afternoon - Guten Tag
Good evening - Guten Abend
Excuse me, do you speak English - Entschuldigen Sie mich bitte, sprechen Sie Englisch?
Could you help me? - Konnten Sie mir helfen, bitte?
How do I get to... - Wie gehe ich nach...
2006-12-16 07:52:20 · answer #5 · answered by ana_is_a_cat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I only know good morning in german anymore....
Guten Morgen.....Guten is good, morning in morgen
Rosetta Stone is supposed to be the best and the quickest. If you got that and did a session of hypnosis first for the memory thing, you would do just fine.
2006-12-16 07:35:43 · answer #6 · answered by WitchTwo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Good morning/afternoon/evening"
-German: Guten Morgen /Tag /Abend
-- Goo-ten More-gin / Tog / Ah-bend
"Excuse me, do you speak English"
-German: Entshuntigung (spelling?), sprechen sie English?
-- Ahnt-shoon-ti-gung, sprech-in zee English
"Could you help me?"
-German: Konnensie helfen mich?
-- Kohn-nen-zee helf-in meesh
The first dashed lines are the sentences how I think they're spelled and the second dashed sentences are how they sound. Hope you understand and it helps...
A couple other good terms in German: Bitte (Bit-tuh) means both please and you're welcome. Danke (Dahn-kuh) means thank you. You'll be pleased to know that very many Germans do speak English. Especially in high tourist areas.
2006-12-16 07:46:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
german:
Good morning/afternoon/evening - Guten Morgen/Nachmittag/Abend
Excuse me, do you speak English - Entschuldigen Sie mich, sprechen Sie Englisch?
Could you help me? - Konnten Sie mir helfen?
How do I get to...? - An wie ich gelange...?
italian:
Buona mattina/pomeriggio/sera.
Mi scusi, parlate inglese?
Potreste aiutarmi?
A come ottengo....
2006-12-16 07:50:52 · answer #8 · answered by dexter 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in italian:
good morning/good afternoon/good evening = buongioro/buonpomeriggio/buonasrea
Excuse me, do you speak English = mi scusi, lei parla inglese?
Could you help me? = mi potrebbe aiutare?
How do I get to... = come posso arrivare fino a....
bye, bangui
2006-12-16 07:43:46 · answer #9 · answered by Bangui 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋