Lesson 03 – Coffee Break German
Introduction
Welcome to a new episode of Coffee Break German, our new course for beginners in German. In weekly episodes you’ll join native speaker Thomas who’ll be teaching learner Mark in gradual, structured lessons. Our “Cultural Correspondent” Julia and our “Grammar Guru” Kirsten will also join us in each episode to share their knowledge and love of all things German.
Coming up in this lesson…
In this lesson you’ll be moving on to talk about where you come from. You’ll learn:
- how to ask the question “where do you come from?”;
- how to answer this question and the names for a number of countries;
- the difference between the “du” and “Sie” forms in German and what happens to verbs when you change the form;
- how to greet people in different parts of the German-speaking world.
Listen to the lesson
This audio lesson is free, as are all the main audio lessons of Coffee Break German. In addition we do offer a members’ version of the course which includes video flashcards, lesson notes and bonus audio materials. If you would like to find out more about the member’s version of the course, we’ve made a video to explain everything. Click here to find out more.
Use the audio players below to listen to the lesson, or subscribe in iTunes to receive this lesson and all future lessons automatically.
Accessing the Premium Version
The premium version of Coffee Break German provides additional materials which will help you move forward more effectively with your German studies. The premium version includes the following elements:
- Video flashcards: listen to each lesson and see the words and phrases covered in the lesson displayed on the screen of your computer, phone or tablet (mp4 format);
- Bonus audio materials: use our review lessons to practise the language covered in the main lesson, and to pick up some useful bonus vocabulary;
- Comprehensive lesson notes: study the language of each lesson in greater detail and access additional information about the German language.
The members’ version can be accessed through our membership system. You can purchase the course using the links below. Please note that the lessons are published over the next year (2013) and you will have access to the materials as soon as they are published. Think of this as a “Season Pass”.
If you’d like to find out more about the Coffee Break German members’ version, please watch this video which should explain everything.
Subscribe links
Subscribe in iTunes | RSS Feed | Coffee Break German on YouTube | Purchase videos and transcripts
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Podcast (cbg-podcast): Download
Tags: du and Sie, how to say "where are you from" in german, learn german, names of countries in german
Feb 07, 2013
Thank you Mark for the new lesson.I liked the cultural section for this week very much.
But is it possible to make the lesson a bit longer ? the lessons are very much interesting and useful but they are short.
the additional parts make CBG shorter than CBF or CBS I believe.
Ich wünsche Ihnen viel Erfolg
Feb 07, 2013
Another great lesson, I’m really enjoying these!
Feb 08, 2013
My general impression of CBG thus far is positive.
I do feel it is a bit slow, however.
Is there no bonus lesson #3 ?
Feb 08, 2013
Thanks again for your comments. With regard to the speed of the lessons, we did go at a very similar speed with the early CBF and CBS lessons. With German you’ll find that things do get a fair bit more complicated in the coming weeks when we start to look at the more intricate parts of German grammar, particularly cases and changes that happen to the articles etc.
We hope that the range of materials available in the premium version help you get a solid foundation of German.
Regarding the bonus lesson #3, it’s due out today. We wrote to all members on Wednesday to say that the bonus lesson would be delivered a couple of days after the main lesson.
Feb 09, 2013
Cant wait until this is available on itunes
Feb 12, 2013
Is there a standard phrase in German to ask if a person doesn’t mind being addressed in the informal ‘duu’ form?
Feb 13, 2013
where is lesson 4? Can’t wait!
Feb 13, 2013
7pm UK time, 2pm Eastern and 11am Pacific as usual! The members’ videos and notes will be up before then, and the review show will be published in the next couple of days. Hope that helps.