If there is one thing you need to know about me, it’s that I’m a bit obsessed with language. I spent my college years working towards a degree in English and a minor in Linguistics, so my days were filled with words. It was blissful.
So, when Sohrab and I decided a while back that we wanted to take a trip to Germany, I knew that I’d need to brush up on (read: learn!) some German.
Learning a language is not the easiest thing – even German, which is, in some ways, pretty close to English. But if you have a few words and phrases in your pocket when you head to your first Oktoberfest, you might find your stay even more enjoyable!
ß
How it sounds: ss
Alright, so this isn’t technically a word. But it is something that you will see all over the place, as it’s one of the letters that German has in its alphabet that English doesn’t. It looks a bit like a funky capital B, but it actually makes an “ss” sound. Like in our next word!
Straße
How it sounds: strah-seh
What it means: street
First thing to note here, aside from the pesky ß, is that this is a two-syllable word. Unlike in English, which has rules that are more than willing to be broken, German has some pretty hard and fast linguistic laws. If there is an e at the end of a German word, for instance, you pronounce it. As “eh”.
Germans like to compound words, which is why we see so many incredibly long ones that seem near impossible to say or understand. More often than not, those are multiple words strung together into one. This happens with street names a lot, so look for straße at the end of the word. Like Rosenstraße. Or separately, like Große Bockenheimer Straße. (Two important streets to the likes of Sohrab and I, who are always on the hunt for the local Apple Store.)
Hallo
How it sounds: hah-low
What it means: hello
I’m guessing you could have guessed this one. But seeing as it is ever important for starting a conversation in Germany, and considering that you need to swallow the first syllable a bit when saying it, I figured it was worth mentioning.
Danke
How it sounds: donk-eh
What it means: thank you
This one is made even better by the addition of schön after it, which is often mispronounced as “shane” – when it should really be something of a hybrid of “shin” and “shun” because of those little dots – the umlaut – above the “o”.
Bitte
How it sounds: bit-teh
What it means: ?!!???!!
Just kidding. I do know what it means – it means a lot of things. It’s a catchall of sorts – it means please, you’re welcome, pleasure to serve you (ish)…
That means, when ordering a beer, the conversation might sound like this:
You: Zwei bier, bitte.
(two glorious steins arrive)
You: Danke schön.
Them: Bitte schön.
Eins, zwei, drei…
Speaking of bier, how do you order enough for the table at Oktoberfest?
Ein bier, bitte: A beer, please
Zwei bier, bitte: Two….
Drei bier, bitte: Three…
Vier bier, bitte: Four…
Fünf bier, bitte: Five…
Sechs bier, bitte: Six…
Sieben bier, bitte: Seven…
Acht bier, bitte: Eight…
Neuen bier, bitte: Nine…
Zehn bier, bitte: Ten…
Wow, ten beers? You’re a good friend.
Prost!
How it sounds: prohst
What it means: cheers! (when drinking beer)
You’ve probably heard this one before – and if you’re hoping to try a German beer, it’s an important one to have up your sleeve! Wish your drinking buddies well with this cheer, and you’ll fit right in. And so, as this little lesson comes to an end, I bid you auf wiedersehen and leave you with a hearty prost!
Want to learn some more? If you’re interested in taking the route I did, I suggest you download one of my favorite apps – Duolingo! It puts tons of languages at your fingertips for free, and they’re working on adding new ones all the time. And of course, for on-the-fly translations when you’re having trouble reading the Speisekarte (menu), give iTranslate a place on your home screen.
