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Nine essential German phrases for the modern traveller

We’ve all been there. You think you've prepared for your trip to an exciting new country until you arrive and realise you really should have brushed up on the language.

Published: 23 August 2017 16:46 CEST
Nine essential German phrases for the modern traveller
Photo: Glazunophoto/Depositphotos

So you reach for the trusty phrase book you picked up second-hand on Amazon. ‘Now I can communicate with all the panache of a native speaker,’ you think as you congratulate yourself on having the foresight to pack it.

That is, until you flick through the pages and realise there isn’t a single useful phrase for modern travellers.

Knowing how to ask if you can send a fax or where to exchange traveller’s cheques may have cut it back in the nineties, but this is 2017, pal! You need to know how to ask the relevant questions, and you don’t want to sound like a robot reciting them off the page.

Practice German with native speakers on Tandem

But what to learn beyond basic greetings and pleasantries? And unless you have the free time and cash to pay for lessons before you go, how are you meant to learn a language to begin with?

For tips, we talked to our friends at Tandem — a nifty language exchange app that instantly connects you with a community of native speakers around the globe.

There are plenty of language apps out there (after all, this is 2017!), but none of them are quite as useful when it comes to nailing useful phrases and perfecting the accent.

These nine phrases have been cherry-picked by the seasoned travellers of the Tandem community:

1. Can you tell me the WIFI code, please?

Können Sie mir bitte den WIFI-Passwort mitteilen?

 

2. Are you on TripAdvisor?

Sind Sie auf TripAdvisor?

Photo: Franklin Heijnen/Flickr

 

3. I have an online booking for a room tonight

Ich habe eine Online-Buchung für ein Zimmer heute Nacht

Photo: Pixabay

 

4. Do you accept contactless?

Kann ich kontaktlos bezahlen?

Photo: ING Nederland/Flickr

 

5. Do you have a website?

Haben Sie eine Website?

 

6. Can I buy tickets online?

Kann ich Tickets online kaufen?

Photo: Pexels

 

7. Where can I charge my phone?

Wo kann ich mein Handy aufladen?

 

8. Where can I top up my phone?

Wo kann ich mein Handy aufladen?

Photo: Wikipedia

 

9. Are selfie sticks allowed here?

Sind Selfie-Stangen hier erlaubt?

Photo: Syda_Productions/Depositphotos

Download Tandem on the Play Store for free

Now you know these everyday phrases you could join Tandem and practice the pronunciation with a native speaker. With a bit of help they’ll roll off the tongue like you’re a native speaker in no time at all.

What’s more – learning the basics of the language will make you feel more confident travelling in a new country, saving the day in tricky situations, and helping you to get the most out of your trip. And the locals always appreciate it when you’ve taken the time to learn a few words and phrases!

But how do you connect in the first place? It’s really easy – all you have to do is download the Tandem app, log in, find someone online who speaks your target language, and invite them to chat. You can even find people who specialise in different dialects. The whole process takes minutes. And it’s totally free.

In exchange you’ll help your tutor with your own language, so you can teach them useful phrases like “How much is your cheapest drink?” and “Where’s the nearest late-night takeaway?”.

You can download Tandem here – get a head start learning the words and phrases you actually need and, even better, learn them wherever and whenever you want.

Download the Tandem app on iTunes

This article was produced by The Local Client Studio and sponsored by Tandem.

TEACHING

Meet the Brit behind the app that is changing the way Spaniards learn English

Madrid-based English teacher Simon Sternberg hit upon a revolutionary idea to improve Spaniards’ grasp of English.

Published: 20 November 2020 09:16 CET
Meet the Brit behind the app that is changing the way Spaniards learn English
Simon Sternberg is the Brit behind Wannalisn. Photo by Zoe Sternberg

After more than a decade teaching English to Spanish students in the capital, Sternberg came up with an idea to help them understand the fast English of native speakers that so often proves to be an obstacle for listening comprehension.

“I realised that there were certain combinations of English words that were just very hard for non-native English people to grasp,” he told The Local.

“I looked at different studies and identified that there are around 50 words that represent about 50 percent of spoken English, and that are very difficult to break down and understand when said quickly”, he explained.

“These so-called clusters represent the difference between the spoken and written forms of the language, and without mastering them it’s very difficult to understand first language English speakers,” he said.

Phrases such as “but it was” and “and I didn’t want to” sound like “badih woz” and “ana din’ wanna” in everyday informal speech.

Sternberg teamed up with entrepreneur Luis Morgado and lead developer Ramiro Blazquez to come up with “Wannalisn”, an app that offers free interactive listening and vocabulary exercises using short clips from movies and television series in a game format they call “edutainment”.

 

“It’s designed to help you train your ear to understand English as it is spoken in the real world ,” and is proving hugely popular.

“It encourages people to become comfortable and familiar with the fast natural English of native speakers that we hear in movies, TV series, and, of course, in real life.”

The app was launched in May, and is now operational in over 100 countries with 80.000 users worldwide.

And it is already a tool that English teachers in Spain are recommending to their students.

Its popularity comes at a time when Spanish learners of the English language seemingly need all the help that they can get. 

A new ranking places the Spanish as the worst in the EU at speaking English, below even the notoriously bad-at-English French and Italians. 

Unlike their neighbours in Portugal who rank among the best, thanks in part to the custom there of not dubbing over all foreign television and film productions.  

“Watching films and TV can be a very valuable way to learn a language and especially hone listening skills, but watching with subtitles does almost nothing to help that skill,” argues Sternberg. “However, watching the short clips and then engaging with the interactive exercises is hugely helpful and also lots of fun.”

For more about Wannalisn and to try out the app for free CLICK HERE.

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