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GERMAN LANGUAGE

The seven stages of learning German every foreigner goes through

German is a notoriously difficult language to learn and the path to fluency is marked by milestones that every budding German speaker will recognise.

A man screams in frustration.
A man screams in frustration. Photo: Yogendra Singh/Unsplash

Stage 1: Terror

You’ve just set foot on German soil and are ready to begin your new life in the Bundesrepublik. While you may have left home feeling excited and full of enthusiasm for learning the German language, you now find yourself in a world of alarmingly long and confusing words containing strange symbols which are impossible to pronounce.

You’re confronted with long words like Ausländerbehörde, Aufenthaltsbescheinigung, and Wohnungsanmeldung and the prospect of having to get to grips with a language whose average word contains 14 letters slowly dawns on you. It’s terrifying.

Tip: Don’t panic. At first, learning German can seem like a daunting prospect, but as you start to take your first baby steps into the language, you’ll soon realise it’s not as bad as you think. And those long words are just lots of smaller words squashed together.

READ ALSO: 10 German words that strike fear into the hearts of language learners

Stage 2: Determination

You’ve got over the initial shock of realising the true scale of the linguistic mountain you’ll have to climb to learn German – and you resolve to conquer it.

You enrol in a language course and arm yourself with grammar books and language learning apps, and you start making progress very quickly. You realise that a lot of German words have the same roots as their English cousins and that words and phrases are sticking in your head more quickly than you expected. The flames of optimism begin to grow.

A couple practices the German language. Photo: Annika Gordon/Unsplash

Tip: Keep up that spirit and persist with the grammar books and vocab learning, ideally on a daily basis and start speaking the language as much as you can – even if it’s just reading aloud to yourself. 

Stage 3: Obsession

Spurred on by your new ability to introduce yourself, talk about the weather and tell people about your pets, you launch an all-out assault on the German language.

READ ALSO: How to remember the gender of German words

You’ve got post-it notes filled with vocab stuck all over your flat, you’ve got three tandem partners and Tagesschau is blasting 24/7 from your Laptop.

You are now officially obsessed with the German language.

Tip: Don’t be too hard on yourself once this phase of unbridled enthusiasm burns out. Though it’s great to have a period of immersion in the long-run, regular learning – even for shorter periods – is the key to progress.

Stage 4: Experimentation

You’ve now got a solid base of internal vocab and you’ve got to grips with the most important grammar rules. You can use the dative and genitive cases with increasing ease and you’re using modal verbs on a regular basis. 

You now feel ready to road-test your new language skills in the big wide world. You don’t ask Sprechen Sie englisch? (do you speak English?) any more and instead try to communicate only in German. 

Tip: Bolster this experimentation phase by consuming more German media. Listen to German podcasts, check out German TV shows and try to read the news in German. 

READ ALSO: Tatort to Temptation Island: What do Germans like to watch on TV?

Stage 5: Frustration

Just as you were starting to gain confidence in the language, you hit a brick wall. You spent an evening in the company of German speakers, or you attended a meeting at work where you found yourself fumbling for vocabulary and stumbling over grammar.

You can’t, for the life of you, remember whether it’s der, die or das Licht even though you’ve looked it up at least a hundred times. 

A German dictionary. Photo: Joshua Hoehne/Unsplash

What’s the point, you ask yourself. You want to give up and just switch to speaking English permanently, as everyone you meet seems to speak perfect English anyway.

Tip: Everyone feels like this at some point when learning a new language and it’s likely to happen more than once on your language-learning journey. Keep going and don’t compare your German language skills with the English skills of German natives. Remember that most Germans have grown up listening to songs and watching films in English, so it will take you a bit longer to get to grips with German in the same way. 

Stage 6: Breakthrough

You’re not quite sure what’s happened, but something seems to have clicked. You’re suddenly using the right past participles 90 percent of the time and you’re using reflexive verbs with ease. People are rarely switching to English when speaking to you and you’re understanding almost everything you see and hear.

READ ALSO: Six ways to fall in love with learning German again

Tip: Remember this feeling when you are revisited by frustration in the future. 

Stage 7: Acceptance

You still make mistakes, you don’t know all of the words in the German dictionary, and you still mix up der, die and das – but it’s ok. You’ve come a long way and you accept that your German will probably never be perfect and that the learning process will be a lifelong pursuit. 

Tip: The more you use the language, the more you’ll improve. Keep reading, speaking and listening and, one day, it won’t even feel like an effort anymore. 

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EURO 2024

The German words and phrases you need for Euro 2024

With the Euros being hosted by Germany this summer, it's a great opportunity to broaden your German football vocabulary. Here are a collection of words and phrases to know to get into the games.

The German words and phrases you need for Euro 2024

Auf geht’s!

You’ll usually hear this as the match gets underway and it means: let’s go! Another common expression that means the same thing is Los geht’s! and Fans will often stick their team on the end – Auf geht’s Deutschland! or Los geht’s Dänemark!

You can also shout: Deutschland vor! (Go Germany!) and Weiter, weiter! (keep going) as the match goes on.  

If you’re not feeling so confident at screaming these phrases at a TV, a simple way of explaining which team you’re supporting in a conversation is by saying: Ich bin für Deutschland or Ich bin für Italien. 

Tor!

If you already speak some German, you might recognise this word, which means ‘”gate” or “door” (think Brandenburger Tor) However, in football terminology, it is probably the most joyous word you’ll hear at a match because it means goal. Shout it out when your team gets one in the back of the net!

Italy's defender #05 Riccardo Calafiori reacts after scoring an own goal during the UEFA Euro 2024 Group B football match between Spain and Italy at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen on June 20, 2024.

Italy’s defender #05 Riccardo Calafiori reacts after scoring an own goal during the UEFA Euro 2024 Group B football match between Spain and Italy at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen on June 20, 2024. Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

This is a chant involving Tor that you might hear at a match or screening: “Los geht’s Deutschland, schießt ein Tor” (Let’s go Germany, score a goal!).

Meanwhile, the goalkeeper is called der Torwart or der Tormann. Some fans will use the English – goalie. 

READ ALSO: Where are the fan zones for Euro 2024 in Germany?

Elfmeter

For England fans – this is an important one, as England has had some famous trip-ups at penalty shootouts during international tournaments over the years.

The word for penalty kick in German literally means “eleven meters” – the distance from the penalty spot to the goal.

You’ll sometimes hear German fans shouting Elfer! If they think a player has been wronged and deserves a penalty.

Gut gehalten!

This is an excellent Fußball phrase to use if your team’s goalkeeper has just saved an Elfmeter. Literally translating to “well held”, this phrase means “good save”.

Denmark supporters cheer in front of a group of England supporters in Frankfurt on June 20th.

Denmark supporters cheer in front of a group of England supporters in Frankfurt on June 20th. Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

Schiedsrichter

Der Schiedsrichter – or referee – is often the most unpopular person on the pitch. When watching a match with disgruntled German football fans, you might hear this word shortened to Schiri!, similar to how Ref! is used in English.

Schwalbe

The German word for the bird swallow – Die Schwalbe – is used as a rather poetic description for when a player takes a dive. In these situations, when a footballer dramatically falls to try to earn a free kick or a penalty, they often lie on the ground with their arms and legs spread out, resembling a swallow with its forked tail.

IN PICTURES: Football fans take over German cities for Euro 2024

A swallow in the night sky.

A swallow in the night sky. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Karl-Josef Hildenbrand

Abseits

You’ll hear this term frequently, especially if your team plays an attacking game. It’s the German word for “offside,” and fans will call it out whenever the linesman’s flag goes up. 

Meanwhile, der Freistoß is free kick and der Anstoß is kick off. 

Raus!

You’ll hear this being shouted out when things get tense. Raus! which means ‘out!’ is signalling for the players to quickly get the ball away from the box near their goals to avoid danger. 

Arschkarte

Getting shown die Arschkarte (literally arse card) is another word for getting a red card or Rote Karte. 

It dates back to the 1970s and is connected to referees keeping the yellow card in their shirt pocket and the red card in their back pocket, next to their butt. So it is literally an Arschkarte. You’ll also hear fans shouting Gelb! (yellow) or Rot! (red) if they think someone deserves a booking. Or simply Foul! or Foulspiel! (Foul or foul play). 

By the way, there’s an idiom that is used off the pitch. Die Arschkarte ziehen – ‘pulling the arse card’ is the equivalent to the English ‘drawing the short straw’. So if someone says: ‘Du hast die Arschkarte gezogen’, they mean – ‘you’re out of luck’ or ‘you drew the short straw’.

READ ALSO: How to watch the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany 

Das war knapp! 

Das war Knapp means ‘That was close!’ or ‘that was a close call!’ The Euro 2024 tournament is already proving to be nailbiting so this little phrase is a perfect one to call out in a variety of circumstances such as when your team nearly lets in a goal or when the game finishes, but you just made it. If your team wins by a whisker, you can also use the phrase: Um ein Haar! which translates to ‘by a hair!’

For example – Die deutsche Mannschaft hat um ein Haar gewonnen! – ‘The German team won by a whisker!’

With reporting by Rachel Loxton and Sarah Magill 

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