Talk:German/Lesson 4

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The story about Zurich, Switzerland is modified from the entry at Zürich in the German Wikipedia - Marsh 03:23, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Might it not be too soon in the lessons to be conjugating a verb? I'm thinking we should introduce indirect articles, pronouns before much can be said about verbs. Maybe we should make a series of "blank" lesson pages and lay out on each one our ideas of grammar lessons to be taught. We can move the ideas around until it makes some sense, and (at the same time) work on whatever parts we have an interest in. If the "idea" gets moved, the worked on grammar lesson can be moved with it. The alternative is to develop grammar lessons, then rename the pages after an outline on order is established? What say you all? - Marsh 05:20, 1 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * Sure. I was just copying the structure of the French Wikibook, they begin conjugating early. Etothex 05:45, 1 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * Oh, BTW, could you check out Talk:German:_Lesson_2? There seems to by some problem with the conjugation of spielen. Etothex 06:11, 1 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * If you can believe it, I found my old beginning German textbook from highschool. I'm using that (very roughly) to gage progress through the lessons.  Keep adding stuff in. If I think it looks too advanced, I can always move it a few lessons further on. So no problem, really. - Marsh 03:04, 3 Nov 2003 (UTC)


 * Actually I responded to that one earlier (see Talk:German: Lesson 2). Not a problem, just a matter of preference. I think either way is "correct" but I think leaving the "to" off the English verbs makes the presentation easier for the student by better matching the German-English. - Marsh

Du bist  You  are Ihr seid  You (formal)  are Sie sind  They  are''

I beg to differ with the above translations. I was under the impression that "du" and "ihr" are the singular and plural familiar you, while "sie" is both "she" and "they," and finally, "Sie" (capitalized) is the singular and plural formal you. Lord Emsworth 19:07, 1 Nov 2003 (UTC)

I think you have that right Lord Emsworth. As soon as we can establish where it is good to start conjugating verbs, we can get it in correctly (or we can cjhange it now and maybe move it later) - Marsh 03:00, 3 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Hi, I've edited some typos in the Gespraech 4-1. Just for the record I'd like to say that German universities are generally not expensive at all (I payed a little less than $200 per semester and half of it was for a ticket that gave me unlimited public transportation in my area). Thomas


 * Thanks! Keep editing those sentences. I'm counting on you and the couple of other native speakers to make this thing look real. Does not expensive extend to medical school?  Should I have him going to school somewhere other than Germany?  I was working towards a conversation involving him selling some furniture. Of course, he could have another reason for doing so. Would the idea of a poor graduate student not be typical in Germany as it would in the US? -- Marsh 07:50, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC)


 * The idea of a poor graduate student is quite OK, and I guess there are some specific medical schools that are expensive. So we can leave the version as it is (btw. I really like the idea that you are building up plots that go together in a nice story) Thomas

The phrase "Ich habe sie gern!" in the first dialogue is used to refer to a person rather than to an object. "Ich mag sie." (sie referring to "die Wohnung") would be more appropriate in this context, but still sounds kinda strange. The first one, "Mir gefällt deine Wohnung." is the best version, and basically has the same meaning as "Ich habe sie gern!" ("I like it!", basically)

Also corrected some typos and word order problems ("sieht" not "seht" and "sich umsehen" not "umsehen sich").

Second dialogue: "Ich glaube, dass sie 'Karoline' heißt." would sound more natural if phrased "Ich glaube, sie heißt 'Karoline'." Oh, and is brunette really black where you come from? It's rather brown around here... Martin

I think some sentences aren’t a good German:
 * "Ein Bruder besucht" is wrong German. Better: "Markus bekommt Besuch von seinem Bruder"
 * Similar improvement made (now Lesson 6) - marsh


 * I don’t understand the phrase "Mutti sagt Hallo". Does Karl say that? (Lesson 6)
 * It follows "Karl:" Should say "Mother says hello"; they are brothers and Karl lives with his parents. - marsh


 * "Ich glaube, dass sie 'Karoline' heißt." is correct German. But I think it’s better to say "Ich glaube, sie heißt Karoline".
 * Changed - marsh

-- Daniel 19:11, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Edit: To call someone "ein Schwein" in German is quite offending even for good friends. Better say: "Du bist ein Ferkel!" (i.e. "Du bist ein Schwein!" means "You are a hog!") das Ferkel = piglet or in that case substitute and "polite form" for the word pig.
 * Good point. "Mark, you are a pig!" is a perfectly appropriate response in English, but too harsh (insulting) in German - marsh 04:38, 22 September 2005 (UTC)