Basic German Knowledge for Travelers: Starting at the Very Beginning

Learning to speak a language fluently is time intensive, hard work, and simply not worth it if you're only visiting for a weekend. There are tons of phrase books and beginner tapes out there, but if you're going to Germany, you might be surprised how far a few words can get you.

More than half the English language is derived from German. This means that paying attention and studying context can be a decent substitute for actual knowledge. For example, it won't take long to figure out that "hallo" means "hello." This doesn't always work, however. The word "wer" (pronounced Vayr) means "who," even though it sounds a great deal like "where." Asking who the toilet is won't get you very close to a bathroom.

When you're looking at different phrases in travel books or articles, there is one major difference you might notice. Sometimes 'you' is translated as 'du' and sometimes it's translated as 'Sie.' What's the deal? Du is the informal use of the word 'you.' It's used primarily among friends and peers. Sie is formal, used between strangers and business acquaintances. If you're traveling through Germany, you won't get in trouble for using 'du,' but it's generally a better idea to use 'Sie.'

Die, Der, and Das are all words that mean 'the.' Die also means She, Der also means He, and Das also means That. You've probably guessed at this point that some words are broken into different categories by gender. Sometimes it makes sense: Der Man, Die Frau. As a tourist you won't be expected to know the difference between word genders. Just don't worry about the difference between "Wo ist die Toilette?" (Where is the bathroom) and "Ich möchte das Buch" (I want the book).

Some basics about pronunciation:

Our W (wet, when, watermelon) is pronounced as a V (vacuum, venue, voluptuous) in German. It's the most obvious, common pronunciation difference. If you didn't already know this, you probably shouldn't be reading this article.

German is full of throat noises; don't be afraid to sound a little phlegm-y when you talk (within reason). Try and speak from the base of your throat.

Umlauts, those two little dots over vowels, make pronunciation tricky. To pronounce ö, round your lips as though you're about to say "ooooooo!" and instead, make an "eh" sound.

There is no silent 'e' in German. If there's an 'e' hanging off the end of a word, it's pronounced 'uh.' For example: Toilette (bathroom) is spoken with three syllables. Toil-ett-uh.

Words you should probably already know, but it wouldn't be starting from the basics if they weren't included: Yes=Ja (ya), No=Nein (nine), Thank you=Danke (donk-uh), Your welcome=Bitte (bit-tuh), Please=Bitte (bit-tuh).

Here are some simple German phrases to appear slightly less ignorant than the typical traveler:

Do you speak English?

Shprecken zee Eng-lish?

Where is the bathroom?

Vō ist dee Toil-ettuh?

Could you help me?

Können zee meer helfen?

How much does that cost?

Vee-feel kohstet dos?

Help!

Hilfeh!

Here's a secret: just about every person you will meet in Germany speaks fluent English. Some of the advertisements are in English, and the radio plays a lot of American music. Learning the language of the country makes your visit more enjoyable, educational, and easier, but it is certainly possible to go through Germany without speaking a word of German.