German words which are like English

 

I am learning German on Duolingo. I reached the top of the top league. That means I need to put in more hours than anybody else.  Any time I want a brief break, I do an exercise.

Easy German-English Words

Chefin - boss

Dokument - document

frustriert - frustrated

Hunger - hunger

Job - job

Kollegin - colleague

perfekt - perfect

die Situation - the situation

stressig - stressful

und - and

  Where can you learn and practise speaking German? 

Flag of Germany

Flag of Austria

Flag of Switzerland

You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland.  Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.

Flag of Luxembourg.

Flag of Liechtenstein.

German Language Insight, Useful in Austria, German and Switzerland -Schubert and other names

 

Flag of Germany

Names starting with Sch

Schubert, the family name of composer Franz Schubert, means shoemaker or cobbler. Schubert was German speaking, as you might guess from the spelling of his name. He was actually Austrian. German is spoken in Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland. 

Schneberger

I started researched names starting with Sch because I have a blouse with the label Schneberger Gruppe. 

Schneberger Gruppe Classic Clothes

 It is vintage and I found blouses, jackets, long jackets or coats, dresses and skirt suits, with this label on ebay at prices from affordable seven pounds to twenty pounds and upwards. 

Berger - Meaning Mountain

The name berger means person from a berg or mountain. This ending comes from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 

Schnee - Snow

Schne could be a variation on or shortened form of schnee which means snow. That might help you to remember or recognize the company name and to type it correctly. 

Bürger - Citizen

Not to be confused with burger with the unlaut or double dot over the u. That spelling is a word which means a citizen or city dweller. It can also mean freeman, or free man.

Think of two brothers. One lives on a snowy mountain. The other lives in a city. You meet their two grandsons. The family names indicates where their ancestors used to live.

These translations help you to remember the names of new friends or business contacts or shopkeepers or travel guides you meet on your travels, as well and shop names and street names.

German SCH

When typing, also remember that in English we use the letter combinations sh and ch, but in German they use sch. 

I looked up names starting with Sch and found several more, some of which were famous people.

Schwarzkopf - black head

Schwarzkopf meaning black head, was a name often given to people with black hair, and was the family name of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, who was an opera singer. 

Schmidt - Smith

The family name smith is derived from the German word for smith which was given to a blacksmith.

Schneider - sewer

A schneider was a sewer, a seamstress, a tailor. 

Learning And Speaking German

I learned German on Duolingo.  A quick guide to everyday phrases is in wikivoyage under phrasebook. You can copy it and print it off, or bookmark it on your laptop.

Useful Websites for learning German

Duolingo.com

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/German_phrasebook

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Misadventures With The Wrong Language Group, Wrong Coach, Wrong Taxi

Flag of France from Wikipedia.

Problem
Have you ever lost your tour group or had trouble finding your coach or taxi in a car park during a travel trip?

Story of My Misadventure
I once joined an English speaking group on a guided tour of a stately home in France - and I stopped to take a photo. We had joined the English tour group of the stately home. I did not know the guide or the other people on the guided tour, and neither the guide nor the other guests knew me.

 I was with a group who had an English speaking guide - easy, ok?

I saw a group at the end of the gallery and ran up. From the back of the crowd I worked my way forward. When I could hear, I realised the guide was speaking German!

 Okay, so maybe we had some Germans in our group. Eventually I asked him if he could repeat his story in English. He told me, "You are with the wrong group. This is a German group."

I tried three different group before I found the English group.


If only they had carried flags!

That's one story of my French misadventure. It was not my only misadventure. Call me Miss Adventure.
Flags are very handy.

Learn A Language
On the other hand, if I had learned to speak German fluently, I could have stayed with the German speaking group. But then I would have my husband, got back to the car park at the wrong time and boarded the wrong coach.

You also need flags on coaches. Several time I have been on a tour and the guide has told us to remember our coach number plate. Trying to remember a coach number plate is much harder than recognizing a flag.

Identifying A Taxi In India
As for a taxi, I once remembered the ending of a taxi number plate in India. When I emerged from the museum, which had four exits and four car parks, I discovered that all taxis had number plates ending with the same two digits or letters.

If only I had brought with a little Union Jack and Blutac to stick it on the front windscreen. It is easy enough to take a picture or flag from a magazine or newspaper or free map and keep it in your handbag or travel bag to add to your suitcase or taxi windscreen.

Useful Websites
For a free learn online language website for French, German and English from other languages, try:
duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.