September 23, 2025 • 21 mins
Learning a few phrases in the local language can completely transform your travel experience. This couldn't be more true for German-speaking countries, where a little linguistic effort goes a remarkably long way in connecting with locals and navigating your adventures with confidence.
David Durham (@anamericanpolyglot) joins us to unpack essential German phrases every traveler should know before visiting Germany, Austria, Switzerland, or other German-speaking regions. As a language expert who lived in the Netherlands for over five years and studied German in college, David offers unique insights into not just vocabulary, but the cultural nuances behind German expressions.
We start with fundamental greetings like "Guten Tag" and "Hallo," exploring when to use each depending on your relationship with the person you're addressing. David breaks down common expressions syllable by syllable, making pronunciation accessible even for beginners. You'll learn the difference between formal farewells like "Auf Wiedersehen" and casual goodbyes like "Tschüss," along with essential phrases for navigating restaurants, shops, and public spaces.
The conversation takes a fascinating turn when we explore Swiss German, revealing how this melodic dialect differs from High German (Hochdeutsch) and varies significantly across different Swiss regions. David demonstrates these differences through examples, showing how understanding the German language connects to Dutch and even English through shared linguistic roots.
Beyond just memorizing phrases, we discuss the importance of understanding German grammatical gender (der, die, das) and the formal/informal distinction that shapes social interactions. These cultural insights help you avoid common tourist mistakes and show respect for local customs, breaking the stereotype of the "typical American abroad."
Whether you're planning your first European adventure or you're a seasoned traveler looking to deepen your connection with German-speaking cultures, this episode provides practical language tools that will enhance your journey. Subscribe now and join our growing community of curious, culturally-aware travelers!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, and together we are the
Romies.
We are married.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
To each other.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Right, we are a touring musical duo.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And our music has taken us to all kinds of places
all around the world and keepsus always on the go.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while
running around working to keepall your plates spinning.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
And we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle
and feed your inner travel bug.
Hi everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Hi everyone, welcome back to the Robie's Podcast
Podcast, podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yes, podcast, okay Y'all.
Today we are going to be divingin.
We're continuing our series onlearning languages for travel
and kind of.
The next language on my bucketlist is German.
Because we go to Switzerlandevery year, we usually find
ourselves in the German speakingpart all the time, and it not
(01:00):
only helps with Switzerland, butGermany, austria.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yep, we're usually in Germany every year too.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And then actually the people we're staying with right
now.
They're Finnish, but used tolive in Germany and he was
touring with us and you mighteven hear some music, because
we're getting ready for asession tomorrow but when he was
touring with us and we went tothe Netherlands, where they
speak Dutch, he noticed that hisGerman.
(01:27):
He made the point of letting usknow wow, like I'm kind of
understanding this Dutch thingbecause of my German background
and you know he was fluent inGerman because he lived in
Germany.
So it's really fun how, howmuch German would be helpful in
your travels.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
And one of the things you'll notice with German is
that you'll hear a lot of thingsthat sound similar to English,
because English developedpartially out of the Germanic
languages.
I believe that's correct.
Dave can correct me on that.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So that's why I want to dive in today with David
Durham, and we're very excitedto have him today.
Thank you for joining us, David.
You're a language genius.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Perhaps you should call me genius.
I'll never live up to it.
I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Besides being a very smart, intelligent human being,
you are also a very fun guy anda very well-traveled soul,
worldly guy, worldly guy.
So y'all, today we are going todive into German.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Of course, David speaks Dutch as well.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, only because I lived in the Netherlands for
five and a half years and,speaking of your friend, yes.
I had had just a little bit ofGerman in college.
I took it as an elective, butthat was the best professor I
ever had of a foreign language.
And so after two semesters Iwas conversant.
(02:51):
Wow, that is crazy.
And so when I moved to theNetherlands, that German helped
me so much learn Dutch, becauseDutch is a Germanic language.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Well, there you go.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Especially when you see it written, sometimes when
you hear it spoken as well.
But yeah, there's a lot ofsimilarity.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Great.
So, david, what do we need toknow Diving in if we're going to
visit a German-speaking country?
What are some phrases we needto know so that we are welcoming
to the people we're visiting?
Speaker 1 (03:27):
and Welcomed by the people we're visiting.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, appreciated by and make them feel respected and
loved and, like you said,change that cliche.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Change that cliche.
Yeah, Bust the stereotype ofthe typical American.
Yeah, well, like we said in ourepisode on speaking Italian.
Italian.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
We have to remember that there is a way to address
people formally and addresspeople informally, and this is
just as true in German as in anyother language.
Before we even get to that,we've got the greetings right.
Language, Before we even get tothat, we've got the greetings
right.
And so the best greeting.
Just like buongiorno in Italianor bonjour in French, in German
(04:12):
we say guten tag, Guten tag,and that means good day,
literally good day.
It means hello, speaking toanyone.
But if you are speaking tosomeone you already know you
have some kind of relationshipor at least rapport, you can
also say hallo, and it'sH-A-L-L-O, hallo, not hello,
(04:34):
Hallo.
So guten tag.
And then, when you get to theevening, you say guten Abend,
and so in the afternoon it's thesame guten Tag, and then in the
evening, guten Abend, A-B-E-N-D.
And then when you're sayinggood night and only when you're
saying good night, as in you'releaving or you're going to bed
(04:56):
or whatever you say guten Nacht.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Okay, and would you say each of those slowly please.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
You got it Guten Tag.
It ends in a G, but the soundis more like a K Guten Tag,
guten Abend, gute Nacht.
So in Dutch, in German, you'vegot a little bit of that guttel
thing going on.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yes, that I'm scared of as a singer.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
So is it Guten Nacht, ortennacht.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Can you say the syllables separately?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Guttennacht Okay.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
For reasons that are much too complicated for our
purposes here.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Totally, Totally.
One thing I will point out youmentioned that Abend ends with a
D, but just like the othersounds more like a K, the D
sounds a bit more like a T.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
You're exactly right, Rory.
You have a great ear.
I've always known that aboutyou.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
It's my left one.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
My right one is terrible.
And then goodbye, as we'veprobably already all heard
before auf wiedersehen, aufwiedersehen, and literally that
means until the seeing again.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Okay, we've heard that word so many times.
Would you again say it syllableby syllable?
Speaker 3 (06:13):
slowly.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Because even where you place the vowel is different
from what my ear is used tohearing.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Okay, so Auf, wiedersehen.
Now they say it quickly andsometimes we even leave off the
auf, and so you'll hearWiedersehen a lot.
Wiedersehen is technicallyWiedersehen, but sometimes they
kind of leave out that last Eand it's seen, wiedersehen,
(06:44):
wiedersehen.
We used to say your feet arestained there you go, there you
go.
Auf Wiedersehen.
But once again, just like youcan say hello to someone that
you already know, when you'resaying goodbye you don't have to
say Auf Wiedersehen or AufWiedersehen, that's the more
formal one you can say.
Tschüss, tschüss.
(07:04):
Have you heard that before?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yes, in Switzerland.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
So many times they would say Ciao, Tschüss, like
together when you're visiting ashop.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
That's what they say to us.
Yeah, when we're leaving.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, it's very common.
So, yes, you mentioned.
You said Ciao as well.
That's kind of bled over intomultiple different languages
from Italian right Big time.
So ciao, tschüss, wie das wehen.
Now, how about please and thankyou, okay.
Please is bitte, bitte.
(07:37):
B-i-t-t-e.
Thank you, is danke, thank youvery much, is dankeschön, or
sometimes you'll hear danke sehr.
Sehr means very, so you couldsay sehr gut and that means very
good, danke sehr or danke schön.
(07:58):
Danke schön is probably alittle bit more common, and so
when you say danke schön, theywill say bitte, and you might
say well, wait a minute.
I thought you said that meansplease.
Yes, the answer is yes.
So if you're asking forsomething ein Apfel bitte, one
apple, please, yes, the answeris yes.
So if you're asking forsomething ein Apfel bitte, one
apple please Then they give itto you and they might say bitte
(08:20):
when they're giving it to you,and then you say danke schön and
they say bitte schön, so bitte.
You'll hear a lot, just like inItalian, when we said the
waiter is taking your order,he'll say pre schön, so bitte.
You'll hear a lot, just like inItalian.
When we said the waiter istaking your order, he'll say
prego.
In German, they'll say bitte.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Okay, please, and you're welcome, sort of.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
That's right, uh-huh.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
And that comes from the verb for to ask or to ask
for something.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Which would be like pray, like you mentioned in our
Italian one in our previousepisode, prego.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Prego, that's right.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
You're asking yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, and the word for pray is very similar in
German, but it's not the same.
It's beten, which is to pray.
So dankeschön, bitteschön.
You can also say danke sehr,and yes is ja, no is nein, but
you might hear some people saynee.
In certain regions, dependingon where you are, you might hear
(09:25):
them say nee instead of nein.
Closer you get to Switzerland,nine, closer you get to
Switzerland, yeah, switzerland.
We could do a whole episode onSwiss German, which I'm not
qualified to do.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
It's awesome though.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
But there's 600 dialects.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
It changes.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
I love it so much and just the way it sounds.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Swiss, German is super fun and every canton you
go to it's a bit different, Likeit's a.
How do you spell that?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Well, and I'm just predetermined I don't have the
brain space for all the dialects.
So if I just learned German,that's going to help me, that's
right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
It is just so fascinating to me as a language
freak.
But I lived for six years inthe French speaking part of
Switzerland.
Okay okay, French is actuallymy second language.
I've got two degrees in Frenchand the French speakers can't
stand the sound of Swiss German.
No, you're right about thatFingernails on a chalkboard, but
(10:25):
I personally love it, but it'sjust so sing-songy, you know,
kind of like Swedish.
I love the sound of Swedish.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Really interesting how it's so much more sing-songy
than Hochdeutsch, than theGerman you hear in Germany or
even in Austria.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
It's, yeah, really cute almost right, it is so cute
, rory, explain that term.
You said Hochdeutsch.
Explain that.
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Basically we would say hi German.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
So it's the official German language that you learn,
which you're learning in thisepisode, which you're teaching
us now, because, whether you'rein Germany, austria or
Switzerland, they all speak andunderstand it.
That's right, They'll learn hiGerman in school.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
That'll be kind of the….
Speaker 3 (11:09):
So if you're at a conference where all three
nationalities are represented,they speak Hochdeutsch, high
German, so that everyoneunderstands.
But for example, if I want tosay did you sleep well?
In High German, that would behast du gut geschlafen?
In Swiss German, that would behast du gut geschlafen?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
See, it's so much cuter in Switzerland.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
It's way more personable, and it might sound
different if you're in BernerOberland versus the Udekanten or
whatever.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, it really is fascinating.
I guess we better get back tosome Hofer.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yeah, oh sorry, we could talk about Switzerland a
long time.
Yeah, okay, yes, we could, yes,we could.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
So how do you say excuse me, that's very important
, right?
Entschuldigen, entschuldigen.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
All right.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Syllable by syllable.
Please Entschuldigen.
Or you might hear some peoplesay schuldigung, so
entschuldigen or schuldigung,and that's a way of getting
someone's attention, or ifyou're trying to slip by someone
or slip behind someone samething.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Same thing, slowly, one more time, please.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Entschuldigen, I'm sorry, tut mir leid.
Es tut mir leid, and I lovethat expression, because
literally it means it does mesorrow.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Okay, now, when are you going to say that versus?
Excuse me, like if I'm tryingto get through a crowd and I
bump you with my elbowaccidentally, which one am I
going to use?
Speaker 3 (12:45):
You're going to use both.
If you're trying to slipthrough them, behind them or
whatever, you'll say schuldigenand schuldigen, but if you
accidentally bump them, es tutmir leid If you're apologizing.
That's the key word.
If you're apologizing, then estut mir leid is the more
appropriate expression.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Okay, Now yes, no, good, bad, I mean, the thing we
love to do is yes when we don'tunderstand what someone's saying
in another language so let'slearn how to do that.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Yeah, yeah, now jawohl.
You've heard jawohl before.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
That's just a way of emphasizing your agreement.
Ja, jawohl.
As we said, no is nein, good isgut.
So if I want to say, how areyou?
You say wie geht's, wie geht's,and that literally means how
goes it, which we say sometimesas well, wie geht's?
(13:44):
And that is appropriate foranyone.
If I were to speak specificallyto a friend, I'd say how is it
going for you?
If I were speaking to astranger, someone to whom I show
respect, I'd say but that'sgetting too complicated.
(14:05):
Like I said, vigates by itselfis good for anyone.
Okay, great, and chances areyou know you're in a shop.
It's not really normal for youto ask them how they are.
That's generally what you saywith someone that you're already
familiar with.
Right V Gates.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah, it's only in America where we use it as a
greeting and not a question hey,how are you, how you doing, how
you doing, yeah, yeah, exactlyare you how?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
are you doing?
How are you doing?
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
It doesn't happen in Europe.
That's not the same.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
That's right.
Do you speak English?
Sprechen Sie Englisch?
So in that word sprechen thereare two different consonant
sounds.
One is the sch sprechen and thesecond one is hin, and that's
kind of a difficult sound forEnglish speakers.
(14:56):
We tend to make it the same asthe sh like sprechen, but it's
actually sprechen, and that hinis similar to the beginning of
the word human or Houston inEnglish.
It's a lighter sound than shhShh.
(15:19):
Do you speak English?
Once again, sprechen Sie the Z?
Is you English?
Not English, but English?
Sprechen Sie Englisch?
I don't understand Ich.
There's that same sound againIch, not ich, but ich verstehe
(15:39):
nicht.
Ich verstehe nicht.
I understand not.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And can you slow down the word understand for us.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Yes, ver, ver.
That's a V-E-R ver, but the vis pronounced like an f, but an
st is always and that's so.
(16:08):
Not is nicht, no is nein.
Ich verstehe nicht.
Es tut mir leid.
I'm sorry, ich verstehe nicht,I don't understand.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Now, if we want to get somewhere and we want to say
where is the, where is thewater?
And the toilet and the station,not the water in the toilet,
but where's the water?
Drinking water?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
And the toilet.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Those are always ones I need to station, not the
water in the toilet, but where'sthe water Drinking water?
Speaker 1 (16:32):
In the toilet.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Those are always ones I need to know.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
So the word for where is wo spelled W-O, Wo ist Is,
is, is, is.
Wo ist das WC, the WC or dieToilette?
Wo ist die Toilette, bitte?
That's a good place to put theplease.
(16:55):
Where is the toilet, please?
Wo ist die Toilette, bitte?
Or wo sind die Toiletten?
Where are the restrooms?
Wo ist der Bahnhof?
You know, what Bahnhof is?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
That's the train station, that's right.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Wo ist der Bahnhof?
Wo ist die Apotheke?
The pharmacy.
I love that.
It's akin to the wordapothecary.
Yeah, totally.
Wo ist die Apotheke?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
It sounds like you're also saying a D in there, so wo
ist D?
Is like the.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Okay, and then the whatever, and they'll use that,
like we use the word the thetrain station, the toilet.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Actually no, Okay, it's a little bit more
complicated than that.
We don't have time in thissession to go into all the
reasons, but there are threedifferent genders in German
Masculine, feminine and neuter.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
And so the train station, that's a masculine word
, Okay, and that is der D-E-RBahnhof.
But the pharmacy, that's afeminine word and there's no
logic behind that.
Don't break your head trying tofigure out why pharmacy is
feminine, you know.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Why is the table masculine?
Whatever so, that's feminineand it's diapoteca.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
But das is the neuter for the and that goes before a
lot of words that have beenborrowed from another language
or that are common to anotherlanguage, like hotel, das hotel.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
I think we'll leave it at that.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah, that sounds good, so a quick question for
you.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
When you were asking about the toilets, maybe think
of French, where you would askit in the plural, so it's not
impolite.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Does it same in German, or does it matter?
Speaker 3 (18:56):
If you say la toilette in French, it wouldn't
be considered impolite, justincorrect.
Okay, all right, it's alwaysreferred to in the plural.
In French, german die Toiletteor die Toiletten.
Die is also the the foranything plural.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
So wo sind die Toiletten?
That is, where are the toilets,and that's probably the most
polite way to ask it.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Can you repeat toilet toiletten slowly.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Toiletten, toiletten.
How about?
I would like.
Yeah, that'd be great In arestaurant or if you're asking
for something in a shop.
Ich, that's I, once againMöchte.
That was a little tricky.
There's that vowel sound Mö,and then that human sound Möchte
(19:52):
, ich möchte.
Yes, yes, great.
How about to end with my nameis, and what is your name?
Yeah, okay, that'd be good,yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
That'd be good.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Ich heiße.
My name is Ich heiße.
Ich heiße David, german David.
Okay, ich heiße David.
Wie heißt du?
What is your name?
Ich heiße David German David.
Ich heiße David.
Wie heißt du?
What is your name?
Now, du is familiar and in yourcircles, most likely that's
(20:25):
what you will be using the mostoften.
Even if you're arriving in aplace, the people are hosting
you.
You feel like friends already.
There's already a rapport,you've been corresponding or
whatever.
Wie heißt du?
But if you're in a more formalsituation, wie heißen Sie?
(20:45):
Wie heißen Sie?
Ich heiße Rory, ich heiße Alexa, etc.
Wiedersehen, danke schön, bitteschön.
Ich danke euch.
I thank you guys.
This is really fun Well thankyou very much.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
We'll see you in a future episode.
Yes, sounds good.
We hope we've inspired you thisepisode, so join us next time.
Please subscribe to rate andshare our podcast with your
friends or you know whomever.
And please like and follow uson Instagram, youtube and
Facebook.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
We are also on X and on all social platforms.
We are at TheRomies, that'sT-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-S, and our
main hub is our website.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
At wwwtheromyscom, that's right, that's
D-H-E-R-O-A-M.
I-e-s Dot com.
We'll be there until next time.
Yeah, thanks for listening, bye.
Hi, I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, and together we are the
Romies.
We are married.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
To each other.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Right, we are a touring musical duo.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And our music has taken us to all kinds of places
all around the world and keepsus always on the go.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while
running around working to keepall your plates spinning.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
And we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle
and feed your inner travel bug.
Hi everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Hi everyone, welcome back to the Robie's Podcast
Podcast, podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yes, podcast, okay Y'all.
Today we are going to be divingin.
We're continuing our series onlearning languages for travel
and kind of.
The next language on my bucketlist is German.
Because we go to Switzerlandevery year, we usually find
ourselves in the German speakingpart all the time, and it not
(01:00):
only helps with Switzerland, butGermany, austria.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yep, we're usually in Germany every year too.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And then actually the people we're staying with right
now.
They're Finnish, but used tolive in Germany and he was
touring with us and you mighteven hear some music, because
we're getting ready for asession tomorrow but when he was
touring with us and we went tothe Netherlands, where they
speak Dutch, he noticed that hisGerman.
(01:27):
He made the point of letting usknow wow, like I'm kind of
understanding this Dutch thingbecause of my German background
and you know he was fluent inGerman because he lived in
Germany.
So it's really fun how, howmuch German would be helpful in
your travels.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
And one of the things you'll notice with German is
that you'll hear a lot of thingsthat sound similar to English,
because English developedpartially out of the Germanic
languages.
I believe that's correct.
Dave can correct me on that.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So that's why I want to dive in today with David
Durham, and we're very excitedto have him today.
Thank you for joining us, David.
You're a language genius.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Perhaps you should call me genius.
I'll never live up to it.
I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Besides being a very smart, intelligent human being,
you are also a very fun guy anda very well-traveled soul,
worldly guy, worldly guy.
So y'all, today we are going todive into German.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Of course, David speaks Dutch as well.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, only because I lived in the Netherlands for
five and a half years and,speaking of your friend, yes.
I had had just a little bit ofGerman in college.
I took it as an elective, butthat was the best professor I
ever had of a foreign language.
And so after two semesters Iwas conversant.
(02:51):
Wow, that is crazy.
And so when I moved to theNetherlands, that German helped
me so much learn Dutch, becauseDutch is a Germanic language.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Well, there you go.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Especially when you see it written, sometimes when
you hear it spoken as well.
But yeah, there's a lot ofsimilarity.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Great.
So, david, what do we need toknow Diving in if we're going to
visit a German-speaking country?
What are some phrases we needto know so that we are welcoming
to the people we're visiting?
Speaker 1 (03:27):
and Welcomed by the people we're visiting.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, appreciated by and make them feel respected and
loved and, like you said,change that cliche.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Change that cliche.
Yeah, Bust the stereotype ofthe typical American.
Yeah, well, like we said in ourepisode on speaking Italian.
Italian.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
We have to remember that there is a way to address
people formally and addresspeople informally, and this is
just as true in German as in anyother language.
Before we even get to that,we've got the greetings right.
Language, Before we even get tothat, we've got the greetings
right.
And so the best greeting.
Just like buongiorno in Italianor bonjour in French, in German
(04:12):
we say guten tag, Guten tag,and that means good day,
literally good day.
It means hello, speaking toanyone.
But if you are speaking tosomeone you already know you
have some kind of relationshipor at least rapport, you can
also say hallo, and it'sH-A-L-L-O, hallo, not hello,
(04:34):
Hallo.
So guten tag.
And then, when you get to theevening, you say guten Abend,
and so in the afternoon it's thesame guten Tag, and then in the
evening, guten Abend, A-B-E-N-D.
And then when you're sayinggood night and only when you're
saying good night, as in you'releaving or you're going to bed
(04:56):
or whatever you say guten Nacht.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Okay, and would you say each of those slowly please.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
You got it Guten Tag.
It ends in a G, but the soundis more like a K Guten Tag,
guten Abend, gute Nacht.
So in Dutch, in German, you'vegot a little bit of that guttel
thing going on.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yes, that I'm scared of as a singer.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
So is it Guten Nacht, ortennacht.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Can you say the syllables separately?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Guttennacht Okay.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
For reasons that are much too complicated for our
purposes here.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Totally, Totally.
One thing I will point out youmentioned that Abend ends with a
D, but just like the othersounds more like a K, the D
sounds a bit more like a T.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
You're exactly right, Rory.
You have a great ear.
I've always known that aboutyou.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
It's my left one.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
My right one is terrible.
And then goodbye, as we'veprobably already all heard
before auf wiedersehen, aufwiedersehen, and literally that
means until the seeing again.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Okay, we've heard that word so many times.
Would you again say it syllableby syllable?
Speaker 3 (06:13):
slowly.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Because even where you place the vowel is different
from what my ear is used tohearing.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Okay, so Auf, wiedersehen.
Now they say it quickly andsometimes we even leave off the
auf, and so you'll hearWiedersehen a lot.
Wiedersehen is technicallyWiedersehen, but sometimes they
kind of leave out that last Eand it's seen, wiedersehen,
(06:44):
wiedersehen.
We used to say your feet arestained there you go, there you
go.
Auf Wiedersehen.
But once again, just like youcan say hello to someone that
you already know, when you'resaying goodbye you don't have to
say Auf Wiedersehen or AufWiedersehen, that's the more
formal one you can say.
Tschüss, tschüss.
(07:04):
Have you heard that before?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yes, in Switzerland.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
So many times they would say Ciao, Tschüss, like
together when you're visiting ashop.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
That's what they say to us.
Yeah, when we're leaving.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, it's very common.
So, yes, you mentioned.
You said Ciao as well.
That's kind of bled over intomultiple different languages
from Italian right Big time.
So ciao, tschüss, wie das wehen.
Now, how about please and thankyou, okay.
Please is bitte, bitte.
(07:37):
B-i-t-t-e.
Thank you, is danke, thank youvery much, is dankeschön, or
sometimes you'll hear danke sehr.
Sehr means very, so you couldsay sehr gut and that means very
good, danke sehr or danke schön.
(07:58):
Danke schön is probably alittle bit more common, and so
when you say danke schön, theywill say bitte, and you might
say well, wait a minute.
I thought you said that meansplease.
Yes, the answer is yes.
So if you're asking forsomething ein Apfel bitte, one
apple, please, yes, the answeris yes.
So if you're asking forsomething ein Apfel bitte, one
apple please Then they give itto you and they might say bitte
(08:20):
when they're giving it to you,and then you say danke schön and
they say bitte schön, so bitte.
You'll hear a lot, just like inItalian, when we said the
waiter is taking your order,he'll say pre schön, so bitte.
You'll hear a lot, just like inItalian.
When we said the waiter istaking your order, he'll say
prego.
In German, they'll say bitte.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Okay, please, and you're welcome, sort of.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
That's right, uh-huh.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
And that comes from the verb for to ask or to ask
for something.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Which would be like pray, like you mentioned in our
Italian one in our previousepisode, prego.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Prego, that's right.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
You're asking yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, and the word for pray is very similar in
German, but it's not the same.
It's beten, which is to pray.
So dankeschön, bitteschön.
You can also say danke sehr,and yes is ja, no is nein, but
you might hear some people saynee.
In certain regions, dependingon where you are, you might hear
(09:25):
them say nee instead of nein.
Closer you get to Switzerland,nine, closer you get to
Switzerland, yeah, switzerland.
We could do a whole episode onSwiss German, which I'm not
qualified to do.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
It's awesome though.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
But there's 600 dialects.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
It changes.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
I love it so much and just the way it sounds.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Swiss, German is super fun and every canton you
go to it's a bit different, Likeit's a.
How do you spell that?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Well, and I'm just predetermined I don't have the
brain space for all the dialects.
So if I just learned German,that's going to help me, that's
right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
It is just so fascinating to me as a language
freak.
But I lived for six years inthe French speaking part of
Switzerland.
Okay okay, French is actuallymy second language.
I've got two degrees in Frenchand the French speakers can't
stand the sound of Swiss German.
No, you're right about thatFingernails on a chalkboard, but
(10:25):
I personally love it, but it'sjust so sing-songy, you know,
kind of like Swedish.
I love the sound of Swedish.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Really interesting how it's so much more sing-songy
than Hochdeutsch, than theGerman you hear in Germany or
even in Austria.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
It's, yeah, really cute almost right, it is so cute
, rory, explain that term.
You said Hochdeutsch.
Explain that.
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Basically we would say hi German.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
So it's the official German language that you learn,
which you're learning in thisepisode, which you're teaching
us now, because, whether you'rein Germany, austria or
Switzerland, they all speak andunderstand it.
That's right, They'll learn hiGerman in school.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
That'll be kind of the….
Speaker 3 (11:09):
So if you're at a conference where all three
nationalities are represented,they speak Hochdeutsch, high
German, so that everyoneunderstands.
But for example, if I want tosay did you sleep well?
In High German, that would behast du gut geschlafen?
In Swiss German, that would behast du gut geschlafen?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
See, it's so much cuter in Switzerland.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
It's way more personable, and it might sound
different if you're in BernerOberland versus the Udekanten or
whatever.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, it really is fascinating.
I guess we better get back tosome Hofer.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yeah, oh sorry, we could talk about Switzerland a
long time.
Yeah, okay, yes, we could, yes,we could.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
So how do you say excuse me, that's very important
, right?
Entschuldigen, entschuldigen.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
All right.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Syllable by syllable.
Please Entschuldigen.
Or you might hear some peoplesay schuldigung, so
entschuldigen or schuldigung,and that's a way of getting
someone's attention, or ifyou're trying to slip by someone
or slip behind someone samething.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Same thing, slowly, one more time, please.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Entschuldigen, I'm sorry, tut mir leid.
Es tut mir leid, and I lovethat expression, because
literally it means it does mesorrow.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Okay, now, when are you going to say that versus?
Excuse me, like if I'm tryingto get through a crowd and I
bump you with my elbowaccidentally, which one am I
going to use?
Speaker 3 (12:45):
You're going to use both.
If you're trying to slipthrough them, behind them or
whatever, you'll say schuldigenand schuldigen, but if you
accidentally bump them, es tutmir leid If you're apologizing.
That's the key word.
If you're apologizing, then estut mir leid is the more
appropriate expression.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Okay, Now yes, no, good, bad, I mean, the thing we
love to do is yes when we don'tunderstand what someone's saying
in another language so let'slearn how to do that.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Yeah, yeah, now jawohl.
You've heard jawohl before.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
That's just a way of emphasizing your agreement.
Ja, jawohl.
As we said, no is nein, good isgut.
So if I want to say, how areyou?
You say wie geht's, wie geht's,and that literally means how
goes it, which we say sometimesas well, wie geht's?
(13:44):
And that is appropriate foranyone.
If I were to speak specificallyto a friend, I'd say how is it
going for you?
If I were speaking to astranger, someone to whom I show
respect, I'd say but that'sgetting too complicated.
(14:05):
Like I said, vigates by itselfis good for anyone.
Okay, great, and chances areyou know you're in a shop.
It's not really normal for youto ask them how they are.
That's generally what you saywith someone that you're already
familiar with.
Right V Gates.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah, it's only in America where we use it as a
greeting and not a question hey,how are you, how you doing, how
you doing, yeah, yeah, exactlyare you how?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
are you doing?
How are you doing?
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
It doesn't happen in Europe.
That's not the same.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
That's right.
Do you speak English?
Sprechen Sie Englisch?
So in that word sprechen thereare two different consonant
sounds.
One is the sch sprechen and thesecond one is hin, and that's
kind of a difficult sound forEnglish speakers.
(14:56):
We tend to make it the same asthe sh like sprechen, but it's
actually sprechen, and that hinis similar to the beginning of
the word human or Houston inEnglish.
It's a lighter sound than shhShh.
(15:19):
Do you speak English?
Once again, sprechen Sie the Z?
Is you English?
Not English, but English?
Sprechen Sie Englisch?
I don't understand Ich.
There's that same sound againIch, not ich, but ich verstehe
(15:39):
nicht.
Ich verstehe nicht.
I understand not.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And can you slow down the word understand for us.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Yes, ver, ver.
That's a V-E-R ver, but the vis pronounced like an f, but an
st is always and that's so.
(16:08):
Not is nicht, no is nein.
Ich verstehe nicht.
Es tut mir leid.
I'm sorry, ich verstehe nicht,I don't understand.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Now, if we want to get somewhere and we want to say
where is the, where is thewater?
And the toilet and the station,not the water in the toilet,
but where's the water?
Drinking water?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
And the toilet.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Those are always ones I need to station, not the
water in the toilet, but where'sthe water Drinking water?
Speaker 1 (16:32):
In the toilet.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Those are always ones I need to know.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
So the word for where is wo spelled W-O, Wo ist Is,
is, is, is.
Wo ist das WC, the WC or dieToilette?
Wo ist die Toilette, bitte?
That's a good place to put theplease.
(16:55):
Where is the toilet, please?
Wo ist die Toilette, bitte?
Or wo sind die Toiletten?
Where are the restrooms?
Wo ist der Bahnhof?
You know, what Bahnhof is?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
That's the train station, that's right.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Wo ist der Bahnhof?
Wo ist die Apotheke?
The pharmacy.
I love that.
It's akin to the wordapothecary.
Yeah, totally.
Wo ist die Apotheke?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
It sounds like you're also saying a D in there, so wo
ist D?
Is like the.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Okay, and then the whatever, and they'll use that,
like we use the word the thetrain station, the toilet.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Actually no, Okay, it's a little bit more
complicated than that.
We don't have time in thissession to go into all the
reasons, but there are threedifferent genders in German
Masculine, feminine and neuter.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
And so the train station, that's a masculine word
, Okay, and that is der D-E-RBahnhof.
But the pharmacy, that's afeminine word and there's no
logic behind that.
Don't break your head trying tofigure out why pharmacy is
feminine, you know.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Why is the table masculine?
Whatever so, that's feminineand it's diapoteca.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
But das is the neuter for the and that goes before a
lot of words that have beenborrowed from another language
or that are common to anotherlanguage, like hotel, das hotel.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
I think we'll leave it at that.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah, that sounds good, so a quick question for
you.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
When you were asking about the toilets, maybe think
of French, where you would askit in the plural, so it's not
impolite.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Does it same in German, or does it matter?
Speaker 3 (18:56):
If you say la toilette in French, it wouldn't
be considered impolite, justincorrect.
Okay, all right, it's alwaysreferred to in the plural.
In French, german die Toiletteor die Toiletten.
Die is also the the foranything plural.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
So wo sind die Toiletten?
That is, where are the toilets,and that's probably the most
polite way to ask it.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Can you repeat toilet toiletten slowly.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Toiletten, toiletten.
How about?
I would like.
Yeah, that'd be great In arestaurant or if you're asking
for something in a shop.
Ich, that's I, once againMöchte.
That was a little tricky.
There's that vowel sound Mö,and then that human sound Möchte
(19:52):
, ich möchte.
Yes, yes, great.
How about to end with my nameis, and what is your name?
Yeah, okay, that'd be good,yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
That'd be good.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Ich heiße.
My name is Ich heiße.
Ich heiße David, german David.
Okay, ich heiße David.
Wie heißt du?
What is your name?
Ich heiße David German David.
Ich heiße David.
Wie heißt du?
What is your name?
Now, du is familiar and in yourcircles, most likely that's
(20:25):
what you will be using the mostoften.
Even if you're arriving in aplace, the people are hosting
you.
You feel like friends already.
There's already a rapport,you've been corresponding or
whatever.
Wie heißt du?
But if you're in a more formalsituation, wie heißen Sie?
(20:45):
Wie heißen Sie?
Ich heiße Rory, ich heiße Alexa, etc.
Wiedersehen, danke schön, bitteschön.
Ich danke euch.
I thank you guys.
This is really fun Well thankyou very much.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
We'll see you in a future episode.
Yes, sounds good.
We hope we've inspired you thisepisode, so join us next time.
Please subscribe to rate andshare our podcast with your
friends or you know whomever.
And please like and follow uson Instagram, youtube and
Facebook.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
We are also on X and on all social platforms.
We are at TheRomies, that'sT-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-S, and our
main hub is our website.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
At wwwtheromyscom, that's right, that's
D-H-E-R-O-A-M.
I-e-s Dot com.
We'll be there until next time.
Yeah, thanks for listening, bye.
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