German Level I Introduction

Welcome to Level I German!

Level I is aimed at junior high and high school students. However, it can be used by others just beginning to learn to speak or read German.

The goal of Level I German is not to overwhelm or confuse the student, but rather to teach the student in an orderly fashion. Learning German is meant to be fun, not subjective. Thus, the vocabulary is formatted for translating from English (which the students know) into German.

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German and English

German and English are very close to each other. Here are some major similarities:

Both languages use the Latin alphabet.
Normally, sentences follow Subject-Verb order.
Questions have Verb-Subject order or Adverb-Verb-Subject order.
Both languages have prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs, nouns, verbs, interjections, pronouns, and adjectives.
The indirect object usually comes before the direct object.
There are contractions in both German and English.
Many words share the same roots, such as word and Wort, or house and Haus.
Many words, such as Football and Sandwich are the same in English and German.

As you can see, German is very much like English. There are, however, differences:

German has genders; every noun is either masculine, feminine, or neuter.
German has three different words for "you", while English has only one.
German has more verb forms than English.
German has more letters than and different pronunciations from English (see Lesson 1).
German is the only known written language where every noun is capitalized, whether or not it is a proper noun.
Sometimes in German the verb will be the last word of a sentence.
Adjectives will have different endings based on the noun they are modifying in German.
German is more 'guttural'. In German, you talk in the back of your mouth.
"I" (ich) is only capitalized if it is the first word of the sentence.
In German, there are four cases; in English, there are three.

However, German is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. The differences will be tackled over the course of the lessons.

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How to use this level of the German textbook

The lessons are meant to be taken in order. At the reviews, after every third lesson, you go back to look at the previous lessons.

You will need a notebook and a pencil to take notes and solve problems for this course.

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Layout of Each Lesson

When completed,

Every lesson will have a title at the top, centered.
The lesson will introduce several topics, more and more as the lessons progress.
After each section, there will be a link to the problems page (at German:Beginner Lesson #P), where you will write down the problems and the answers on your own sheet of paper.*
When done with the problems for that section, you will go to the answers page (at German:Beginner Lesson #A), where you check your answers. Keep track of your scores (put them on the back page of your notebook, with the Lesson # and section title) for later use.
The answers page will take you back to the lesson. Continue in the same fashion.
At the end of the page there will be a link to the test (at German:Beginner Lesson #T). Before you go to it, review any sections that you are unclear on, or any that you missed problems on. When you are ready, take the test. There will be a link to the test answers page (at German:Beginner Lesson #TA) for when you are done.

Note: * The link is the only indication of the end of the section. The title is the indication that these are in place. If it is there, and there is no link to the problems, continue on until you get to a link.

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Levels of Completion

On the contents page, you will see a certain number of filled-in boxes next to each lesson. The number of boxes corresponds to the completeness of the lesson as follows:

1 The lesson is started, with a lesson overview at least.
2 The first 2-4 sections are complete.
3 Most of the lesson is complete.
4 The entire lesson itself is complete.
5 The problems and answers for approximately half of the lesson are done.
6 All of the problems and answers are done.
7 The flashcards are done and the test is started.
8 The test and its answers are complete, and therefore the entire lesson is done.

Note the differences between this system of completeness labeling and that for Wikibooks in general.

Level I uses a "more than enough" system for the lesson problems and answers. You don't have to do all of the problems if you think you know the material. However, the test may require knowing certain vocabulary, so you need to make sure you know it.

Level I is not intended to precede Level II; rather, it is a completely different course as explained in the first paragraph of the Foreword.