German is one of the major languages of Europe. Deutsch, as this language is referred to by the natives, is the national language of Germany, and is also one of the official languages of Austria, Switzerland and Belgium among other countries. It is also one of the working languages of the European Union. The language is widely spoken as a minority language in countries such as Slovakia, Namibia and the Czech Republic. On the whole, the German language has over a hundred million native speakers plus another 80 million non-native speakers.
Learning basic German can be a useful skill to anyone traveling to Germany or any other German speaking territory. It can take months and even years to master all the nuances of the language, including the written, spoken and grammatical aspects of the language. For someone traveling to a German speaking country for the purpose of business, education or pleasure, mastering all aspects of the language is an unwanted exercise and more precisely, overkill. The basic goal of such an individual is to know enough German to be able to communicate with the native people and make their way about the country. Whether it is checking into hotels, getting directions to places they want to visit, reading menus and ordering food at restaurants or simply making friends with the locals, all it takes is the knowledge of a few basic sentences in German. Let’s take a look at the various learning resources that one can take advantage of when it comes to learning basic German slang.
For someone looking for a book to learn basic German slang from, which they can also carry with them wherever they go as a handy quick reference tool, the Dictionary of German Slang (German-Colloquial-Expressions) is worth looking at. This book is available at amazon.com.
This useful book gives the user an edge by familiarizing them with the slang words and phrases often used in German speaking territories such as Germany, Austria or parts of Switzerland, which no formal training course or books teaches. It has a comprehensive collection of over four thousand slang words and phrases along with commonly used colloquial expressions with the definition in English, as well as an example sentence or phrase in the German language that illustrates the usage of the slang. In addition, wherever applicable, equivalent slang words or phrases from the English language are also mentioned to provide the native English speaker with a better understanding of the German slang word or phrase being discussed. Readers must use a certain amount of discretion, as this book does cover some offensive slang words and phrases that are commonly used.
For those looking for an online option to learn German, http://pukkagerman.com/ is a site worth considering. This site is chockablock with various free German learning resources. Their unique collection of podcasts are a fun way to learn cool slang words in the German language, in addition to commonly used idioms and phrases and even funny sayings in German. For example, one of the podcasts deals with moving house. You will learn all the basic German words and slang phrases you need to know when you are looking for a house to move to. Similar podcast tutorials exist for how to have conversations in a cocktail bar or even in a kitchen.
