How did you get to school today? Hands up for walking, bus, car, bike. Count the different ways in the room.
Now picture the morning rush outside Berlin Hauptbahnhof: bikes whizzing past, yellow taxis, long-distance trains, and city buses pulling in. Today you will learn eight German words for getting about, so you can name them and put them in order from slowest to fastest.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Name eight ways of travelling in German
- Label transport on a Berlin street scene
- Match each German transport word to its English meaning
Here are today's eight German transport words. We will learn them in two groups of four so they stick.
Listen to each word, then say it back together. Watch the little word in front (der or das): it means "the" and always belongs with the noun. Say the pair every time, not the noun alone.
A busy Berlin street is waiting on the board (bike lane, buses, taxis and more). First, when the teacher points at a picture, whisper the German word with its little word in front (der or das). Then volunteers will place the labels. When a label is right, the whole class says it together.
Write four ways of travelling, each with its little word in front (der, die or das), ordered from slowest to fastest. Take care with the capital letter on every German noun. Choose your four from the list.
- das Auto (car)
- der Bus (bus)
- der Zug (train)
- das Fahrrad (bicycle)
- das Flugzeug (aeroplane)
- das Boot (boat)
- das Motorrad (motorbike)
- das Taxi (taxi)
Flip two cards at a time and find each German word with its English meaning. When a match is found, the whole class says the German pair (little word plus noun) out loud before the next turn.
When every pair is found, play a quick Faster? duel: the teacher points at two pictures and the class shouts the German for the faster one, little word plus noun.
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