German is a handy language to learn. You can use it in Europe in Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland.
Many words look similar. But beware of misleading appearances, what the French call false friends.
The first pair I had trouble with was soap.
SOAP
Who would have guessed it was Seife in German. Who can remember it? I couldn't. I am now up to 33% fluent in Duolingo and I've already forgotten soap. So let me re-visit the word.
Let's start with the first letter and what is easy to remember.
The Last Supper, painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
How is it pronounced? You pronounce the second letter in German. Sigh - fur like cipher. So I shall remember sigh for soap.
English - German
soap - die Seife
The next word which confused me was soup.
SOUP
soup - Suppe
SUPPER
The last evening meal of Jesus and his disciples.
supper - abendessen
Abendessen - essen=to eat; Abend is evening. I think of it as after six pm and end of the day. or ab=from; + end, + eat (delicatessen is delicate eating or delicate stuff to eat).
Flag of Germany.
German - English
abend - evening
abendessen - supper (evening meal)
seife - soap
suppe - soup
vorabend - Eve (night before as in Christmas eve)
English - German
Eve (night before as in Christmas Eve) vorabend
evening - abend
soap - seife
soup - suppe
supper - abendessen
About the Author
Angela Lansbury, author and English teacher and languages tutor. Please share links to your favourite posts and websites.
Pictures of Angela in different dresses and poses with props and advice on where to buy vintage clothes and co-ordinate and convert clothes, large to small, small to large, short to long, shorts to skirts, pillowcases to tops and bolsters to dresses.
l Free Language Learning sites
duolingo.com
PortableGerman.com
Wiktionary.com
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Free Language Learning sites
duolingo.com
PortableGerman.com
Wiktionary.com
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