Table Of ContentClaire Bretecher
Oxford German
Cartoon-strip
Vocabulary
Builder
With illustrations by Claire Bretecher
Edited by Neil and Roswitha Morris
O X F O R D
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Contents
Introduction page 5
How to use the book 6
List of abbreviations 6
Guide to pronunciation 7
Story: Topic:
Warum ich? Describing people 8-9
Falsch verbunden Greetings 10-11
Die Party Going out 12-13
Das Leben ist lebens wert Education 14-15
Yellow Submarine Family 16-17
Die Krise Home 18-19
Freizeit Pastimes 20-21
Kommunikation Communication 22-23
In Mode Approval and disapproval 24-25
Der Besuch Dates 26-27
Der amerikanische TraumTravelling 28-29
Knauserig Money 30-31
Verliebt Love and relationships 32-33
Hallo? On the phone 34-35
Zu Hause Time off 36-37
Auf ins Netz Computing and the Internet 38-39
Besorgt Emotions 40-41
Der Babysitter Food and drink 42-43
Ein Geburtstagsgeschenk Art and literature 44-45
Fehlentscheidung The Earth 46-47
Karma Health 48-49
Schnappschuss Clothes 50-51
Hitparade Television 52-53
Zukunftspläne Work 54-55
Traumfrau The human body 56-57
Mit List und Tücke Transport 58-59
Fitnesstraining Sport 60-61
Wer hört mit? Economy 62-63
Literatur Numbers • 64-65
Wiedergeburt Religion and beliefs 66-67
Proprietary terms
This book includes some words which are, or are asserted to be, proprietary names or trade marks. Their inclusion
does not imply that they have acquired for legal purposes a non-proprietary or general significance, nor is any
other judgement implied concerning their legal status. In cases where the editor has some evidence that a word is
used as a proprietary name or trade mark, this is indicated by the symbol ®, but no judgement concerning the
legal status of such words is made or implied thereby.
© 3 ®
Credits and acknowledgements Introduction
Editors Neil and Roswitha Morris Anyone learning a foreign language wants to be able to speak it as it is
Cartoons by Claire Bretecher really spoken. This book will help you achieve this. Most coursebooks
tend to reflect“standard” language—the language you hear on the
radio or television or in formal contexts. This book covers the language
of everyday, informal social situations.
A text written only in ‘‘spoken language” looks odd. Situations which are
perfectly clear in conversation are not so easy to understand when
reduced to dialogues on a page. Tapes and videos require special
equipment. Cartoon strips overcome these difficulties and are an ideal
vehicle for the efficient learning of spoken language. The characters
feel real and their roles are very clear. The situations are immediately
accessible and do not need to be described at length. Added to which, in
Germany cartoons are extremely popular and enjoyed by adults and
teenagers alike. Claire Bretecher’s cartoons are no exception; they are
well known and loved.
Spoken language is different from standard language for several
reasons. It uses words which rarely appear in written form except in
dictionaries (e.g. Balg instead of Kind). Some grammatical rules which
are strictly applied when writing are often ignored when speaking.
Abbreviated forms of words are used more freely (e.g. wiegehts dir
instead of wie geht es dir).
The German texts have been written to be suitable for learners, and
each one introduces a theme developed in the material which
accompanies each story. A more detailed description of all the sections
of the book is given in How to use the book.
The stories help learners to memorize themes and new words, and
vocabulary learning becomes an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
How to use the book List of abbreviations
This book is designed to make vocabulary learning both efficient and adj adjective
enjoyable. It is built around thirty cartoon strips and themes, each adv adver
presented on a double-page spread, with a clear emphasis on spoken art article
language. conj conjunction
interj interjection
Each story is supplemented by three sections: nf feminine noun
nm masculine noun
1. Understanding the text
nm/f masculine/femininenoun
This lists all the key words used in the cartoon strip on the facing page
nn neuter noun
and gives grammatical information as well as contextual translations.
pl plural
2. Key Structures prep preposition
This section lists and explains phrases which are hard to understand pron pronoun
even if all the individual constituents are known. It also supplies v verb
information on those phrases commonly used in spoken language that v sep separable verb
will be useful for a learner. * irregular verb
(§> WARNING: this symbol indicates that a word is used only
3. Vocabulary
in spoken language
This section groups together the essential words and phrases from the
vocabulary-building topic introduced in the story. Grammatical ■> see
information such as noun genders is also supplied.
Additional notes in text bubbles explain culture-specific references
appearing in the text.
For easy access, the topics are listed in the table of contents.
The glossary at the end of the book lists all the words that appear in
the stories and vocabulary sections and their translations with the
relevant page number(s). Informal words used only in spoken language
are clearly marked with the symbol i).
Advice on pronunciation rules and sounds in German is given in the
Guide to pronunciation.
r
Guide to pronunciation Consonants
Some German consonants change pronunciation according to their position in a word. For
example, at the end of a word or syllable, b, d and g are pronounced p, t and k respectively.
The following are general guidelines to the way in which German
is pronounced
German German nearest
consonant notes example English equivalent
b at the beginning of a word Bank bank
b at the end of a word or ab up
Vowel sounds syllable
German vowels are pure sounds, whereas in English vowels usually have one sound quickly c hard, before a, o, u Cafe cafe
followed by another. This applies to vowel sounds written with two letters — au, ei, etc. — c soft, before e, i Cembalo chew
which also have a single sound.
ch after a, o, u acht loch, pronounced in the Scottish
In German, each vowel has a long and a short form: for example, an a can be long, as in way
Bahn, or short, as in hat. As a general rule, vowels are long when followed by h (Jahr) or by ch after e, i ich similar to the first sound in huge
one consonant (war) and short when followed by two consonants (lassen).
ch hard Mechaniker car
When they follow consonants, vowels are not normally run on as they are in English. For
chs sechs six
example, ein Apfel is pronounced as two separate words, whereas an apple might be run
d at the beginning of a dann done
together as if it were one word, anapple’.
word
Particular care must be taken with the umlaut sounds — ä, ö and ü — which do not
d at the end of a word or Rad dart
exist in English. syllable
dt Stadt cat
German long German nearest f Fuß fat
vowel or short example English equivalent g at the beginning of a Gast guest
word
a short hat vowel sound between hat and hut g at the end of a word Tag park
a long Jahr far g -ig, at the end of a word lustig similar to the first sound in huge
ä short Geschäft left h hat hat
ä iong Käse between pair and pace h at the end of a syllable sah,sehen not pronounced, and makes the
previous vowel long
ai long Mai my
au long auf cow j ja yet
k kann kit
äu long Mäuse boy
1 Leute lot
e short Essen lesson
m Maus mouse
e iong geben gate
n Name name
e short, in unstressed Name ago
syllables P Paket parcel
ei long weit right qu Quatsch pronounced kv (to make ‘kvatsh5)
r rolled, usually at the raten rest
eu long Zeug boy
back of the mouth
i short bist bit
s hissing ss sound es set
i long ihn ease
s before a vowel, z sound Hose zoo
ie long viel feel
s before p or t at the Stunde ship
0 short Post lost beginning of a syllable,
0 long Ton bone (pronounced without moving sh sound
tongue or lips) sch like English sh Schule shut
Ö short können cur (with short u) I) same as ss heil) press
Ö long böse burn (with long u) t toll tip
u short null put tsch like English ch deutsch chin
u long gut moon V like English f vier fat
Ü short, like the French tu küssen round your lips and try to say ee V in most foreign words Video video
Ü long, like the French tu über round your lips and try to say longer w like English v was van
y long, like the French tu Typ round your lips and try to say longer X Taxi taxi
z like English ts Zug hits
(§) 7 <§>
WARUM ICH?
Mein anderes Ich, wenn es dich irgendwo gibt,
dann gib mir ein Zeichen.
8
Describing People 0
Understanding the text im ■ in dem (prep) in
irgendwo (adv) somewhere, anywhere
mein (adj) my
adadaunasndß neBe rra e(dar(dep/vrza)e inpm)dmereer/ a-ns,d-e r(enns) (adj) eotbhxtahecthneerpr ot o(mfo r) mmnorüideilieprtm rs (a(pp(nrcrooednnp )j))(pron) wo(nbtoruoitbr)hp omdye
die (pron) who sich einsam fühlen to feel lonely
dddeiliinler gs(e(epprrsro/ocnndh))i leosses/edni e(sve*)s (adj) ty(^thooeiusr) s,y c(ophuil )i ethßeesne ssuppnrdrei cc(hhcoetn nj)( v*()v*) t-aon» sdtparlekc,h teon speak
warum ich? why me?
eeiinnssacmhü e(Badevn) (vsep*) tloon elolyc k in wweennnn e(sco ndj)ich gibt iiff you exist
edhSiae b (Fepnrroa ng)(ve*)- ,-n (nf) itqtou ehsatvioen wWOe r (a(dpvr)on) wwhhoere
ihhcaihes rt ( p((ravod*nv))) -hI, »emhraeeb en dzzauushh öZörereitcn h (ve)(vns e-ps),- (nn) st-oi»gz nlui,sh tsöeigrnennal
das Ich “(s)rls) (nn) self
0 Describing People
my name is Anita ich hei Be Anita
my nickname is Fizz Fizz ist mein Spitzname
surname der Nachname
I'm sixteen ich bin sechzehn
I am 168 m (tall) ich bin 1,68 CgroB)
I weigh 55 kilos ich wiege 55 Kilo
my hair is blond ich habe blonde Haare
his eyes are blue er hat blaue Augen
her hair is long/curly sie hat lange Haare/sie hat Locken
straight hair glatte Haare
I prefer short hair ich habe lieber kurze Haare
she's got a pony-tail sie hat einen Pferdeschwanz
he is growing a beard er lässt sich einen Bart wachsen
he shaved his moustache er hat seinen Schnurrbart abrasiert
he wears glasses er trägt eine Brille
I live near Munich ich wohne in der Nähe von München
I live in a house/flat ich wohne in einem Haus/in einer Wohnung
my room is on the first floor mein Zimmer ist im ersten Stock
I live with my friends ich wohne mit meinen Freunden zusammen
I live at home ich wohne bei meinen Eltern
pleasant nett
ambitious ehrgeizig
funny lustig
intelligent intelligent
to be in a good mood guter Laune sein, gute Laune haben
she is always in a good mood sie hat immer gute Laune
to be in a bad mood »A schlechter Laune sein, schlechte Laune haben
polite höflich
lazy faul
nice sympathisch
tall groß
fat fett
thin dünn
slim schlank
@ Key Structures ugly hässlich
good-looking gut aussehend
old alt
(jemandem) eine Frage stellen to ask (somebody) a question
sich eine Frage stellen to ask oneself a question
Warum stellt sich niemand diese Fragen? why does nobody ask these
questions?
Wenn es doch nur einen einzigen Menschen I wouldn't feel so lonely if there was
gäbe, der sich auch diese Fragen just another single person who
stellte, dann würde ich mich nicht so asked themselves these questions.
einsam fühlen
© 9 i>
FALSCH VERBUNDEN
Autowerkstatt Claudia Schiffer, Das macht überhaupt
Gebrauchtwage|v\ nichts, man kann sich
und auch mal ^ | Auf
Ersatzteile. irren. Wiederhören!
Guten Tag!
Schlosserei Claudia Schiffer. Claudia Schiffe Chemische Reinigung
Was darf es sein? Schönheitssalc Claudia Schiffer^ ^
Kunststopfen,
Änderungen
Nein,
und Säume.
hier ist die
Schlosserei Claudia
Schiffer. Sie sind
.falsch verbunden.
Sie müssen sich
verwählt haben.
He, das Telefon läutet ununterbrochen und ich Also, für wen klingelt es dann die ganze Zeit?
erwarte einen wichtigen Anruf. Beantwortest du etwa alle Anrufe, die für mich ANITA, IC «
Ich warte auch Ist das für mich? sind, damit ich nicht zu lange am güte hattest,
auf einen //^ Telefon hänge? /> v ANRUFEN, ZU V
IST DAS ZU
wichtigen
VIEL
Anruf... füF^9^
9^ VERLANGT?
mich sind dies? S **
Hmmm
auch nichtVJ|w',!?\ / I (r \ Stimmts?
Das war Claudia Schiffer... sie hat die
falsche . 5. /
Nummer^ifTT5^ rrv/?®
gewählt.
