Learning German: A Journey Through Language and Culture

The first lesson in German introduces useful expressions and distinctive sounds; Pfrehm shows how to turn u into ü and how to transform ch, spoken in the front part of the mouth; into German's back-of-the-throat ch; why German is worth learning.

The three definite articles, der, die and das, correspond to masculine, feminine and neuter grammatical genders; the letters of the alphabet and their pronunciations; the countries where German is an official language; adding to one's vocabulary.

Exploring Zungenbrecher (tongue-breakers); these phrases add fun to learning German pronunciation; the singular and plural forms of the personal pronouns; conjugating sein, an important verb in the German language; how to make singular nouns plural.

The greeting, Wie geht's; responses such as Es geht mir gut and Es geht mir Ausgezeichnet; conjugating present-tense regular verbs; the utility of the indefinite pronoun man; the German names for European countries; a new sound, the a-umlaut, ä.

The protocol for ordering drinks in a pub and treats in a bakery; the relevant vocabulary; the indefinite articles and the numbers from 0 to 100; German's famous system of word endings are inflections, which are packed with grammatical information.

In Austria's Vienna and Salzburg, practicing basic skills in German; expressions for giving directions; the simple word gern expresses approval or enjoyment; how to negate a statement with a well-placed nichtl Vienna's delicious coffee libations.