This handout explains how to differentiate between things that are similar, the same, or one-in-the-same using the words ‘ähnlich’, ‘gleich’ and ‘derselbe’. More than 25 sample sentences are provided along with parallel English translations. (As a prerequisite, students should already be comfortable with article and adjective declensions in the accusative and dative cases.)

This set includes five color printables in landscape view on German family vocabulary. It is geared towards brand-new students at the early A1 level and introduces them to both nuclear family and extended family names. Brief stories and example sentences in German are provided together with helpful glossaries.

This ten-page, easy to read set of printables explains the rules for most present-tense verb conjugations in German. Geared towards beginners, these review notes summarize essential conjugation rules and common exceptions and can be used as a quick test prep tool. Common types of stem-changing verbs and verbs ending in “-eln” and “-ern” are shown. The special verbs ‘haben’, ‘sein’ and ‘werden’ are also highlighted. The final page touches on how to conjugate separable verbs. (Modal verb conjugations are not discussed in this handout, but appear in other lessons.) This lesson is in “landscape” view and can be printed or projected as slides.

This six-page printable covers basic two-dimensional shapes and common solids. Parts of this handout can be used by absolute beginners, while other parts may be more suited for those students at the A2 level due to grammar and vocabulary. Names and descriptions of the shapes are given in German. Students can translate the more difficult words into English using the embedded glossaries.

This handout explains how to use the prepositions ‘am’, ‘um’, ‘von’ & ‘bis’ as relates to time. Days of the week are introduced here, and the student learns how to say things like “on Monday”, “on Friday” (am Montag, am Freitag), etc. The student also learns how to ask: “What time is it?” / “What time are you ____ ?”, etc. Numerous sample sentences are provided, with translations and clear explanations. Some cultural-linguistic info is also included. (Knowing how to tell time using German ‘official time’ is recommended before using this handout.)

This four-page study guide shows how to use the prepositions ‘vor’, ‘seit’ and ‘für’ when discussing events. Graphical timelines illustrate where and how each of these prepositions should be used, and in what tense. Color-coded example sentences and declension charts for the article “ein” in the nominative, accusative and dative cases are provided.

This 5-page color printable is an introduction to plurals in German. Common German nouns that students are likely to encounter early on are shown in their plural forms. This lesson does not contain any rules or guidelines for forming the plural, but instead introduces new learners to the different types of plural endings for nouns and to plural articles in the nominative case (die, keine). Plural forms of compound nouns are also touched on. Before using this lesson, students should already be familiar with gender and how to use articles in the nominative singular. Pages are in ‘layout’ view and can be used as slides.

In this lesson, the student is introduced to definite articles in the nominative case (der, die, das). A tight relationship exists between these articles and a noun’s gender, and so gender is discussed here in detail. Techniques for memorizing gender are covered as well. There is a section on the plural article (die), with examples of plural nouns used in sample sentences. The handout ends with a short exercise on definite articles and gender.

This handout introduces students to the negative articles ‘kein’ and ‘keine’. Example sentences are included. At the end of the lesson are two short homework exercises. This lesson focuses on using negative articles in the singular, but the plural is also mentioned briefly.

This short study guide / printable is intended for brand-new students of German and illustrates how the prepositions ‘aus’, ‘von’ and ‘in’ change the definite articles (der, die, das) into their dative forms. This is important for saying things like: “Ich komme aus der Schweiz.” / “Ich lebe in der Schweiz”, etc. Grammatical case is mentioned, but not explicitly covered here. Instead, students learn to recognize when these changes need to be made and how. Easy sample sentences are provided.

This handout introduces students to the nominative indefinite articles ‘ein’ and ‘eine’. The relationship between indefinite and definite articles is discussed here. Example sentences with indefinite articles are included; nouns and articles are color coded for gender. At the end of the lesson are two short homework exercises. (Students need to have a good understanding of definite articles and how they work prior to starting this lesson.)

This is a two-page printable showing the differences between the verbs ‘finden’ and ‘gefallen’ and the situations in which the two are used. The two verbs are presented here in color-coded questions in the ‘du’, ‘ihr’ and ‘Sie’ forms, and an assortment of positive/negative responses is given.

Printable/study sheet with German units of time and their plural endings. Each of these units of time is shown in a German example sentence. Parallel English translations are provided. Appropriate for beginning students who have learned basic conjugation principles.

This four-page set includes: 1-page printable of elementary colors in German, including black, white and grey. 3-page printable displaying objects in various colors. The pictures are captioned with easy-to-understand German sentences requiring little translation. Additional examples using ‘hell’ (light) and ‘dunkel’ (dark) are shown along with the primary colors.

A quick lesson on the separable verbs ‘einsteigen’, ‘aussteigen’ and ‘umsteigen’. These handy verbs are used when boarding or exiting a vehicle, and when transferring from one vehicle to another. This handout provides a close-up look at separable verbs in action and how the different prefixes alter the meaning the root verb. Students also get a good look at the dative prepositions “aus” and “von” and how to use the 2-way preposition “in” in the accusative case. This lesson is at the high A1 level and can also be used by A2-level students.

A1.1-level German grammar review test covering: nominative and dative personal pronouns (dative: ‘mir’, ‘dir’ & ‘Ihnen’ only), regular-verb conjugations (present tense), stem-changing verb conjugations (present tense), Nominative-case possessives (‘mein’, ‘dein’ & ‘Ihr’ only). The test consists of fill-in-the-blank questions. It’s suitable either as a mid-course or end-of-course assessment for informal adult classes, but can also be used for 1st-year German classes at the high school or college level. Some of the sentences are written at a slightly higher level than what the average student might expect, but the answers themselves are appropriate for the A1.1 level. An answer key is provided. Translations and additional notes are not included for this test.

A1.1-level grammar review test covering: separable verbs (present tense, ‘Perfekt’ tense, with modals), nominative and accusative forms of ‘jeder’ (jeder, jede, jedes, jeden), distinguishing between ‘wohnen’ — ‘leben’ ; ‘wissen’ — ‘kennen’, expressing likes and opinions using ‘mögen’, ‘gern’, ‘gefallen’ & ‘finden’. The test consists entirely of fill-in-the-blank questions. It’s suitable as an end-of-course assessment for informal adult courses, but can also be used for 1st-year students of German at the high school or college level. An answer key with English translations and additional notes is provided.

A1.1-level German grammar review test covering: ‘W’ question words (was, wie, wer, wann, etc.), containers (Flasche, Glas, Becher, etc.), units of measure (Gramm, Kilo, Zentimeter, Quadratmeter, etc.), pricing. The test consists of fill-in-the-blank questions and English-to-German translation. It’s suitable as an end-of-course assessment for informal adult courses, but can also be used for 1st-year students of German at the high school or college level. An answer key with English translations and additional notes is provided.

A1.1-level German grammar review test covering: articles (definite, indefinite, negative), possessives (mein, dein, Ihr, etc.), prepositions (in, im, am, um, zur, zum, ins, aus, von & bis) and gender of pronouns (er, sie, es). The test consists of fill-in-the-blank questions. It’s suitable as an end-of-course assessment for informal adult courses, but can also be used for 1st-year students of German at the high school or college level. An answer key with English translations and additional notes is provided.