Talk Your Way Round Europe

CONTENTS

Preface

How To Learn More Quickly

French

Spanish

Italian

German

PREFACE

This book provides a new, but simpler, method of learning a language. Not just one language, but any one of four that you are likely to need when you travel abroad––French, Spanish, Italian, and German––all set out in an easy-to-read format.

The method described here aims to take the drudgery out of learning and teach you language in the most natural way. It allows you to absorb the language through single words, just as a child learns to build up vocabulary quite naturally and develop speaking skills. It will show you how to grasp any one of the four languages in 15 sessions, and with a little practice you should get by anywhere in Europe.

You start off with a simple list of 500 basic words, very carefully chosen, which enable you to build up phrases and sentences, express ideas, and communicate messages. These are the basic language tools, many of which you will remember if you read them through, whenever you have a spare half-hour or so. In addition, there is a list of about 100 key words on food that you may need when you are shopping or eating out, and a further 150 words that you may need if you are traveling on business.

The next stage is to build up these words into phrases or short sentences, for which I have provided a list of just 80 frequently used message builders. You can practice these by yourself, until you feel comfortable using them in conversation.

You then move on to the grammar itself, which has been pruned down to the main essentials. One complete grammar can be read right through in an hour but, for the purpose of learning, it has been split up into 15 sessions, each covering two or three aspects of the language. Each language is presented in exactly the same format, so if you have grasped one language, it is a simple matter to move on to the next. The grammar has also been carefully tabulated, so that you can quickly turn to the section you need.

You should pick up the book at least a week before you travel, then keep it with you in your pocket, briefcase, or handbag, until your journey is finished. Dip into the book at all times of the day or night until you are thoroughly familiar with the vocabulary and the layout of the grammar. Browse through the book at the airport, on the train, in the restaurant, or at the hotel. Pull it out when you are shopping, or you have forgotten a word, or you want to translate something that you have seen or has been said to you. Treat the book as your companion to stay with you throughout your journey. You will soon find you are speaking a foreign language with confidence.

If you want to learn a language from scratch, or refresh your memory, rusted from disuse since you last went abroad or finished studying at school, turn to the next section, which will show you how to learn a language in the quickest and most efficient way.

HOW TO LEARN MORE QUICKLY

You can use this book in a variety of ways: for browsing, for reference or for learning a new language. If you need to brush up old skills, or you are starting from scratch, you will get on much quicker if you follow the instructions set out below, working through the vocabulary and language structure in a systematic way. To help you through this process, each language has been broken down into 15 sessions. Sessions 1-4 deal with sounds, words and sentence building. Sessions 5-15 deal with the language structure, each split up into two or three sections covering a particular aspect of the grammar.

A brief description of each session is shown in the notes which follow. Read through these carefully before turning to each session.

Session 1-Your Word List

Turn to p. 20 (French), p. 76 (Spanish), p. 134 (Italian) or p. 197 (German).

There are only 500 or so words in each vocabulary, of which almost half are nouns. Every noun, whether subject or object, provides a key to a message.

Consider, for a minute, a child learning to speak. He does not say ‘Excuse me, mother, can I please have a drink?’ He uses one word – ‘drink’ – sometimes not even that, but the message is understood. So too, if you stopped your car and said the word ‘airport’ to a passerby, you would very likely be directed to the airport. Or, if you were in a taxi, you would get taken there. One word is often sufficient to get the message across.

The first objective, therefore, is to learn as many words as you can. So, go through the main vocabulary in Section 1A and see how many words you recognize which are similar to English, or you can remember from the past.

Now write down on a piece of paper all the words that you think are important. You will need this list in Session 2. If you want to run through words for food or business by all means do so, but don’t overload the memory.

Session 2 – Pronunciation

Turn to p. 32 (French), p. 88 (Spanish), p. 146 (Italian) or p. 210 (German).

Read aloud each sound and the example shown alongside. Don’t forget to look at the notes on ‘accents and stress’ shown in Section 2B at the end.

Go through the pronunciation two or three times.

Now pick up the word list which you wrote in Session 1, and read through this list as well. Check the guide to pronunciation if you get stuck.

Don’t be put off by the rules for pronouncing certain letters differently according to their position in the word, or the letters they are next to. This is because there are far more sounds than there are letters in the Roman alphabet. Similar rules of pronunciation apply to all European languages. In this respect, at least, you are fortunate, as English is the most difficult language of the lot!

Remember to speak slowly and clearly at all times. It will greatly increase the chance of your being properly understood when you are speaking to a stranger. All foreigners appear to speak quickly at first. Tell them to slow down, so you can understand what they are saying. It will take time for your ear to become attuned to the sounds and the rhythm of a foreign language.

Session 3-Absorbing the Language

Turn back to p. 20 (French), p. 76 (Spanish), p. 134 (Italian) or p. 197 (German).

Go through the main vocabulary in Section 1A and read all the words aloud.

Go through a second time, covering up the English and see how many words you can translate. If this takes too much time, have a break and pick the rest up later.

Now go through a third time, this time covering up the foreign language you are studying and see how many words you can translate. Don’t worry if there are only a few. Your vocabulary will develop with regular practice. Tomorrow or the next day, you will find that you know a whole lot more, and each word will build up your communication skills.

Session 4-Message Builders

You can now use a number of foreign words. Indeed, you are already speaking the language.

The next step is to build these words into short messages, or what are known in modern jargon as ‘communication bytes’. You can do this by using a handful of key ‘message carriers’ or ‘message builders’ which have been mostly lifted from the text. These are shown on p. 36 (French), p. 91 (Spanish), p. 149 (Italian) or p. 213 (German).

All you have to do is to add the words you have learned, or you have written down on your word list, to these ‘message builders’ and your message is complete.

For example, add the words ‘one tea’ to the ‘message builder’ ‘Could I have …?’ and you have now completed a sentence in a foreign language.

Don’t try to learn phrases out of a phrase book: they will only overload your memory and they will not improve your language skills. Make up your own phrases and sentences, using these ‘message builders’.

Finally, spend a few minutes learning how to address friends and strangers. This is shown on p. 39 (French), p. 94 (Spanish), p. 152 (Italian) or p. 216 (German).

Once you have read this section, you can ‘top and tail’ your message by adding, for example, ‘Excuse me, madam (miss), could I have one tea please?’-or anything else you want to order.

Session 5 – Language Structure

This session is designed to prepare you for language structure. Note that we have used the word ‘structure’ and not ‘grammar’ as all languages, including English, have the same structure. The use of nouns and pronouns, verbs and adverbs, main sentences and subordinate clauses, is just the same in French, Spanish or Italian as it is in English. Only the words and word endings differ.

The other reason for not using the word ‘grammar’ is that it reminds you of school and the classroom. In this book there are no questions and answers, no examinations. You go at your own speed, making up your own messages, just as you do in English.

For the three ‘romance’ languages (French, Spanish and Italian), the word order is pretty similar to English, although there are a few rules which you should look at on p. 40 (French), p. 95 (Spanish) or p. 153 (Italian).

If you are learning German, turn to p. 217. Here the rules do look a little complex, but if you try to grasp the main principles, you will find that you quickly get into the habit of using German, rather than English word order. To start off, just move the verb around the sentence and fit in the other parts of speech as they naturally fall into place. Don’t worry too much about the order at first. If you speak clearly, you will still be perfectly understood even if you get the word order wrong.

Session 6 – Nouns, Adjectives and The Two Articles

Turn to p. 40 (French), p. 96 (Spanish), p. 154 (Italian) or p. 219 (German).

Here we go straight to the heart of the language. By now, you will have noticed that all nouns in the vocabulary are marked m (masculine), f (feminine), or n (neuter).

Every noun has a gender which should be memorized along with the word itself.

Any word relating to a noun, including the definite article (‘the’), the indefinite article (‘a’), or an adjective, has to agree with it. This often means that the word ending has to be changed. This differs from English where articles and adjectives don’t change at all; for example,

a good boy – a good girl

In the plural all languages change their endings, including English; for example,

Both French and Spanish are fairly straightforward, but Italian plurals take a little longer to get used to.

German students need to give this session more time, preferably breaking it up into two parts, the first on p. 219 dealing with the principles of nouns, gender and ‘cases’. Make certain you understand why the word endings change before moving on to the following sections dealing with The Two Articles, Noun Case Endings and Adjectives starting on p. 222.

Although German word endings are more difficult than in the other languages, comfort yourself that the remaining sessions become easier, particularly the next session on German verbs, which are easier than French, Spanish or Italian ones. Meanwhile, here are three tips to help you through the session:

i.) The umlaut (") over a vowel in the middle of a word changes the pronunciation. If in doubt, refer back to p. 210.

ii.) The majority of words, where the endings do change, add-e or-er, both of which sound similar in speech.

iii.) Feminine nouns and adjectives usually add-en in the plural.

Finally, don’t worry too much over the endings. If you make a mistake, the message will get through just the same.

Session 7 – Personal Pronouns and Verbs

Turn to p. 42 (French), p. 98 (Spanish), p. 157 (Italian) or p. 226 (German).

In this session, the sections on pronouns and regular verbs are largely self-explanatory. As you will see in the text, the tenses of regular verbs have been stripped down to the ‘present’, the ‘imperfect’ and the ‘future’, whilst the ‘perfect’ tense (for all except German), is shown in Session 8. Here the word endings do matter as they indicate both the time of the action and the person speaking or writing. Many of the little words used in English like ‘am’, ‘do’, ‘was’, ‘will’, ‘have’, ‘would’ and ‘should’, are incorporated in the verb itself.

Session 8 – To Be and To Have

Turn to p. 45 (French), p. 101 (Spanish), p. 161 (Italian) or p. 230 (German).

There are two essential verbs which you need to learn. These are ‘to be’ and ‘to have’ which can either be used on their own, or serve as auxiliary verbs to build up the past tense. For example,

If you are studying German, you will have covered ‘haben’ (to have) in Session 7 and you should concentrate here on the use of ‘sein’ (to be).

Session 9 – Object Pronouns

Turn to p. 47 (French), p. 104 (Spanish), p. 164 (Italian) or p. 231 (German).

The distinction between personal pronouns (I, she, we, they, etc) and object pronouns (me, her, us, them, etc) provides a regular trap for those learning a foreign language. The main difference in English is that we make more use of the word ‘to’ (to her, to us, to them, etc) in the indirect case, where the other languages generally only use a single pronoun. In French, Spanish and Italian, object pronouns are generally positioned before, not after the verb.

Session 10 – Imperatives, Reflexives and Irregular Verbs

Turn to p. 48 (French), p. 106 (Spanish), p. 166 (Italian) or p. 232 (German).

This session is designed to extend your knowledge of verbs. We start off with the imperatives (words of command) and how to recognize reflexive verbs (e.g. I dress myself). We then move on to irregular verbs.

Many students have a fear of irregular verbs which derives from ‘over-kill’ in the classroom, so it is worthwhile pausing for a minute before studying the text. All languages have some irregular verbs, including English. They derive from centuries of corrupted or abbreviated speech, differences in regional speech, or a desire to improve the sound of the word, particularly among the ‘romance’ languages (French, Spanish and Italian).

In reality, there are only about 50 irregular verbs in common use, many of them changing only a single letter in the stem, or the verb ending. These verbs are all set out in the text. Unless you have a very good memory, don’t try to learn them, just read them through a few times. Recognize the deviations and see how these run in patterns. If you keep up your reading, you will assimilate all the irregularities in time and they will not create the obstacle you remember from school.

There is one final section for German students on ‘modal’ and ‘separable’ verbs. ‘Modal’ verbs (may, can, should, must or want to) are more like English than any of the ‘romance’ languages and they too are irregular. Many of the ‘separable’ verbs which hive off the prefix (ab-, an-, auf-, etc) to another part of the sentence, are otherwise regular.

Session 11 – Questions and Negatives

Turn to p. 55 (French), p. 113 (Spanish), p. 174 (Italian) or p. 240 (German).

In this session you will find out how to ask questions and turn a question or a statement into a negative. You will find that you really do need interrogatives (who? what? why? when? how?) to find your way round. So practise them to yourself, using the ‘message builders’ and your own word list.

Session 12 – More Adjectives

Turn to p. 59 (French), p. 116 (Spanish), p. 177 (Italian) or p. 242 (German).

You briefly covered adjectives in Session 6 as they related to, and agreed with nouns. But they deserve a whole session to themselves, as there are about 80 in the word list. In this session you will also be introduced to possessives (my, mine) and comparatives (easy, easier, easiest).

Session 13 – Adverbs, Prepositions and Conjunctions

Turn to p. 61 (French), p. 119 (Spanish), p. 181 (Italian) or p. 244 (German).

Most of us don’t remember the difference between an adverb, a preposition and a conjunction, or realize that some words such as ‘before’ and ‘after’ can be any one of these in a different context. So, before you start on the text, just refresh your memory on their usage in English, shown below. (As you will find out later on, the use of an adverb, preposition or conjunction may well qualify, or change the ending of a verb, noun or pronoun which follows it.)

Adverbs usually describe an action or state (e.g. quickly, always, here) but sometimes qualify a statement (so, therefore, thus).

Prepositions indicate position (of, with), purpose (for, in order to) or a spatial or time relationship (at, in, on, before, opposite).

Conjunctions (and, or, but, since) do just what they say: conjoin, or join up phrases and sentences.

Session 14 – Prepositions and Link Words

Turn to p. 63 (French), p. 121 (Spanish), p. 183 (Italian) or p. 247 (German).

This session covers the use of some of the commonest prepositions (to, at, in, from, of, for) which differ from one language to another; also some of the relative pronouns (words which link sentences) and ‘message builders’ such as ‘here is’.

Session 15 – Numbers and Time

Turn to p. 67 (French), p. 124 (Spanish), p. 187 (Italian) or p. 249 (German).

This is the last of the programmed sessions, in which you will find out how to deal with numbers, measures, dates, time and the weather.

There are two further Appendices for reference only, the first on the formation of subjunctives, the second on the use of second person pronouns (Italian and German only).

Conclusion

If you have worked your way systematically through the book, you should have grasped the language structure and memorized a reasonable amount of vocabulary. From now on, it is all about listening, reading and talking in the language you are learning.

To get your listening ear in tune, try listening to the local radio, or better still, watching local television or films. If you have a video, borrow a foreign