Coffee Break German

In this latest episode of Coffee Break German, Alex has to deal with a break-in at the Pub this week and is being interviewed by a police officer. This gives us the opportunity to hear a different style of German, and we'll also be looking at the verb werden in detail. As usual, Andrea is on hand to explain everything. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published e...

It's time for another episode of Coffee Break German, and another instalment of our soap opera. This time we're joining Carol, Miriam and Philip at the party where Philip is hoping to get to know Hanna a bit better. But will the arrival of Alex put a spanner in the works? As ever, the episode provides lots of opportunities to experience new and interesting vocabulary and grammar points in German,...

In our latest episode of Coffee Break German we're continuing our soap opera and joining Carola, Hanna and Miriam on a shopping trip. The dialogues provide an opportunity to look closely at a number of interesting language points, including the use of adjectives as nouns and the use of nouns as verbs! Andrea is on hand to explain everything to Mark and to our learners. This season of Coffee Break...

In this episode of Coffee Break German, the flatmates in our Wohngemeinschaft are organising a party for Carola's birthday and they're looking for the perfect location to hold the party. As usual, Andrea is on hand to help Mark and you understand everything in the conversation. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-40 will be publ...

In the latest instalment of our soap opera Carola, Miriam and Phillip receive an important letter and have to decide what to do in response. This episode will allow us to experience a more formal type of written German, and Andrea is on hand to explain everything to Mark and to our listeners. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-...

In this lesson you'll listen to the latest instalment of our soap opera in which we get to know a new character, Carola's friend Hannah. She and Phillip hit it off immediately. Andrea is on hand to help Mark - and you - understand the tricky aspects of the language contained in this episode. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-4...

In lesson 32 of Coffee Break German Season 2, you'll listen to the next instalment of our soap opera. In this episode Phillip is looking for a part-time job and Miriam suggests that he tries to find a job in a local pub. We also meet Alex who works in the pub. Having listened to the radio play, you'll hear Mark and Andrea discuss the language featured. This season of Coffee Break German features a...

In lesson 31 of Coffee Break German Season 2, Andrea and Mark present the first episode of our radio play. You'll meet the characters Miriam, Carola and Phillip who are sharing a flat together in Munich. Having listened to the radio play you'll then hear Mark and Andrea talk about the language featured in the episode. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published ev...

Welcome to the 30th lesson in the season and it's time for some review. You won't believe how much you've learned in lessons 21-29, and in this episode Andrea and Mark will be reviewing topics such as Wechselpräpositionen, relative pronouns, modal verbs, and much more! This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-40 will be published dur...

Coffee Break German Season 2 is all about helping you "tighten up" your German, and this episode addresses one of the trickiest aspects of German for learners. You're already familiar with prepositions, and you're already familiar with the accusative and dative case, but did you know that there is a group of prepositions which can take the accusative OR the dative, depending on the situation? By t...

Coffee Break German is the course  which  teaches you German. Andrea is the teacher  who  helps Mark learn. You are the student  who  is learning along with Mark, and this is the lesson  in which  you'll learn all about relative pronouns in German! We'll learn how to use relative pronouns to combine two clauses together and how relative pronouns work with di...

In this lesson we're dealing with what, on the surface, seems like a tricky topic: the use of the verb  sollen . We'll learn to use the verb in the Present and Präteritum, and we'll learn about the subtle differences of using each tense.  Sollen  is used to say what someone "should do", or "ought to do", and the key question involves whether or not you're being given advice, a sugge...

In this lesson we're tackling a tricky subject for learners of German: word order. In particular we're looking at where adverbs come "inside the Verbklammer". For this we'll be introducing you to a new concept: "Tekamolo". All will become clear in this lesson. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-40 will be published during 2018....

It's time to look at reflexive verbs in the past. In this lesson you'll learn to say what you enjoyed, what you complained about and what you looked forward to, and much more besides! Julia is back with a cultural correspondent segment on an area in Italy where German is spoken, Südtirol. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-40 w...

In this episode you'll learn to use reflexive verbs in German. In addition to being able to talk about "washing yourself" and "scratching yourself" (among other things!), you'll also learn to talk about looking forward to things, relaxing, deciding, catching a cold, getting annoyed, remembering things and complaining! Reflexive verbs are hugely important and this lesson will equip you with everyth...

We've already covered the topic of family in Coffee Break German, but in this lesson you'll learn how to talk about your extended family, and deal with possessive pronouns in the nominative, accusative and dative cases. Is it mein, meine, meinen, meinem or meiner? By the end of this lesson, you'll know! This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks....

So far in Coffee Break German we've learned to use haben , sein and some modal verbs in the Präteritum. In this lesson Andrea and Mark look at other verbs in the Präteritum which are not used commonly in spoken German, but you'll find them in any story you read. You'll also learn about some irregular verbs in this tense, including kommen and gehen , and Julia is on hand to tell us about two very f...

In this lesson you'll learn to talk about rules and regulations in the past using the Präteritum of the modal verbs dürfen and müssen. By the end of the lesson you'll know how to talk about what you were or weren't allowed to do as a child. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-40 will be published during 2018. Stay subscribed to...

This lesson marks the end of the first half of our second season of Coffee Break German. Mark and Andrea take the opportunity to review the topics covered in lessons 11 to 19 with lots of new examples, helping you build your vocabulary and practise the grammar points at the same time. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-40 will...

In the last lesson we looked at the Präteritum, the past tense form which is commonly used with verbs such as sein , haben and so on. In this lesson, we'll be taking the Präteritum a little further and learn how to talk about what we wanted to do and what we were able to do in the past, using können and wollen . This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every tw...

This episode of Coffee Break German introduces the verbs sein and haben and how they are used in the past. In fact, these verbs use a different tense, the Präteritum , or "imperfect" as it is often referred to in English. You'll learn to conjugate the imperfect of sein and haben and how to use it in a variety of situations. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, publis...

In this episode we're focusing on the use of weil with the Perfect Tense and you'll be learning to give excuses as to why you arrived late and why you haven't done your homework! This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-40 will be published during 2018. Stay subscribed to the podcast to enjoy each episode. If you'd like to benefit fr...

In this lesson we're looking further at the dative case and specifically at verbs which need the dative like geben , schicken , schenken , antworten and helfen . You'll also be learning to use the dative forms of the personal pronouns. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-40 will be published during 2018. Stay subscribed to the p...

​This lesson focuses on the topic of asking questions, both "open" questions using the W Fragewörter , and more closed questions which are more likely be answered by ja or nein . You'll learn to ask questions using various words, all of which begin with the letter W, and you'll also learn to use reported speech involving questions. Julia is back with another Kulturbeitrag in which she talks about...

Learn how to gossip in German! In this lesson we'll be looking at reported speech and how this works with "dass". You'll learn how to say who said what to whom, of course using the correct grammatical constructions. This season of Coffee Break German features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-40 will be published during 2018. Stay subscribed to the podcast to enjoy each...