11) Conversation - Instructions for GB servicement 1944

[English in the German school system]

ENGLISH is taught in all German secondary schools and is a compulsory subject in most; it is also taught in large numbers of commercial and language schools throughout the country, so that many Germans have at least a smattering of English. In any hotel or larger restaurant, or government or municipal office; or large shop, there will almost certainly be someone who speaks English.

But in the depths of the country or in working-class districts, you may have to speak German if you cannot get through with the language of signs.

[Similar words - and the origin is concealed]

Many German words are similar to English, especially those in most common use. For instance, Mann=man, Haus=house, Garten=garden, Butter=butter, and Brot=bread. This is because the two languages have grown largely from the same root.

[And here comes Teutoburg Forest again - on German soil - what Churchill's propaganda is concealing again...]

[Learning German for English soldiers]

A list of words and phrases is printed at the end of this book, and indications are given of how to pronounce them.

The pronunciation is straightforward except for two or three German sounds which we do not use in English.

The golden rule in trying to speak a language you do not know is to be as simple as possible. Take a two-year-old [p.47] child as your model. Don't try to make sentences; use nouns and verbs.

At the beginning try to ask questions which can be answered by Ja (yes) or Nein (no). Speak in a normal voice; you will not make your meaning any clearer by shouting.

If you are not understood, point to the word or sentence in your list of phrases [p.48].

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