German I–II

What this covers

• Noun gender and the der/die/das plus ein-word tables, including plural forms that must be memorised with the noun (das Buch/die Bücher, der Mann/die Männer)
• Nominative, accusative and dative cases: what each does, which prepositions take which, and how articles, possessives and pronouns change (der → den → dem, ich → mich → mir)
• Present-tense conjugation including stem-changing verbs (fahren/fährt, lesen/liest), sein and haben, and modal verbs with the infinitive at the end of the clause
• Verb-second word order in statements and questions, verb-final order after weil, dass and wenn, and the time–manner–place sequence for adverbs
• The Perfekt: choosing haben or sein, forming regular ge- -t and strong ge- -en participles, and placing the participle at the end
• Separable-prefix verbs (aufstehen, einkaufen, mitkommen) split in main clauses, kept whole after modals
• Everyday speaking topics: introductions, school subjects and Stundenplan, family, food and ordering, telling time with the 24-hour clock, weather and seasons

Where learners get stuck

Using accusative where dative belongs, especially after mit, nach, von, zu and with indirect objects

English marks these relationships with word order and prepositions alone, so there is no native instinct telling you that 'to my brother' needs meinem Bruder. Learners also memorise the accusative table first and default to it under time pressure.

Putting the conjugated verb in third position after an opening time phrase — 'Heute ich gehe...' instead of 'Heute gehe ich...'

The English sentence 'Today I go' transfers directly and sounds right. The fix is treating anything before the verb as one single unit, which needs repeated spoken practice rather than a rule written in a notebook.

Choosing haben for every Perfekt verb, producing 'ich habe gegangen'

Verbs of motion and change of state take sein, but the concept has no English equivalent since English dropped its 'be'-perfect centuries ago. Learners memorise the sein list without a feel for why gehen, fahren, kommen, bleiben and werden belong on it.

Guessing noun gender from the object itself — assuming das Mädchen must be feminine

Gender is grammatical, not biological, and diminutive endings like -chen and -lein always force das. Learners who study nouns as bare words instead of always with their article never build the sound-memory that makes gender automatic.

What a session looks like

A typical 30–45 minute session starts in German with a short warm-up conversation on a familiar topic, then moves to whatever the current chapter demands — say, drilling dative prepositions by describing where you went last weekend, or rebuilding scrambled sentences aloud to practise verb-second order. Evelyn corrects pronunciation and case errors as they happen, asks you to say the corrected sentence again, and switches to English when a grammar explanation needs it. Sessions can also work through a specific worksheet, prepare you for an oral presentation, or run vocabulary retrieval before a Kapitel test.

Helpful to know first

• No prior German needed for the German I material; absolute beginners start with the alphabet, pronunciation and sein/haben
• For German II material, you should already conjugate regular present-tense verbs and recognise nominative and accusative articles
• Willingness to speak aloud and be corrected mid-sentence, since case and word-order habits form through speech

Questions

Can this help with German homework from our textbook?

Yes. Bring the chapter or worksheet and Evelyn will work through it with you, explaining the grammar point behind the exercise rather than supplying answers to copy.

My child can write German but freezes when speaking. Does this help?

That is the main format here — sessions are spoken. Speaking practice targets the gap between knowing a case ending on paper and producing it in real time, which is where most first- and second-year students stall.

How long does it take to get the four cases straight?

Nominative and accusative usually settle within a few weeks of regular practice; dative takes longer because it appears in prepositions, indirect objects and fixed verbs at once. Genitive is normally postponed to German III.

Does Evelyn speak in German or English during the session?

Both, adjusted to your level. Early German I sessions are mostly English with German phrases; by German II most of the conversation runs in German with English used for grammar explanations.

Can we prepare for an oral exam or presentation?

Yes — you can rehearse the presentation, get pronunciation feedback on specific sounds, and practise answering the follow-up questions a teacher is likely to ask.