Basic knowledge in English – Grundlagen

1. Introduction

1.1 Introducing yourself

Read the introductions of the following people.

Hi, I’m Pete, I’m 16 years old and I live with my parents in Manchester. As you see, I don’t like school!

Hi, I’m Sara. I’m 15 years old and I live with my mum and dad and my little brother Chris in Manchester, too. We live in Park Lane, near Pete’s house. We’re new in Manchester. We came here from Glasgow.

Hi, I’m Andy. I’m Pete’s best friend and I’m 16, too. We both live in Manchester on High Street. I live there with my mum and my stepfather. My parents are divorced. My father lives in London. Pete and I go to the same school. After school we play football together. We’re in the junior team of Manchester United.

Hi, I’m Wuff, Pete’s dog. This is me together with Pete. I’m a Jack Russel terrier and the only dog in the street that can speak! I like to go on a walk with Pete because he always meets nice people like Sara!

Read the short dialogue between Pete and Sara.

Pete is in front of his house in Manchester with his dog “Wuff”. He meets Sara.

Pete: Hello! I'm Pete. What's your name?
Sara: Hi. Sara. Where are you from?
Pete: I'm from London. What about you? Where are you from?
Sara: From Liverpool.
Pete: How old are you?
Sara: Fifteen. And how old are you, Pete?
Pete: I'm sixteen years old.
Sara: Who’s the boy over there?
Pete: That’s my friend Andy.
Sara: What’s the name of your dog?
Pete: Its name is Wuff.
Sara: And how many pets do you have at home?
Pete: Only one, just Wuff. What about you?
Sara: We have three cats at home.
Pete: Where is your house?
Sara: It’s over there. My family and friends are in the garden. Do you want to join us?
Pete: Ok. First I have a walk with Andy and the dog, and then I’ll come to your garden.
Sara: When do you think can you come over?
Pete: In half an hour.
Sara: Ok, fine. And please bring Wuff and Andy, too!

The girl is fifteen years old. Her name is Sara.
The boy is sixteen years old. His name is Pete.
Pete has a dog. Its name is “Wuff”.

Questions on the texts: Please answer in full sentences.

1) What are the names of the three young people living in Manchester?
2) How old is Sara?
3) Where does Pete come from?
4) Who is Andy?
5) Who is Wuff?
6) Where does Sarah live (name of the street)?
7) Who plays football in the junior team of Manchester United?
8) Why does Wuff like to go on a walk with Pete?
9) Where does Wuff live (name of the street)?
10) What’s special about Wuff, Pete’s dog?
11) Does Sarah have any brothers or sisters?
12) How many pets does Sara have at home?
13) When will Pete join the others in the garden?

Question words

1.2 Numbers

Cardinal numbers

Attention!
four - fourteen - forty
five - fifteen – fifty
one hundred and one

Ordinal numbers

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Answer the following questions. Please answer in full sentences.

1) How old are you?
2) How old is your grandmother?
3) There are .. months in a year.
4) There are .. days in a week.
5)There are seasons in a year.
6) In der nächsten Woche ist der 65. Geburtstag meines Vaters

1.3 Time

Attention!

from 00:01 to 11:59 = am (ante meridian)
from 12:01 to 23:59 = pm (post meridian)
12:00 = noon
24:00 = midnight

Please answer the following questions in full sentences.
1) What time is it?
2) When do you have dinner?
3) What time do you go to bed?
4) When do you get up?
5) When do you go to school?
6) When do you do your homework?
7) What time is it? 2:15, 6:54, 7:15, 13:45, 15:18, 00:00

1.4 The date

1.4.1 Weekdays

1.4.2 The months

1.4.3 The seasons

Riddle! Please find the correct season.

a) This season is great! You get presents for Christmas and there is often snow. It’s very cold, but you can play outside and build snowmen. It’s ________________________.
b) It is very hot, the days are long and there are long school holidays. You can swim and lie in the sun all day. It’s ________________________.
c) In this season the weather is capricious. It’s cold, sometimes it is very windy and it often rains. But you can go outside and fly your kite. It’s ________________________.
d) In this wonderful season the days begin to be warm and sunny. You can pick the first beautiful flowers. It smells like ________________________.

1.4.4 Year dates

Here you get some examples how to write out year dates:

1990 - nineteen ninety
1815 - eighteen fifteen
1999 - nineteen ninety-nine
2000 - two thousand
2007 - two thousand and seven

Attention!
For calendar dates you need the ordinal numbers.
There are different ways to write down dates.

Attention!
Use of the prepositions in, at, on as well as next and last.

In the year 2525
In (the) spring of 1994

At Christmas (time)

On Christmas Day
On Monday

Last Monday
Next winter

Please answer the following questions in full sentences.

1) What date is today?
2) On what day is your birthday?
3) In what year are you born?
4) When is summer (write down the months)?
5) Write down these dates: 16.03.1983, 18.07.1965

1.5 The weather

1.5.1 Vocabulary

1.5.2 The weather in your hometown

Read the text and fill in the gaps. It is about the weather in your own hometown.

The weather in ________________________ - the town where I live – is very ________________________ (good, bad, changeable …) during the year. I live in the ________________________ (north, south, west, east, mountains …) of Germany and I like ________________________ (one season) best because ________________________. Our summer here is very ________________________ (hot, wet, pleasant, sunny …). In winter there is often ________________________ (snow, rain, strong wind …) and it’s very ________________________ (cold, unpleasant, icy, frosty, pleasant …). In spring and autumn it’s quite ________________________ (windy, foggy, pleasant …) and there are a lot of ________________________ (gales, thunderstorms, thick mists …).

1.5.3 Further reading

Read the text carefully and answer the questions in your own words.

One day Mr. Wind meets Mrs. Sun on a hill. Mr. Wind says to Mrs Sun, “I am stronger than you are.” “Ho!” says Mrs. Sun, “how do you know? We will see about that.” Suddenly they see a man walking up a hill, wearing a thick coat. “I can remove that man’s coat before you can!” says Mr. Wind. “OK, try!” answers Mrs. Sun and hides behind a cloud while the wind starts blowing. With all his powers Mr. Wind blows and blows – but the harder he tries the closer he wraps his coat around him to keep warm. Mr. Wind soon realises that he cannot remove the man’s coat.

“Now let me try”, says Mrs. Sun. She begins to shine brightly. The man opens his coat because it is getting warmer. Mrs. Sun shines hotter and hotter. The man becomes warmer and warmer as he climbs up the hill. Soon the heat becomes too much for him, so he takes off his coat and lies down in the shade of a tree to cool down. “So, Mr. Wind, do you still think you’re stronger?” Mrs. Sun asks.

hot – hotter – the hottest
strong – stronger – the strongest\

Questions

1) Where do Mrs. Sun and Mr. Wind meet?
2) What does Mr. Wind think about Mrs. Sun?
3) What does the man do?
4) What is the man wearing?
5) Why is Mrs. Sun stronger than Mr. Wind?

1.6 Rules of writing

• When using simple present try to remember the 3rd person singular “s”! (to write – she writes)
• Try to stick to one tense instead of jumping back and forth between different tenses.
• Avoid careless mistakes.
• Pay attention to spelling.
• Always make notes before you start writing.
• Pay attention to good structure. (e.g. introduction, main part, conclusion or introduction, pro, contra, conclusion)
• Use stylistic devises to make your text more interesting.
• Try not to translate directly from German into English.
• If you are missing words and you cannot use a dictionary try to paraphrase. (You have to cross the bridge in order to get to the hospital. The hospital is across the river.)
• Remember; you’re still learning! Not everything will be perfect all the time.

1.7 Und die Vokabeln?

Schon wieder Vokabeln lernen! Wie in aller Welt sollst du all diese Wörter in den Kopf kriegen? Und dann noch diese Vokabel-Tests! Dann hast du die Wörter sowieso wieder alle vergessen, stimmt’s?

Erstmal gilt: Ruhig bleiben! Versuche doch einfach dir die Vokabeln nach folgenden Schemen einzuprägen:

1.7.1 Das Vokabelheft

• Schreibe die Vokabeln in dein Vokabelheft und versuche sie dir dabei schon einzuprägen. Viele Schüler prägen sich Lernstoff nämlich besser ein, wenn sie ihn schreiben bzw. geschrieben sehen.
• Am besten ist es, wenn du die Vokabeln danach noch laut vorliest – das trainiert die Aussprache und du nimmst die Vokabeln auch „gehört“ auf und erinnerst dich später besser an diese. Dies hilft besonders auditiven Lerntypen.
• An einem Tag sollte man nicht zu viele neue Vokabeln lernen und nie länger als 30 Minuten ohne Pause.
• Teile die Vokabeln, die zu lernen sind, in Päckchen ein, die du unabhängig voneinander lernst. Dann sind es nicht so viele auf einmal und du kannst sie besser behalten.
• Versuche, die Vokabeln nach dem ersten Lernen zu wiederholen. Die erste Wiederholung so ungefähr nach einer halben Stunde, die zweite ein paar Stunden später.
• Fange immer rechtzeitig an! Lernst du zu viel auf einmal, sind diese Vokabeln am nächsten Tag meistens wieder „weg“.

1.7.2 Die Lernkartei

• Lernkarteien gibt es mit vorbereiteten Karten im Buchladen. Aus einem Schuhkarton kannst du dir auch deine eigene Lernkartei basteln. Du benötigst fünf Fächer für deine Lernbox und passende Karteikärtchen. Letztere sollten nicht zu klein sein.
• Notiere Vokabeln, Wortfamilien, Fragestellungen etc. auf kleine Kärtchen. Dabei kannst du die Vokabeln laut mitlesen. Die Übersetzung schreibst du auf die Rückseite.
• Die neuen Vokabeln platzierst du in das erste Fach deiner Lernbox.
• Nun beginnst du mit der Wiederholung dieser Vokabeln.
• Vokabeln, die Probleme bereiten, kommen zurück in das erste Fach, gewusste Vokabeln kommen in das zweite Fach, später in das dritte usw.
• Auf diese Weise kannst du regelmäßig die Vokabeln wiederholen.
• Kärtchen, die im 5ten Fach ankommen, hast du gut aufgenommen. Diese müssen nicht in der Lernbox bleiben. Hebe dir die Kärtchen dennoch auf.
• Halte deinen Karteikasten immer auf dem neuesten Stand, indem du Fach eins regelmäßig mit neuen Vokabeln ergänzt.

Tipp: Zum Lernen auf dem Weg zur Schule können Karteikarten prima mitgenommen werden.
Tipp: Dieses Prinzip funktioniert auch hervorragend für Formeln.

Basic knowledge in English – Musterlösungen

1. Musterlösung „Introduction“

1.1 Questions on the texts:

1) The names of the three young people living in Manchester are Sara, Pete, and Andy.
2) Sara is 15 years old.
3) Pete comes from Manchester.
4) Andy is Pete’s best friend.
5) Wuff is Pete’s dog.
6) Sara lives in Park Lane.
7) Pete and Andy play football in the junior team of Manchester United.
8) Wuff likes to go on a walk with Pete because one always meets nice people.
9) Wuff lives on High Street.
10) Wuff is special because he can talk.
11) Yes, Sara has a little brother. His name is Chris.
12) There are three cats at Sara’s home.
13) Pete will join the others in the garden in half an hour.

1.2 Questions:

1) I’m . years old.
2) My grandmother is … years old.
3) There are twelve months in a year.
4) There are seven days in a week.
5) There are four different seasons in a year
6) Next week it’s my dad’s sixty-fifth birthday.

1.3 Questions:

1) Right now it’s o’clock.
2) I have dinner at o’clock.
3) I go to bed at o’clock.
4) I get up at o’clock. I get up at quarter past
5) I go to school at o’clock.
6) I do my homework in the afternoon/ on the bus/ when I come home …/ I never do my homework…
7) 2:15 It’s quarter past two.
6:54 It is six minutes to seven.
7:15 It’s fifteen (minutes) past seven. It’s quarter past seven. It’s 7 am and 15 minutes.
13:45 It’s quarter to two,
15:18 It’s eighteen minutes past three, It is almost twenty-minutes past three. It’s three pm and 18 minutes.
00:00 It’s midnight.

1.4.3 Riddle winter, summer, autumn/fall, spring

1.4.4 Questions

1) Today, it’s January, 16th 2012. (for example)
2) My birthday is …
3) I was born in the year … .
4) Summer is in June, July, August and early September.
5) Write down these dates:
16.03.1983 (March 16th, nineteen eighty three)
18.07.1965 (July 18th, nineteen sixty five)

1.5.2 There are no right or wrong answers because it is about the weather in your own hometown.

1.5.3 Questions:

1) Mrs. Sun and Mr. Wind meet on a hill.
2) Mr Wind thinks (that) he is stronger than Mrs. Sun.
3) The man is walking up a hill.
4) The man is wearing a thick coat.
5) Mrs. Sun is stronger than Mr. Wind because the man takes off his coat because of her. Mr Wind couldn’t.