Learning simple directions

This week, we learned simple directions with a very simple song/dance that is sometimes sung at festivals or large parties. The lyrics in German and in English:

nach vorne                                                    forwards
nach hinten                                                   backwards
nach links und nach rechts                         to the left and to the right
nach oben                                                      up
nach unten                                                    down
nach links und nach rechts.                        to the left and to the right.




This is obviously a nice little song for introducing simple directions, but it also should give students a good pattern for something they will learn much later in their studies. In German, there are two words that mean to: nach and zu. That can be very confusing for Americans because we only have one word and tend to use zu where we should use nach. Through learning these and other songs, however, children have the opportunity to hear these words used correctly and even to memorize some lines. Then when they are introduced to nach and zu in a grammar lesson some day, it will not be a totally new concept. By then, some may have started developing a feel for the difference between these two difficult prepositions, making the lesson easier for them to learn. That is why I like singing these children's songs with them and speaking so much German. We are a long way from a formal grammar lesson, but they have heard the basics so when we finally get there, the grammar will really be more of an explanation of things they already know.

The project we began in class and that most of the children took home to finish uses the words from this song. The table should go in the middle and be attached so there is a little pocket for the cat to tuck into. The cat should be taped to a string so that it can moved to each of the arrows. It doesn't matter which arrow points which direction, so long as one points up, down, left and right and then one should point behind the table and one in front of the table. They should have words to glue on the appropriate arrows.

Important: Make sure not to glue anything into the center of the folder. Later, we will staple these along the folder's fold line and hold punch them so that they can all be bound together into one picture dictionary. 

(You should be able to click on the image for a larger view.)


The sentences are basic and we did practice them a little in class. The first one is:

Die Katze geht nach ___________________.
(The cat goes _______________.)

The blank should be left blank. It is just to remind students of the sentence structure so that they can recite the directions the cat is going to you. So for example, you or your child should be able to put the cat over the up arrow and your child should be able to say, "Die Katze geht nach oben."

The second and third sentences are:

Meine Katze ist ____________________.
(My cat is ___________________.)
Meine Katze heißt _____________________.
(My cat's name is _____________________.)

In the first sentence, they are supposed to complete it by writing what color their cat is. In the second, they are supposed to name their cat. This is just for a little review of colors and how to introduce someone. The funny looking letter that almost looks like a B is called an s-set and makes the same sound as "ss."

I will make a short video tomorrow going over this with the proper pronunciation so that students may practice more effectively at home and listen to the new vocabulary again.