Table of Contents
Overview of A2 Elementary German
At the A2 Elementary level you move beyond single words and basic survival phrases and start to build a simple, connected use of German. You already know how to introduce yourself, use basic present tense, and manage everyday situations in a very limited way. Now you will expand this into talking about the past, the future, your opinions, and more complex daily situations.
This chapter gives you a roadmap of what A2 will cover and what you should be able to do by the end of this level. Detailed explanations of each topic come in the following chapters.
What You Can Do at A2
At A2, you can handle short, routine communication in familiar contexts. You understand and use sentences and frequently used expressions, for example about family, work, shopping, local geography, and personal background. You still need simple language, but you can link ideas more clearly and react more flexibly than at A1.
At A2 you should:
- Understand and use very common everyday expressions and basic phrases.
- Communicate in simple, routine tasks that require a simple and direct exchange of information.
- Describe your background, immediate environment, and basic needs in simple terms.
You will especially work on understanding spoken language at normal speed in familiar situations and on writing short, simple texts.
Main Grammar Focus at A2
Talking about the Past
You already know the present tense from A1. At A2, you learn how to talk about what you did yesterday, last week, and earlier in your life. You will meet:
- The German preterite, especially in frequent verbs.
- The perfect tense, the most common form in spoken past.
- The simple past forms of “sein” and “haben”.
- Time expressions that show when something happened.
You will practice telling short stories about your day, your last holiday, and events from your life.
Expanding Sentence Structure
A2 introduces more complex sentence building. You will learn:
- How to use subordinate clauses with “dass” to combine ideas, for example saying what you think, know, or hope.
- How to use temporal expressions to show the order of events in time.
- How to work with two verb forms in one sentence, for example modal verbs with another verb, or perfect tense with auxiliary and participle.
You still mostly stay with main clauses, but you begin to understand and use more complex sentence patterns that prepare you for B1.
Everyday Themes and Vocabulary at A2
Health and the Body
You will gain vocabulary about the human body and health problems, so you can describe symptoms and understand a doctor’s basic questions. You will also learn the imperative to give simple instructions, for example in medical or everyday contexts.
You will practice simple dialogues when visiting a doctor or pharmacy, explaining what hurts, how long it has hurt, and what you need.
Travel and Transportation
You will learn to navigate cities and regions in German speaking countries. This includes:
- Asking for and giving directions.
- Understanding and using two way prepositions with accusative or dative to describe movement or position.
- Using vocabulary related to public transportation, such as trains, buses, tickets, and schedules.
You will practice typical travel situations, for example buying a ticket, asking how to get somewhere, and understanding basic announcements or signs.
Work and Professions
At A2 you begin to talk more about your working life and future job plans. You will learn:
- Names of jobs and occupations.
- How to understand and write very simple job related texts, like a mini CV or a short job application email.
- How to use modal verbs to talk about abilities, obligations, and possibilities at work and in daily tasks.
You will focus on short, formulaic texts that are realistic for basic job communication.
Media and Communication
You will practice simple communication through modern channels:
- Making phone calls, leaving and understanding simple messages.
- Writing brief and clear emails.
- Using subordinate clauses with “dass” to report information or express opinions in a simple way.
You will also meet basic phrases you can use in written communication to sound polite and clear.
Opinions and Preferences
You will expand your ability to describe the world and your tastes. You will learn:
- A larger set of adjectives and how to use them more precisely.
- Colors in more detail for describing objects and clothing.
- Comparative and superlative forms to compare things and give opinions.
- Basic patterns for expressing likes, dislikes, and preferences, including why you like or do not like something.
This helps you talk about your hobbies, your favorite places, food, people, and your evaluations of simple topics.
Communication Skills at A2
At this level you develop all four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, in a simple but connected way.
You will work on:
- Understanding slow and clear speech about familiar topics, such as family, shopping, work, and travel.
- Speaking in short dialogues, asking and answering simple questions, and talking about experiences.
- Reading short texts, emails, and simple descriptions, and understanding the main points.
- Writing short messages and simple texts, such as emails, short descriptions, and little stories about your experiences.
By the end of A2 you should be able to:
- Talk about present, past, and near future activities in simple sentences.
- Handle routine everyday situations in German without switching to English.
- Write short, simple texts on familiar topics.
How the A2 Course Is Organized
The A2 part of this course is divided into focused chapters, each of which goes into detail on one aspect:
- “Talking About the Past” introduces and practices the German past tenses and time expressions.
- “Health and the Body” covers body vocabulary, the imperative, and doctor visits.
- “Travel and Transportation” teaches directions, two way prepositions, and public transport vocabulary.
- “Work and Professions” expands job vocabulary, simple applications, and modal verbs.
- “Media and Communication” covers phone calls, emails, and “dass” clauses.
- “Opinions and Preferences” deepens your use of adjectives, colors, comparison, and expressions of likes and preferences.
Each of these chapters will introduce new vocabulary, grammar, and many practical examples, so by the end of A2 you can live and travel in a German speaking environment with simple but functional German.
New Vocabulary for This Chapter
| German | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| das Niveau | level | Language or skill level |
| das Sprachniveau | language level | CEFR level, for example A2 |
| die Grammatik | grammar | General term |
| die Vergangenheit | past | Time reference |
| die Gegenwart | present | Time reference |
| die Zukunft | future | Time reference |
| der Satz | sentence | Plural: die Sätze |
| der Hauptsatz | main clause | Simple sentence structure |
| der Nebensatz | subordinate clause | Used with “dass” etc. |
| die Zeitform | tense | Grammar term |
| das Verb | verb | Action or state word |
| das Adjektiv | adjective | Describing word |
| die Kommunikation | communication | General term |
| der Wortschatz | vocabulary | All the words you know |
| der Alltag | everyday life | Daily routine context |
| die Beschreibung | description | Noun from “beschreiben” |
| der Beruf | job, profession | Plural: die Berufe |
| die Bewerbung | application | Often for jobs |
| die E-Mail | Loanword, feminine | |
| das Telefonat | phone call | Phone conversation |
| die Meinung | opinion | What you think |
| die Erfahrung | experience | Something you lived through |
| das Ziel | goal | Learning or life goal |
| der Text | text | Any written passage |
| der Ausdruck | expression | Phrase or wording |