Unlocking Your First German Sentences with “That is__”
🎧Excerpt from the Episode:
“So instead of telling you a rule and this and that, I’m just giving you a sentence and a blank, and I’m telling you, okay, this is what you can put here. And this is how you can learn how to make correct sentences.” – Susi Blumel, Better German Podcast, Episode 7
Before you build the walls and roof of a house, you need a solid foundation. Learning real sentences in German works the same way. Instead of jumping straight into complex grammar, you need a simple, reliable way to form your first real sentences.
That’s exactly what Episode 7 of the Better German podcast, hosted by Susi Blümel, offers. In this friendly and practical episode, Susi introduces the “Das ist ____” (“That is ____”) sentence pattern—a core building block for beginners that helps you talk confidently about body parts and beyond.
Why Practice German with Sentence Patterns?
A sentence pattern is a simple sentence with a blank you can fill in. For example: “That is ____.” In German, it’s “Das ist ____,” and once you know this pattern, you can start forming lots of useful sentences just by plugging in the right words. Remember how you learned your native language as a kid? By hearing full sentences and starting to use them, changing one word at a time. And that’s how we teach German, at Better German. Through real, usable patterns—not grammar theory.
By practicing “Das ist ____,” you’ll quickly gain the confidence to form German sentences.
What Makes This Approach So Helpful?
1. Learn By Doing – Not Memorizing
Repeat each sentence out loud until it feels natural. For example, look in the mirror and say:
“Das ist der Arm” (That is the arm) — and touch your arm.
These kinds of real, usable sentences are easy to practice and help you start speaking German right away. If you’re unsure, always go back and listen to Susi’s pronunciation in the episode and mimic her!
2. Learning German in Easy, Manageable Steps
Susi lays out a five-step approach to mastering new sentence patterns. Each step is designed to be approachable. If you get stuck, Susi encourages you to go back one step rather than pushing through frustration—making the learning process positive and sustainable.
3. No Grammar Stress
You’re not memorizing theoretical grammar rules. You’re speaking German from the start—with confidence and understanding. This method mirrors how language is learned naturally and makes it feel much easier.
🎧Listen Now
Want to get the most out of Episode 7? Listen to the full podcast Episode 7: Sentence Patterns for the full walk-through, extra practice tips, and more examples.
🎁Freebie for this Episode
Susi has put together some great downloadable resources to help you keep learning offline! You can get the freebie for this episode inside the free Better German Community – with live classes, resources, and support – just sign up and look under Podcast Resources. Use it to practice your first sentences in German! It has never been so easy to learn your first correct German sentences!
New to The Better German Podcast?
The Better German Podcast is a flow and is designed like a course, with each episode building on the last. If you’re new here, we recommend starting at the beginning!
💡 Pro Tip: For the best experience, begin with Episode 1 –Introduction to Better German to follow the course-style progression. And whatever you do, be sure to catch Episode 4 – How to Learn German. It’s where the method truly clicks and your real journey begins.
Related Episodes
Episode 4: How To Learn German
Episode 5: Introduction to Articles
Episode 6: Wordlist – Body Parts
Episode 8: How Much Grammar Do We Need?
Additional Resources
- Watch the video version of this podcast episode here on YouTube.
- Grab our Interactive Movie Guide. Watching German movies and TV shows is great to help you learn German. In this guide, you will find suitable TV shows and movies with subtitles in your language, so you can start using movies to learn right away!
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