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Lesson 3

Introducing Yourself with Basic Phrases

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In our last lesson, you learned how to start and end a conversation in German using the right greetings and farewells. We also introduced the crucial distinction between the formal Sie and the informal du. Today, we'll build on that foundation by learning how to handle the core of a first encounter: the introduction.

This lesson is designed to equip you with the essential memorized phrases to introduce yourself by stating your name, origin, residence, and the languages you speak. This is not just a crucial real-world skill; it's also the very first task you'll perform in the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 speaking exam. By the end of this session, you'll have a personal script ready to practice.

The Core Questions of an Introduction

When you meet someone new in Germany, there are four key pieces of information you'll commonly exchange. We'll tackle them one by one. To get us started, the following video provides a very clear, step-by-step guide to the questions and answers for the first three points. We'll watch it in parts.

Learn How to Introduce Yourself in GERMAN - A1 [with Jenny]

The video "Learn How to Introduce Yourself in GERMAN" by lingoni GERMAN is an excellent tutorial for beginners. The presenter speaks clearly and focuses on the exact phrases you need.

We will break this video down into three key sections. As you watch each part, listen for the difference between the formal (Sie) and informal (du) questions. First, let's learn how to talk about your name. Watch from the beginning of the explanation about names. Next, focus on how to state your country of origin. Watch the segment from "where someone's from". Finally, learn how to say where you live. Watch the short section from "where they live".

Deconstructing the Introduction

Let's review and consolidate what you've just seen. You'll notice a clear pattern: a question word, the verb, and then Sie or du.

1. Your Name (Name)
As the video showed, there are a few ways to state your name.

  • Question: Wie heißen Sie? (Formal) / Wie heißt du? (Informal) - What is your name? (Literally: "How are you called?")
  • Answer:
    • Ich heiße... (My name is...)
    • Mein Name ist... (My name is...)
    • Ich bin... (I am...)

All three answers are perfectly correct. Ich heiße is very common, and Mein Name ist is perhaps slightly more formal. Pick the one that you find easiest to remember and pronounce.

2. Your Origin (Herkunft)
This is about your country of origin.

  • Question: Woher kommen Sie? (Formal) / Woher kommst du? (Informal) - Where do you come from?
  • Answer: Ich komme aus... (I come from...)

The question word Woher specifically means "from where."

3. Your Residence (Wohnort)
This refers to the city or town where you currently live.

  • Question: Wo wohnen Sie? (Formal) / Wo wohnst du? (Informal) - Where do you live?
  • Answer: Ich wohne in... (I live in...)

Notice the difference: Woher asks about origin, while Wo (without -her) asks about a static location.

4. Your Languages (Sprachen)
The video didn't cover this, but it's the fourth key piece of your introduction.

  • Question: Welche Sprachen sprechen Sie? (Formal) / Welche Sprachen sprichst du? (Informal) - Which languages do you speak?
  • Answer: Ich spreche... (I speak...)

A very useful phrase for you will be: Ich spreche Englisch und ein bisschen Deutsch. (I speak English and a little German.)

Your A1 Exam Introduction

These four elements—name, origin, residence, and languages—form the core of the introduction you'll give in your A1 exam. The Goethe-Institut provides a helpful summary of these phrases.

DEUTSCH ONLINE A1 - Goethe-Institut

This official PDF from the Goethe-Institut is a perfect "cheat sheet" for your A1 introductions. It neatly organizes the phrases and introduces the basic grammar behind them.

Please review the first page. Focus on the two tables on the left and right: The Personal Information table gives you a side-by-side comparison of the formal and informal questions and answers we've just covered. The Personal Pronoun and Verb table shows the beginning of verb conjugation. Notice that for ich (I), the verbs consistently end in -e: ich wohne, ich komme, ich heiße, ich spreche. This is a fundamental rule we'll explore more in the next module.

To see exactly how this looks in the exam, the next video is extremely useful. It walks you through the exam task and builds a sample introduction.

How to Introduce Yourself in German | For Beginners | Goethe & Telc A1 Exam

The video "How to Introduce Yourself in German" from the Five Minute German channel is tailored specifically for the Goethe and Telc A1 exams, making it perfect for your goal.

Watch the following segments to see how the phrases we've learned are used to build a complete introduction for the test: First, get an overview of the points you need to cover at The 7 points. We've covered Name, Land (origin), Wohnort (residence), and Sprachen (languages) today. Next, review the phrases for your name: Name phrases. Then for your country of origin: Country phrase. And for your city of residence: Residence phrase. Finally, for the languages you speak: Languages phrase. You can see it all come together in the final recap.

Your Turn (Du bist dran!)

Now it's time to create your own introduction. Use the phrases we've learned to fill in the blanks below. This script is your key to acing the first part of the speaking exam.

  • Guten Tag. (Or Hallo.)
  • Mein Name ist [Your Name].
  • Ich komme aus [Your Country].
  • Ich wohne in [Your City].
  • Ich spreche [Your Native Language] und ein bisschen Deutsch.

Read this script aloud several times until it feels natural. This is your personal introduction!

Key Takeaways

  • You can introduce yourself using the core phrases: Ich heiße..., Ich komme aus..., Ich wohne in..., and Ich spreche...
  • You can ask for personal information using the formal Sie or informal du forms of the questions (e.g., Wie heißen Sie? vs. Wie heißt du?).
  • These phrases form the foundation of the sich vorstellen (introducing oneself) part of the Goethe A1 speaking exam.
  • For ich (I), present tense verbs typically end in -e.

In our next lesson, we'll continue building your introduction skills by learning the German alphabet. This will allow you to complete another required part of the exam intro: spelling your name aloud.