Lesson plans on language and linguistics in K-12 education
German vs. English Consonant Word Puzzle
Fri, 12/07/2007 - 2:17pm — olsona25
Subject:
General linguistics
Reading
Other
Subject (Other):
Lexicon/Language change
Topic:
German and English language history
Grade Level:
Grades 6-8
Grades 9-12
Overview:
This is a word puzzle designed for students who have no knowledge or background information in German. This deals with the High German Consonant Shift where certain consonants changed in German, while in English they stayed the same. It is sometimes hard to see the connection with German and English because the consonants are different, but the words are actually very similar, they just look different. If a German learner learns these tricks, they will be able to read and translate German better, even if they do not know German. This puzzle will force the students to look at the pattern between consonants within words. Once they see this pattern they will use it to translate German words that do not appear too similar with English into English.
Lesson Plan:
Give this sheet to the students. Let them figure it out and tell them to play around with some of the vowel combinations because the difference in the vowels is usually the hardest thing in translating the words from German into English. It would be good to have some background in German if you are to give this lesson. You might want to give some background information about the history of German and English before they start.
Class Time Needed:
30 minutes
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