If you go to Germany, chances are, you end up having a conversation with a German. Even if you‘re not fluent in German you should try it. The more German you know, the more you’ll be able to break “die Sprachbarriere” (the language barrier).
You should know how to introduce yourself. „Guten Tag“ is the polite way to say hello. „Mein Name ist ...“ means: My name is... „Wie heißen sie?“ means: What is your name? „Wie geht es ihnen?“ means: How are you? „Mir geht es gut“ means: I‘m fine.
Because of your accent you‘ll probably be asked: „Wo kommen sie her?“ (Where are you from?). You could answer: „Ich komme aus den Vereinigten Staaten“ (I‘m from the United States) or „Ich komme aus England“ (I‘m from England). You might get asked: „Welcher Arbeit gehen sie nach?“ (What is your job?). You might even be asked whether you‘re on vacation in Germany or not. You could answer: „Ich mache Urlaub hier“ (I‘m on vacation).
Other common questions are: „Mögen sie Deutschland?“ (Do you like Germany?), „Was haben sie schon gesehen?“ (What did you see so far?) or „In welchem Hotel wohnen sie?“ (Where are you staying?). Of course you could be the one asking a question too. You might want to ask a German „könnten sie mir helfen?“ (could you help me?) or „Wo finde ich X“ (Where do i find X).
One thing that is different in the German language is the polite „sie“. While „sie“ can refer to a group of people or a female, it‘s also used to address people you don‘t know. You could say „du“ (you) instead but „sie“ is much more polite, since Germans use „du“ only for people they know for some time. You should be flattered if someone says: „Du kannst du zu mir sagen“ (You can say ‚du‘ to me). In that case you say: „Kannst du mir helfen?“ (could you help me?) instead of the aforementioned „Könnten sie mir helfen?“.
You should also know „danke“ (thank you), „bitte“ (please) and „gern geschehen“ (you‘re welcome). „Bis dann“ (till next time) or „auf wiedersehen“ (see you) are usually used to end the conversation but nowadays especially younger people tend to prefer the italian „ciao“ or the english „bye“, and if it‘s late in the evening you could say „Gute Nacht“ (good night) too.
