Start your first German lesson for beginners by teaching basic sayings. Demonstrate to students how to introduce themselves in German with simple sayings like "Hallo, ich heisse__" (Hello, my name is __) and "Ich komme aus Amerika." The expression "entshuldigung" (excuse me) will also be useful for students. Have students walk around the classroom, introduce themselves to other students, and ask "Entschuldigung, bist du __?" (Excuse me, are you __?). Students answer either "Ja" or "Nein, ich heisse__."
Students traveling to Germany will need to know how to ask for the time. Germans go by a 24-hour clock, and do not use a.m. and p.m. Germans frequently use expressions such as "viertel nach acht" (a quarter after eight) instead of saying eight-fifteen. Write different times on the board, point to one at a time and ask students "Wie viel Uhr ist es?" (What time is it?).
In English, the gender of a noun is based on whether it is female, male or an inanimate object. In German, however, noun-gendering is more complicated. Many inanimate objects are gendered either male or female; in fact, whether an object is inanimate has little to do with its gender. The gender of a noun is indicated in the articles (part of speech that precedes a noun) "der" (male), "die" (female or plural) and "das" (neuter). Learning noun-gendering involves some memorization.
Similar to English, German grammar includes pronouns which vary depending on their position in the sentence. The two basic pronouns are "ich" (I) and "du" (you). However, German also contains formal pronouns. When speaking to an authority figure or when being polite, teach students to use "Sie," the formal "you."