That should be "Stange". Anyway, either does the trick.

In that case it's eine Stange, zwei Stangen.

Thanks for all your contributions!!

I've got "Basic German for Dummies" on my iPod so I can practise listening and speaking key phrases. I also got a deal on a 6-month subscription to Babbel.com for £5 from Groupon. I'll give it my best shot.

Hi there,

there's a language school in the Zug area, which offers a pocket guide, called survival cards...there you find the most useful phrases you'd need in German to get by. They are laminated and fit in every pocket...really useful and rather inexpensive :-).

For more info just contact them: contactus@softlanding.ch

Ittigen was right, it is in der Hauptstrasse, not an.

If you want to be ''mega''-polite, better to say:

''Grüezi, könnten wir/Sie bitte auf Englisch sprechen?'' (Could we/could you) please speak in English)

"Chasch mir mal...."

I'm sorry but I have considered your argument from every angle and notwithstanding your logical approach and total overview, I feel bound to disagree with your opinion on this occasion.

We have been moving around Europe for 13 years now and we always learn how to say: please, thank you, how to order a beer and sandwich and where are the toilets. Best bet is to buy a phrase book and check out the BBC website for a free German course.

And a punch in the face if you order your beer like that in Germany. (Stange means "stick" - the local beer glasses here are thin and straight... Stick is in High German typically a reference to an erection. Telling a waiter "I'd like an erection" won't work anywhere outside of Zurich).

If you are an absolute beginner, I would suggest learning to say 'Thank you' correctly straight away! In Zurich, I was confused by 'merci' and 'merci vielmal' initially, cos I thought 'danke' and 'danke schön' would be more widely used.

'Grüezi mitenand' threw me too. I worked out the 'grüezi' bit easily enough, but the 'mitenand' bit didn't make sense til someone explained it to me - it's what you say/is said to you if more than one person is being greeted.

Oh, and it took me MONTHS to realise the check-out person in Coop was saying 'Sammeln Sie Märkli?' (asking me whether I am collecting the little stickers towards special items or not).

I am guessing many EFers will think I am being incredibly basic here! But seriously, these 3 points revolutionised my life

The purpose of my post was to find the bare basics! So thanks. I'm very interested in learning what phrases or questions I need to listen out for. It's one thing reading them and trying to say them, but it's a completely different matter recognising when someone says them to you.

Reminds me of a joke about a guy who asked a waitress for a quickie in a restaurant only to be slapped across the face. It was then that a Nun seated at the table next to him leaned over and said "I believe it's pronouced keesh"

A) IN Baden (im = in dem = Dativ)
B) AN der xxx-Strasse 23 (IN is English)
C) Gute Nacht (nouns have Capital Letters at the Beginning )
D) No, it is NOT "Ihre Hosen sind offen" but "Ihr Hosenladen ist offen

But make your mind UP. It is either "eine Stange" or else "ä Stange" and of course no "r" at the end

There is NOT "a" German accent. The accents of people in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, even Hessen, are very close in the South and fairly close to the CH one in the Northern parts of B-W and Bavaria, and rather distant from the accents north of the Taunus.

Another thing the supermarket cashier will sometimes ask is "Quittig?" or something like "Wänd sie ne quittig?" (Do you want a receipt?). As with the stickers question above, "bitte" or "nein, danke" are adequate answers.

Erm, no. "In" is German, "an" is Swiss German.

For me the most useful phrases are

"Entschuldigung, ich spreche nicht Deutsch, sprechen Sie English bitte ?
I apologize, I do not speak German, do you speak English?

"Grüetzi, können Sie mir helfen bitte?
Hello, can you help me please?

I use these daily and they work for me.

Excuse the spelling mistakes!

"an" in Switzerland is not only dialect but also CH Standard German (written German). To my experience, while Swiss people love the expression "ich wone a dä ...schtrass xxx ", most Germans rather state "meine Adresse ist..."

Well spotted, I never noticed. Probably "correcting" it uncousciently.