Institut für Kurdische Studien

This textbook is directed at Kurdish native speakers who want to learn the German language, as well as at Germans who want to acquire Kurdish (Soranî). It is both for beginners and advanced students. It is possible to begin learning at any stage of the textbook, because the chapters are not based on each other. After successfully working through the individual chapters, the learner should be capable of communicating in everyday situations.

The textbook is divided into six sections. Initially the German alphabet is being introduced, in which the German pronunciation is explained with the Kurdish alphabet. Central is the section Text, that covers a wide range of different thematic areas and serves as an introduction to everyday language. It contains 56 chapters, from Family and At the Doctor’s to Politics, which each contain a dialogue, examples and an alphabetic index. Each of these chapters forms a complete unit. Furthermore, the grammar is very extensive: It explores parts of speech, inflections and German sentence construction. The grammar is first and foremost illustrated with examples, that is to say rules are only explained if they are essential for understanding. Finally, Reading Texts gives insights into the social, cultural, political and economic life in Germany. The sections Proverbs and Literature and Music rounds off the cultural side by introducing well-known German idiomatic expressions, writers and composers.

Besides the modified Kurdish-Arabic script, which is introduced at the beginning, we also offer the Roman-Kurdish characters, primarily to make access to our book easier for German learners.