Henry Hünchen

From The German Project

Overview

Are you familiar with Chicken Little? The story of the chicken who fears the sky is falling? In this version, we get a new adaption that includes an important moral about trust and the internet.

Cartoon chicken reading computer screen that says "Der Himmel Stürzt Ein!"

Image from The German Project

Chicken Little Gets a Modern Twist...auf Deutsch!

One of the best ways to learn a language is through stories, and Henry Hünchen by German Project and Fable Cottage is a particularly good one for students just starting out!

How to Use This Lesson

This lesson provides key grammar and vocabulary guidance for the linked story. I recommend the following approach:

Use Two Browser Windows Side-by-Side. You'll want to have the Henry Hünchen text open on one side, and this page open on the other. As long as you're using a laptop, both pages should automatically adjust the texts to fit your screen.
Look over a paragraph of the text. Don't worry about pronunciation or understanding yet — just see if there are any words you recognize, particularly any that appear similar to English.
Use the lesson materials to translate the paragraph. I've included key vocabulary and grammatical structures to help you translate the text. Do your best to get the overall meaning of the text, but don't worry about getting it perfect. Language learning is a process — let your brain absorb the new language gradually with time.
Check your progress against the English translation. See how well you did!

Lasst mich euch...

Here are lesson notes for the very first paragraph:

lassen: to allow, permit. (def. 2). Here, the "Lasst mich euch..." is essentially "Allow me to you (plural)..."
erzählen: to explain, to tell
die Geschichte: the story
leben: to live
Hühner / Hünchen: poultry / chicken
das Dorf: the village

Er is weder...noch...

Now the notes from the second paragraph:

weder...noch: neither...nor
er: the personal pronoun for "he."
groß / klein: large / small
dick / dünn: fat / thin
schlau / dumm: smart (clever) / dumb (stupid)
normal: normal, ordinary

Ein normale Morgen

And the third, during which our chicken starts his day:

der Morgen: the morning
an: preposition for "on" (time and vertical surfaces)
auf: preposition for "on" (horizontal surfaces)
ganz: quite, very
essen: to eat (see conjugation)
die Küche: the kitchen
das Frühstück: the breakfast
die Sahne: cream

Die Nachrichten im Internet

Henry hat so viel Angst!

Er schickt eine tausende E-Mail

Die erste Person

"Guten morgen!" (Oder nicht so gut...)

"Echt? Stimmt das so?"

Henry und Hanni rennen!

"Hallo! Warum shaut ihr so?"

"Woher wisst ihr das?"

Die drei Vögel rennen!

Hallo zusammen!

Thea Taube fragt eine Frage.

Zum Dorfplatz!

Sie treffen Freddy Fuchs. (3 paragraphs)

Freddy führt alle in die Höhle (3 paragraphs)

Am nächsten Morgen ist die Höhle leer! (3 paragraphs)

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