🎯 Situation

You meet someone new in Germany — at a party, at work, or when registering at the Ausländerbehörde (foreigners' registration office). You need to know how to say your name, hometown, age and to ask the other person back.

📋 Sample phrases table

Introducing yourself

German	Pronunciation (IPA)	English
Ich heiße ...	/ɪç ˈhaɪ̯sə/	My name is ...
Mein Name ist ...	/maɪ̯n ˈnaːmə ɪst/	My name is ...
Ich komme aus Vietnam	/ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s ˈvi̯ɛtnam/	I come from Vietnam
Ich bin ... Jahre alt	/ɪç bɪn ... ˈjaːʁə ʔalt/	I am ... years old
Ich wohne in Berlin	/ɪç ˈvoːnə ɪn bɛʁˈliːn/	I live in Berlin
Ich spreche Vietnamesisch	/ɪç ˈʃpʁɛçə vi̯ɛtnaˈmeːzɪʃ/	I speak Vietnamese
Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch	/ɪç ˈʃpʁɛçə aɪ̯n ˈbɪsçən dɔɪ̯tʃ/	I speak a little German

Asking the other person

German	Pronunciation (IPA)	English
Wie heißen Sie?	/viː ˈhaɪ̯sn̩ ziː/	What is your name? (formal)
Wie heißt du?	/viː haɪ̯st duː/	What is your name? (informal)
Woher kommen Sie?	/voˈheːɐ̯ ˈkɔmən ziː/	Where do you come from?
Wo wohnen Sie?	/voː ˈvoːnən ziː/	Where do you live?
Was machen Sie beruflich?	/vas ˈmaxn̩ ziː bəˈʁuːflɪç/	What do you do for a living?
Sprechen Sie Englisch?	/ˈʃpʁɛçn̩ ziː ˈɛŋlɪʃ/	Do you speak English?

💬 Sample dialogues

Dialogue 1: Meeting at a party

A: Hallo! Ich heiße Anna. Wie heißt du? (Hello! My name is Anna. What is your name?)

B: Hallo! Ich heiße Minh. Ich komme aus Vietnam. (Hello! My name is Minh. I come from Vietnam.)

A: Oh, toll! Sprichst du Deutsch? (Oh, great! Do you speak German?)

B: Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch. (I speak a little German.)

A: Das ist super! (That's super!)

Dialogue 2: At the registration office

Clerk: Guten Tag. Wie heißen Sie? (Hello. What is your name?)

You: Ich heiße Nguyen Van Minh. (My name is Nguyễn Văn Minh.)

Clerk: Woher kommen Sie? (Where do you come from?)

You: Ich komme aus Vietnam. (I come from Vietnam.)

Clerk: Wo wohnen Sie? (Where do you live?)

You: Ich wohne in Berlin. (I live in Berlin.)

ℹ️ 📌 Quick memory tips

"Ich heiße" — /ɪç ˈhaɪ̯sə/ — remember: Ich = I, heiße = am called (this is how you introduce yourself). The ß is just a sharp, voiceless "s" sound.
"Ich komme aus" — /ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s/ — easy to remember: komme looks like English "come," and aus means "from" (its au sounds like the "ou" in "house").
Sie (capitalized) = you/sir/madam (formal). du = you (informal). When in doubt, always use Sie!
Germans usually shake hands when introducing themselves. Make eye contact and give a firm handshake!

ℹ️ 🔗 Next step

Already know how to introduce yourself? Next, learn numbers to say your age, prices, and phone numbers in the lesson Numbers 0-20.

Want to learn basic grammar? See the section The verbs sein & haben in the A1 program.