In German, you will see the adverb erst, along with its synonym zuerst, used to express "first" or "at first" and establish temporal order. 

Dazu müssen wir die Äpfel erst schälen.

For this, we first have to peel the apples.

Caption 21, Apfelpfannkuchen - mit Alina und Sabine

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Zuerst möchte ich euch das Wahrzeichen der Stadt vorstellen.

First, I would like to show you the town's landmark.

Caption 9, Jenny zeigt uns - den Speyerer Dom

 Play Caption

Ich muss sagen, ich hatte erst richtig viel Angst da oben im Flugzeug.

I must say, I was at first really afraid up there in the airplane.

Caption 13, Abenteuer und Sport - Fallschirmspringen

 Play Caption

However, erst is also used as an adverb to express that something didn't occur or will not occur until a particular moment. There isn't a precise English translation for this, but usually a phrase with "only" or "not until" is used. 

Also werden wir uns erst nächste Woche Montag entscheiden.

So, we won't decide until Monday of next week.

Caption 67, Berufsleben - das Vorstellungsgespräch

 Play Caption

Ich bin gerade erst vor kurzem Veganerin geworden.

I've only just recently become a vegan.

Caption 28, Buchtipp - Aufregen für Fortgeschrittene

 Play Caption

Als Erstes and erstens generally are used when a series of steps is mentioned or at least implied. When erstens is used, zweitens (and possibly drittens) will generally follow, and als Erstes implies that there is a step that comes als Nächstes. 

Als Erstes suche ich mir einen Koffer aus.

First, I'm going to pick out a suitcase.

Caption 3, Christiane - fährt in den Urlaub

 Play Caption

Wo eine Parkscheibe vorgeschrieben ist,

Where a parking disk is required,

darf man erstens nur so lange parken, wie es auf dem Zusatzschild angegeben ist,

you should, first of all, only park as long as indicated on the additional sign,

und zweitens nur, wenn man die Parkscheibe auf die nächste volle halbe Stunde nach der Ankunft einstellt.

and secondly, only if you set the parking disk for the next full half hour after arrival.

Captions 18-20, Richter Alexander Hold - Richtig parken

 Play Caption

The adverb erst mal can be translated as "first," "first of all," "to begin with," or even "for now." 

Aber jetzt gehen wir erst mal zu deiner Tante.

But first let's go to your aunt's now.

Caption 22, Nicos Weg - A1 Folge 23: Ich habe kein…

 Play Caption

Aber ich brauche erst mal nichts.

But I don't need anything for now.

Caption 47, Die Wohngemeinschaft - Besuch

 Play Caption

One false friend to keep in mind is the adverb zunächst. Unlike als Nächstes, this word has nothing to do with "next" and actually also means "first" or "initially."

Wenn man sich sehr schlecht fühlt,

If you feel very badly,

geht man in der Regel zunächst einmal zum Arzt.

you generally first go to the doctor.

Caption 5, Eva erklärt - Gesundheit

 Play Caption

Ja, ich habe zunächst auf Werbemuster von Christina Hoffmann gewartet.

Yes, I was initially waiting for advertising samples from Christina Hoffmann.

Caption 16, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern

 Play Caption

Further Learning
You can find many examples of all of these adverbs on Yabla German. When you see one, take note of where it is positioned in the phrase and consider whether any of the other adverbs above could also be used.  

This week, we will conclude our five-part series on how to express movement from one place to another in German — in other words, translations of the preposition "to." We have looked at instances in which nach, in, an, and auf are used for this purpose, and now it's time for the preposition zu. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

There are a few things to know about the preposition zu. First of all, it is always followed by the dative, even when used to express movement! This means you will often see zum, which is a combination of zu + dem for when a masculine or neuter object follows, and zur, which combines zu + der for a female object (again, it is always dative). 

Kuckt mal, jetzt gehen wir mal zur Mauer und kucken uns die mal an.

Look, now let's go to the Wall and take a look at it.

Caption 7, 25 Jahre Mauerfall - Bürger Lars Dietrich erinnert sich

 Play Caption

Am nächsten Tag geht er zur Schule.

The next day, he goes to school.

Caption 16, Sabine erzählt Witze - Ein Satz

 Play Caption

Und wer von der Politik genug gesehen hat,

And anyone who has seen enough of politics

kann einfach weiterflanieren,

can just continue strolling,

zum Beispiel zurück zum Potsdamer Platz.

for example, back to Potsdamer Platz.

Captions 38-39, Berlin - Hauptstadt des vereinten Deutschland

 Play Caption

Zu is the most widely used preposition to express "to" and it can often (but not always) substitute for in, an, and auf. We can say Ich gehe ins Fitnessstudio, but also Ich gehe zum Fitnessstudio. Both Ich gehe auf den Markt and Ich gehe zum Markt are correct. However, sometimes only zu is correct and sometimes it can't be used at all. Ich fahre ins Restaurant doesn't sound right because you aren't literally going to drive your car into the restaurant. With the verb fahren it's better to use zum Restaurant.

There is an instance in which zu is used exclusively and you have likely already come across it. You may know that zu Hause sein means "to be at home" and nach Hause gehen is "to go home." But when we talk about visiting someone at their home, we always use zu and it is actually very simple. 

Ich gehe um elf zu Lisa.

I'm going to Lisa's at eleven.

Caption 16, Nicos Weg - A2 Folge 5: Geld ist für mich…

 Play Caption

Aber jetzt gehen wir erst mal zu deiner Tante.

But first let's go to your aunt's now.

Caption 22, Nicos Weg - A1 Folge 23: Ich habe kein…

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Re-read the other parts of this series of lessons linked in the first paragraph. You can keep a running list of how you see the preposition "to" translated on Yabla German, or make a list of places and try to say "I'm going to ____" for each one in German. Here are some sentences you can translate to get started: "I'm going to the park," "I'm going to the restaurant," "I'm driving to the beach," "I'm taking the train to Munich," "I'm going to Ana's house," "I'm getting into the car," "I'm going to the market," "I'm going home." Consider: which of these can also be said in German using zu?