Learn how to ask for help in a difficult business situation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to GermanPod101.com. This is Business German for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 12 - Asking for Help in a Difficult German Business Situation. John here. |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag! I'm Jennifer. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for help in a difficult situation. The conversation takes place in the office. |
| Jennifer: It's between Linda Müller and Stefan Herzog. |
| John: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak informal German. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda Müller: Es tut mir leid dich zu stören, aber könntest du mir helfen? |
| Stefan Herzog: Klar, was ist los? |
| Linda Müller: Der Drucker steckt fest, weißt du wie das funktioniert? |
| Stefan Herzog: Lass' mich mal nachsehen... |
| Linda Müller: Vielen Dank. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda Müller: Es tut mir leid dich zu stören, aber könntest du mir helfen? |
| Stefan Herzog: Klar, was ist los? |
| Linda Müller: Der Drucker steckt fest, weißt du wie das funktioniert? |
| Stefan Herzog: Lass' mich mal nachsehen... |
| Linda Müller: Vielen Dank. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Linda Müller: I'm sorry to bother you, could you help me? |
| Stefan Herzog: Sure, what is it? |
| Linda Müller: The printer is stuck, do you know how it works? |
| Stefan Herzog: Let me see... |
| Linda Müller: Thank you so much! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: I think that this is a situation that anyone who has ever worked in an office can relate to. |
| Jennifer: Yes, at some point, the printer is going to jam. |
| John: And it’s usually when you don’t have any time and need to print something urgently. |
| Jennifer: Right. If you don’t know how to fix the printer then you need to ask a colleague for help. |
| John: How do German businesses view employees that ask a lot of questions? |
| Jennifer: When you start the job, it’s common to ask a lot of questions. |
| John: Of course, that's to be expected. |
| Jennifer: In fact, if you don’t ask questions people might think that you don’t care about your job. |
| John: I guess it’s suspicious if you’re new and act like you know everything already. |
| Jennifer: When you start your job, you’ll probably have a supervisor that can help you with things, and also help you sort out the company’s hierarchy. |
| John: Do German companies have a strict hierarchy? |
| Jennifer: It’s not strict, but it’s usually quite orderly. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Jennifer: jemanden stören [natural native speed] |
| John: to disturb someone |
| Jennifer: jemanden stören[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: jemanden stören [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: helfen [natural native speed] |
| John: to help |
| Jennifer: helfen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: helfen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: Drucker [natural native speed] |
| John: printer |
| Jennifer: Drucker[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Drucker [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: nachsehen [natural native speed] |
| John: to check |
| Jennifer: nachsehen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: nachsehen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: Vielen Dank. [natural native speed] |
| John: Thank you so much. |
| Jennifer: Vielen Dank.[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Vielen Dank. [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: klar [natural native speed] |
| John: clear; clearly; of course |
| Jennifer: klar[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: klar [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Jennifer: aber [natural native speed] |
| John: but |
| Jennifer: aber[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: aber [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of one of the phrases from this lesson. The phrase is... |
| Jennifer: Der Drucker steckt fest |
| John: meaning "The printer is stuck." What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Jennifer: Der Drucker, meaning “the printer,” is a masculine noun. Feststecken can have two meanings. |
| John: The first is “to fasten and attach.” |
| Jennifer: The second is “to inhibit progress.” |
| John: So in this case, we’re using the second meaning. |
| Jennifer: A more formal and stiff sentence you can use is Der Drucker ist defekt - |
| John: "the printer is defective." Can you give us an example using the first phrase? |
| Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say, Der Drucker steckt fest, weißt du wie das funktioniert? |
| John: ...which means "The printer is stuck, do you know how it works?" |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask for help in a difficult situation. This is quite important as there are many situations where you might need to ask for help. Sometimes there won’t be an obvious person to ask, like a help desk or supervisor. |
| Jennifer: Right. You may need to ask someone in the street for help, so you need to know how to do it politely. |
| John: First, it’s nice to open with an apology, especially if the other person seems busy. |
| Jennifer: In the dialogue, Linda uses Es tut mir leid, which is “I’m sorry.” This is followed by the accusative dich and then zu stören. |
| John: That’s a verb in the infinitive form. Then, you can ask for help. |
| Jennifer: You can use the conjunctive form of the verb kann and say Könnten Sie mir behilflich sein? |
| John: As in the dialogue, you can also start the question with the adversative conjunction, meaning “but.” |
| Jennifer: This is aber. |
| John: So how does the sentence sound all together? |
| Jennifer: Es tut mir leid dich zu stören, aber könntest du mir helfen? |
| John: “I'm sorry to bother you, could you help me?” Let’s review the conjugation of the verb meaning “could” in German. “I could” is... |
| Jennifer: Ich könnte |
| John: Next is "you could." |
| Jennifer: Du könntest |
| John: What’s “he could?” |
| Jennifer: Er könnte. |
| John: Remember that this verb conjugation can also be used to say the polite form of “you could.” |
| Jennifer: Right. Ist könnte. |
| John: Next we have “we could.” |
| Jennifer: Wir könnten |
| John: "you could" (plural) |
| Jennifer: Ihr könntet |
| John: and what is "they could?" |
| Jennifer: Sie könnten |
| John: Ok, what’s another useful sentence when asking for help? |
| Jennifer: You could also say, Ich bräuchte Unterstützung. |
| John: which means “I need help.” |
| Jennifer: Haben Sie eine Minute? |
| John: “Do you have a minute?” Ok, now let’s see how to answer if someone else asks you for help. How would you reply? |
| Jennifer: If you’re willing to help, you could say Klar, was ist los? |
| John: “Sure, what is it?” |
| Jennifer: Gern, wie kann ich Ihnen behilflich sein? |
| John: “Sure, how can I help?” |
| Jennifer: Keep in mind that the phrase behilflich sein, “to be helpful,” expresses someone’s willingness to help. |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Jennifer: Auf Wiedersehen! |
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