Learn how to ask for directions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to GermanPod101.com. This is Business German for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 20 - Asking for Directions at an Office Reception. John Here. |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag! I'm Jennifer. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for the location of an office. The conversation takes place in the lobby. |
| Jennifer: It's between a receptionist and Linda Müller. |
| John: The speakers are strangers, therefore, they will speak formal German. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Rezeptionist: Frau Müller, bitte gehen Sie durch. |
| Linda Müller: In welchem Flur ist Herr Schmitts Büro? |
| Rezeptionist: Er wartet im dritten Stock auf Sie. |
| Linda Müller: Wo befindet sich das Treppenhaus? |
| Rezeptionist: Sie können den Aufzug nehmen, im Gang auf der linken Seite. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Rezeptionist: Frau Müller, bitte gehen Sie durch. |
| Linda Müller: In welchem Flur ist Herr Schmitts Büro? |
| Rezeptionist: Er wartet im dritten Stock auf Sie. |
| Linda Müller: Wo befindet sich das Treppenhaus? |
| Rezeptionist: Sie können den Aufzug nehmen, im Gang auf der linken Seite. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Receptionist: Mrs. Müller, you can go ahead. |
| Linda Müller: What floor is Mr Smith's office? |
| Receptionist: He's waiting for you on the third floor. |
| Linda Müller: Where are the stairs? |
| Receptionist: You can use the elevator, down the hall to the left. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Okay, it’s meeting time but first Linda has to find the office. |
| Jennifer: It seems straightforward enough. |
| John: Yeah, the receptionist didn’t tell Linda to turn twenty different corners so the office must be close to the elevator. |
| Jennifer: Or maybe Mr. Smith will meet her at the elevator. |
| John: Maybe! Is it typical for office buildings to have elevators in Germany? |
| Jennifer: Yes, but sometimes old office buildings won’t have them. |
| John: In Germany, is the first floor the ground floor, or is it the floor one above the ground? |
| Jennifer: There’s no floor zero in Germany, so the first floor is the ground floor. |
| John: Good to know! |
| Jennifer: Germany has a famous der Aufzugshersteller called Thyssenkrupp. |
| John: Ah, you mean “elevator manufacturer?” |
| Jennifer: Yes. Twelve million of their elevators worldwide convey a total of one billion people per day. |
| John: Wow, that’s a lot of floors traveled! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Jennifer: durchgehen [natural native speed] |
| John: to go through |
| Jennifer: durchgehen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: durchgehen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: Flur [natural native speed] |
| John: corridor |
| Jennifer: Flur[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Flur [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: Stock [natural native speed] |
| John: floor |
| Jennifer: Stock[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Stock [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: Treppenhaus [natural native speed] |
| John: staircase |
| Jennifer: Treppenhaus[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Treppenhaus [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: Aufzug [natural native speed] |
| John: elevator |
| Jennifer: Aufzug[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Aufzug [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: Gang [natural native speed] |
| John: hall |
| Jennifer: Gang[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Gang [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Jennifer: linke Seite [natural native speed] |
| John: left side |
| Jennifer: linke Seite[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: linke Seite [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: auf jemanden warten |
| John: meaning "to wait for." What can you tell us about this expression? |
| Jennifer: It’s used in the conversation - Er wartet auf Sie |
| John: “He is waiting for you.” |
| Jennifer: This is used to say that a business partner is waiting for you. |
| John: So you might hear this from a receptionist. |
| Jennifer: That’s right. |
| John: Can you give us another example sentence? |
| Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say, Sie werden schon erwartet. |
| John: ...which means "You are already expected." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask where the office is. Being able to ask for directions is very useful when you’re working in unfamiliar surroundings. How do we do this? |
| Jennifer: In the conversation, Linda asked In welchem Flur ist Herr Schmitts Büro? |
| John: which means “What floor is Mr Smith's office?” |
| Jennifer: First is a question word, In welchem. Then the subject of the sentence, Flur, followed by ist. |
| John: Finally the accusative object, in this case “Mr. Smith’s office.” |
| Jennifer: Another example is Wo befindet sich das Treppenhaus? |
| John: “Where are the stairs?” Again this starts with a question word. |
| Jennifer: This time, it’s Wo, meaning “where.” |
| John: Next was the verb “to be situated.” |
| Jennifer: Which is sich befinden conjugated into befindet sich. |
| John: And finally, of course, “the stairs.” Ok, let’s hear one final example. |
| Jennifer: Wo finde ich die Toilette? |
| John: “Where do I find the toilet?” As well as asking for directions, we should know how to give them or understand them. |
| Jennifer: In the dialogue the receptionist said Sie können den Aufzug nehmen, im Gang auf der linken Seite. |
| John: “You can use the elevator, down the hall to the left.” Never use imperative when being polite. The imperative in formal situations can sound like a command and comes off too harsh. |
| Jennifer: Instead, use the conjugative, or make suggestions about what is possible. |
| John: Jennifer, can you give us an example? |
| Jennifer: Am besten nehmen Sie den Aufzug. |
| John: which means “The best thing would be to take the elevator.” And sentences with “you could” would also be good. |
| Jennifer: Right, for example, Sie können den Flur durchgehen. |
| John: “You could go through the hallway.” We just heard the word for “corridor” there. |
| Jennifer: Yes, it’s Flur. |
| John: Let’s check another couple of words that will help when in an office. First, how about “office” itself? |
| Jennifer: Das Büro |
| John: And “hall?” |
| Jennifer: Die Halle |
| John: There are a couple more words in the lesson notes. |
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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