Learn about what you need to stay in Germany for more than a month
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here. Intermediate Series Season 2, Lesson 32. Don’t fall victim to the German bureaucracy. |
| Judith: Hello, everyone. I'm Judith and welcome to GermanPod101. |
| Chuck: With us you’ll learn to speak German with fun and effective lessons. |
| Judith: We also provide you with cultural insights. |
| Chuck: And tips you won’t find in a textbook. In this lesson, you’ll learn about what you need if you want to stay in Germany for more than one month. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place at a German home. |
| Chuck: The conversation is between Mike and his German friend. The speakers are friends, therefore they will be speaking informal German. Now if you’re listening on an iPod… |
| Judith: Or an iPod Touch or iPhone. |
| Chuck: Click the center button of the iPod or tap the screen on an iPod Touch or iPhone to see the notes for this lesson and listen. |
| Judith: Read along while you listen. |
| Chuck: This technique will help you remember faster. Ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| D: Mike, da ist eine Nachricht auf dem Anrufbeantworter für dich! |
| A: Ah, von wem? |
| D: Hör's dir einfach an. |
| A: ... Juchhu, das war Frau Michely, ich hab den Job gekriegt! |
| D: Ich gratuliere! |
| A: Jetzt brauche ich dringend die Arbeitserlaubnis, damit ich anfangen darf. Kannst du mich heute noch in die Stadt zum Ausländeramt fahren? |
| D: Heute? Ich dachte, dass du Bauchschmerzen hast?? |
| A: Es geht mir schon viel besser. |
| D: Außerdem ist es schon nach vier, das Amt hat bestimmt schon zu. |
| A: Schade... |
| D: Guck nicht so traurig! Du hast die Unterlagen auch noch nicht alle. Du musst mehrere Formulare ausfüllen und Frau Michely muss dir auch noch eine Absichtserklärung schicken... |
| A: Aber ich muss erst zum Ausländeramt, um diese Formulare überhaupt zu kriegen. |
| D: Was? Nein, das musst du nicht. Die Formulare gibt es bestimmt online, ich drucke sie dir aus. |
| Judith: Now read slowly. |
| D: Mike, da ist eine Nachricht auf dem Anrufbeantworter für dich! |
| A: Ah, von wem? |
| D: Hör's dir einfach an. |
| A: ... Juchhu, das war Frau Michely, ich hab den Job gekriegt! |
| D: Ich gratuliere! |
| A: Jetzt brauche ich dringend die Arbeitserlaubnis, damit ich anfangen darf. Kannst du mich heute noch in die Stadt zum Ausländeramt fahren? |
| D: Heute? Ich dachte, dass du Bauchschmerzen hast?? |
| A: Es geht mir schon viel besser. |
| D: Außerdem ist es schon nach vier, das Amt hat bestimmt schon zu. |
| A: Schade... |
| D: Guck nicht so traurig! Du hast die Unterlagen auch noch nicht alle. Du musst mehrere Formulare ausfüllen und Frau Michely muss dir auch noch eine Absichtserklärung schicken... |
| A: Aber ich muss erst zum Ausländeramt, um diese Formulare überhaupt zu kriegen. |
| D: Was? Nein, das musst du nicht. Die Formulare gibt es bestimmt online, ich drucke sie dir aus. |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| D: Mike, da ist eine Nachricht auf dem Anrufbeantworter für dich! |
| D: Mike, there is a message on the answering machine for you! |
| A: Ah, von wem? |
| A: Ah, from who? |
| D: Hör's dir einfach an. |
| D: Just listen to it. |
| A: ... Juchhu, das war Frau Michely, ich hab den Job gekriegt! |
| A: ... Yay, that was Mrs Michely, I got the job! |
| D: Ich gratuliere! |
| D: Congratulations! |
| A: Jetzt brauche ich dringend die Arbeitserlaubnis, damit ich anfangen darf. Kannst du mich heute noch in die Stadt zum Ausländeramt fahren? |
| A: Now I urgently need that work permit, so that I can start. Can you still drive me to the foreigners' office in the city today? |
| D: Heute? Ich dachte, dass du Bauchschmerzen hast?? |
| D: Today? I thought you have a stomach ache?? |
| A: Es geht mir schon viel besser. |
| A: I'm already feeling much better. |
| D: Außerdem ist es schon nach vier, das Amt hat bestimmt schon zu. |
| D: Besides, it's already past 4pm, the bureau is probably closed already. |
| A: Schade... |
| A: A pity… |
| D: Guck nicht so traurig! Du hast die Unterlagen auch noch nicht alle. Du musst mehrere Formulare ausfüllen und Frau Michely muss dir auch noch eine Absichtserklärung schicken... |
| D: Don't look so sad! You don't yet have all the documents anyway. You have to fill out several forms and Mrs Michely also still has to send you a letter of intent… |
| A: Aber ich muss erst zum Ausländeramt, um diese Formulare überhaupt zu kriegen. |
| A: But first I must go to the foreigners' office in order to get those forms in the first place. |
| D: Was? Nein, das musst du nicht. Die Formulare gibt es bestimmt online, ich drucke sie dir aus. |
| D: What? No, you don't need to. The forms are probably available online, I'll print them for you. |
| CULTURAL INSIGHTS |
| Judith: So, Chuck you’ve gone through the whole experience of coming to Germany, finding a job, finding everything you need. What tips can you give people? What kind of order should they do things in if they want to stay in Germany permanently or let’s say more than a few months. |
| Chuck: So I’d say first find a company willing to employ you for at least 20 hours a week. University is best because at university you could get a visa within 24 hours, but a regular company would take one to three months because they like for universities to have diversities in there, they don’t want foreigners taking jobs from regular companies. |
| Judith: I guess people assume that if a university wants to hire somebody, then that somebody’s an expert in his field and can’t easily be replaced by one of Germany’s unemployed. The thing is you can come to Germany without having a job offer immediately. I mean if you’re American or from another developed country, then you have the right to come to Germany without having an open job offer and you can stay here for up to three months looking for somebody who’s ready to employ you. |
| Chuck: So once you have a job offer, you have to apply for a work visa which will allow you to stay in Germany as long as you’re employed for that company or the company that gave you the letter of intent. If you get another job, you’ll have to separately be approved again for another visa. |
| Judith: Yeah, because it’s all about not taking German’s work possibilities. |
| Chuck: Yeah. |
| Judith: Taking jobs away from the unemployed. |
| Chuck: But, however, there’s a law that says that if you work for the same company for two years without interruption, you can get a visa that’s independent of an employer. And with that you can even do freelance work. |
| Judith: Yeah, or you can change jobs all the much you like. |
| Chuck: Yes. So once you have a visa, you have to set up your German health insurance and then you just start working. So if you’re working for university, they’ll give you a checklist of everything that you have to do, like get into German health insurance, getting a [Lohnsteuerkarte], that’s like a tax… What do you call that? |
| Judith: It’s a paper where they record what taxes you owe for your income. |
| Chuck: And, of course, once you go through that you have to find an apartment because without a regular job or a visa it’s hard to tell someone that you want to rent their apartment if you’re not legally allowed to stay there. |
| Judith: And also if you don’t have money coming in. I mean unless you have somebody who’s vouching for your ability to pay the rent. |
| Chuck: So, probably in the meantime while you’re looking for an apartment, you’ll have to either stay at a hostel or with a friend. |
| Judith: Or maybe you can sublet an apartment or do a flat share. |
| Chuck: And then, of course, you have to inform the foreigner’s office of your new address. So let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: First word, [Nachricht]. |
| Chuck: “Message” or “news”. |
| Judith: [Nachricht, Nachricht] This is feminine and the plural is [Nachrichten]. Next, [Beantworten]. |
| Chuck: To answer. |
| Judith: [Beantworten, beantworten] Next, [Gratulieren]. |
| Chuck: To congratulate. |
| Judith: [Gratulieren, gratulieren]. Next, [Dringend]. |
| Chuck: “Urgent” or “urgently”. |
| Judith: [Dringend, dringend] Next, [Erlaubnis]. |
| Chuck: Permission. |
| Judith: [Erlaubnis, Erlaubnis, die Erlaubnis] this is feminine. Next, [Damit]. |
| Chuck: “So that” or “with that”. |
| Judith: [Damit, damit] Next, [Ausländer]. |
| Chuck: Foreigner. |
| Judith: [Ausländer, Ausländer] This word is masculine and the plural is the same. Next, [Amt]. |
| Chuck: “Office”, “agency” or “bureau”. |
| Judith: [Amt, Amt] Next, [Traurig]. |
| Chuck: Sad. |
| Judith: [Traurig, traurig] Next, [Unterlagen]. |
| Chuck: Documents. |
| Judith: [Unterlagen, Unterlagen] This word is always plural. Next, [Absicht]. |
| Chuck: Intention. |
| Judith: [Absicht, Absicht, die Absicht] and the plural is [Absichten]. Next, [Erklären]. |
| Chuck: “To explain” or “to declare”. |
| Judith: [Erklären, erklären] Next, [Drucken]. |
| Chuck: To print. |
| Judith: [Drucken, drucken] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Chuck: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Judith: The first word we’ll look at is [Anrufbeantworter]. |
| Chuck: Answering machine. |
| Judith: So this consists of [Anruf]. |
| Chuck: “Call”, we’ve had that before. |
| Judith: [Beantworter] is somebody who answers. It’s the noun form of the verb [Beantworten]. In a similar way, [Drucker] is the word for printer in German based on the word [Drucken]. There’s also a [Long noun] [Absichtserklärung]. |
| Chuck: Letter of intent. |
| Judith: [Absicht] is “intention” and [Erklärung] is the noun based on [Erklären] so it’s a “declaration”. |
| Chuck: So to our grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: German noun genders can be tricky and generally have to be learned in a [per word] basis. However, there are some regularities, especially when you get into the higher levels of the language with words borrowed from Latin or Greek. |
| Judith: Today we shall explore endings with are a surefire sign that the noun is feminine. First ending is [Heit] as in [Freiheit]. |
| Chuck: Freedom. |
| Judith: And similarly [Keit] also indicates that a noun is feminine, as in [Die Einsamkeit]. |
| Chuck: Loneliness. |
| Judith: Also words ending in [Ie] like [Die Demokratie]. |
| Chuck: Democracy. |
| Judith: Or [Tät] like [Die Universität]. |
| Chuck: University. |
| Judith: Also the ending [Ung] as in [Die Zeitung]. |
| Chuck: Newspaper. |
| Judith: And [Schaft] like [Die Freundschaft]. |
| Chuck: Friendship. |
| Judith: Additionally, words ending in [In] are feminine if they’re referring to people. For example, [Schülerin]. |
| Chuck: Student. |
| Judith: Or [Architektin]. |
| Chuck: Architect. |
| Judith: And, of course, words ending in [K] are typically feminine, with some exceptions. These are words like [Die Musik, die Mathematik, die Grafik]. |
Outro |
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| Judith: Bis dann! |
Comments
HideCan you imagine living in Germany, Austria or Switzerland? Where would you go and what would you do?
Hello Juan Carlos,
Thank you for posting. Homework well done. 👍
Please allow me, as usual, to make a few tiny little changes in order to
aid your learning:
Es gibt eine Nachricht auf dem Anrufbeantworter für Mike. Es war Frau Michely,
er hat den Job gekriegt. Er will nun sofort in die Stadt zum Ausländeramt fahren,
um die Arbeitserlaubnis zu kriegen. Aber es ist schon nach vier und das Amt hat
bestimmt schon zu. Außerdem hat er die Unterlagen auch noch nicht alle. Er muss
mehrere Formulare ausfüllen, und Frau Michely muss ihm eine Absichtserklärung
schicken. Er will erst zum Ausländeramt um diese Formulare überhaupt zu kriegen.
Aber das muss er vielleicht gar nicht. Die Formulare gibt es bestimmt online. Irmgard kann
sie für ihn ausdrucken.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Meine Zusammenfassung
Es gibt eine Nachricht auf die Anrufbeantworter für Mike. Es war Frau Michely,
er hat den Job gekriegt. Er will ab sofort in die Stadt zum Ausländeramt fahren,
um die Arbeitserlaubnis zu kriegen. Aber es ist schon nach vier, das Amt hat
bestimmt schon zu. Außerdem, er hat die Unterlagen auch noch nicht alle. Er muss
mehrere Formulare ausfüllen, und Frau Michely muss ihm eine Absichtserklärung
schicken. Er will erst zu Ausländeramt, um diese Formulare überhaupt zu kriegen.
Aber das muss er auch nicht. Die Formulare gibt es bestimmt online. Irmgard kann
sie für ihm ausdrucken.
Hallo robert groulx,
Danke schön for taking the time to leave us a comment. 😇
Let us know if you have any questions.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Levente
Team GermanPod101.com
thanks for the lesson
my favorite words are um diese Formulare überhaupt zu kriegen
robert
Hi Freddy,
We are sorry you didn't find this lesson satisfying.
Please take a look to the curriculum of the series before starting it, so that you can also have an idea of what will be introduced in the lessons:
https://www.germanpod101.com/germanpod101-intermediate-s2-curriculum/
https://www.germanpod101.com/index.php?cat=33
We will also consider your feedback for the future intermediate series.
Thank you very much,
Ofelia
Team GermanPod101.com
Hi team,
there is something that is not quite clear to me.
This is lesson number 32 in Intermediate Season 2, that means a relative high level...why in the pdf notes the focus of the day is on feminine nouns endings? Don't you think that at these levels of the course it would be better to explain some more important grammar rules in stand of something (nouns genders) that should be explained only at the beginning? I have noticed this trend in several lessons.
I think the dialogues are really great, but they make use of so much grammar that in the pdf notes is not explained (if you want some concrete examples write to me in privat, I will be glad to help). It would be great if you could focus on explaining more the grammar as well.
Hi Ela,
Thank you very much for your feedback. We are glad you could learn a lot about Germany and the German language.
Unfortunately, on "arbeitsagentur.de", it is said that people from Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia are not allowed to take advantage of the favorable conditions of the EU / German job market. Therefore, I think you will probably have to apply for another work permit. Just give them a call or write an email and they should be able to tell you exactly what you need to do.
Hope that helps.
Kind regards,
Lars
Team GermanPod101.com
Hi. I've been living in Germany for almost a year now.
When I first came, I had to wait a month for the "Anmeldung". Then another month to obtain the permission to work here.
Unfortunately I am not from the USA. I am from Romania, so an emerging economy country. I've been told that after an year, I could work for any other company, without the need of waiting for that work permit again. Is there anybody who knows more about this/. Is it correct? Can I work wherever I want after this year or in the same area I worked so far(but just a different company)?
I've searching through allover the Internet and I haven't managed to find something.
Thank you so much in advance. By the way this site is AWESOME.
Thank you guys for existing I've learned tons of new things about Germany here.
Ela.
hey Karen,
it's no problem. I just wished that I were better with the grammar stuff. I never got that myself *g* So many rules! okay here are the correction.
mein Mann arbeitet by US Army Corps of Engineers -> Mein Mann arbeitet beim US Army Corps of Engineers. Das Corps -> bei dem Corps sein / arbeiten or für das Corps arbeiten (to work for the Corps)
Ich habe auch drei kinder -> Ich habe auch drei Kinder
die Kinder / das Kind in capital letter
Leider, sprechen wir nur mit Amerikaner den ganzen Tag und es gibt wenig moglichkeit Deutch zu sprechen -> Leider sprechen wir den ganzen Tag über nur mit Amerikanern und es gibt wenige Möglichkeiten Deutsch zu sprechen.
no comma after leider, den ganzen Tag über (or den ganzen Tag lang) after wir. You use den ganzen Tag über (through the day) or lang (all day long).
die Möglichkeit - capital letter
und meistens meine Nachbarn sprechen Englische gerne. -> und meistens sprechen meine Nachbarn gerne Englisch.
word order again. sorry no other explanation. And no e at the end of Englisch. it's a noun here. if you use it ad adjective you add e (in cetain cases). the English Language = Die englische Sprache.
Wir sind hier noch drei jahre. -> Wir werden hier noch 3 Jahre bleiben. (we will stay 3 years)
Die Jahre => in capital letter
Colloquial you are correct, you would say it like that butI think in correct German you would have to use future tense.
Sind Sie noch nicht in Deutchland gewesen? -> Sind Sie schon in Deutschland gewesen? you use schon if you want to know whether or not the person has been to Germany. If you use noch nicht it is more a question you ask to confirm your suspicion that the person hasn't. You expect the other person to have already been in Germany but she may have have hinted she hasn't been there so you ask with noch nicht. You expect her to not have been in Germany yet.
hui that was quite long, I thought "hey that's good, not much to correct" and yet it's bee so long again. I am probably too hard on you.
Hallo Vanessa! Ich wohne in Wiesbaden -- mein Mann arbeitet by US Army Corps of Engineers (US Army Garrison Wiesbaden). Ich habe auch drei kinder. Leider, sprechen wir nur mit Amerikaner den ganzen Tag und es gibt wenig moglichkeit Deutch zu sprechen -- und meistens meine Nachbarn sprechen Englische gerne. Wir sind hier noch drei jahre. Sind Sie noch nicht in Deutchland gewesen?
Hey Salivia ... can't wait to see all the mistakes you catch in my message! You're very kind to take all the time to correct us!
Gern geschehen.
Vielen Dank!
Some corrections for you, Vanessa
Ich könnte mir vorstellen, in Deutschland zu leben, wenn ich besser Deutsch spreche. -> Ich könnte mir vorstellen, in Deutschland zu leben, wenn ich besser Deutsch sprechen könnte.(coll.) / Ich könnte mir vorstellen, in Deutschland zu leben, wenn ich besser Deutsch spräche.
But I admit it's a hard construct.
Ich könnte mit ihnen bleiben, während ich meine Arbeitserlaubnis kriege. -> Ich könnte bei ihnen bleiben, während ich meine Arbeitserlaubnis bekomme.
bleiben bei not bleiben mit. Maybe you can remember it with "stay at someone's place" Germans stay at places not with people :P
kriegen is colloquial, also bekommen is more of a process then kriegen. kiregen sounds more immediate.
Beruflich bin ich Programmiererin, und man kann diesen Job überall machen -> Von Beruf bin ich Programmiererin und man kann diesen Job überall machen.
or if you really want to use beruflich you could say "beruflich arbeite ich als Programmiererin"
Meine Verwandten fahren Ski gerne in den Alpen, und es würde mich freuen, mit ihnen zu fahren. -> Meine Verwandten fahren gerne Ski in den Alpen und es würde mich freuen, wenn ich mit ihnen Ski fahren gehen könnte.
gerne has to be in front of Ski because it belongs to fahren.
Your sentence is a bit short at the end. German needs more information to work because it is not clear if you mean you want to go with them (to the Alps) or want to ski as well.
"Ich habe viele Freunde hier, und keine dringinde Gründe, dieses Gebiet zu verlassen." just two minor things. 1) probably a typo but it's dringende (and I really love that you used that word :)) 2) I would use Ort instead of Gebiet. it is not wrong but Gebiet sounds so impersonal. Ort = place is more of a home then Gebiet and you are talking about your home/where you live.
btw. it's der Dollar (male)
Vielen Dank!
Ich wohne in den USA. Sie haben recht, das Dollar ist jetzt schwach. Schade. Wohnen Sie in Deutschland?
Vanessa your German is wonderful! I was just proud I could understand everything you wrote in German (without peeking at the translation). Would be nice to see your relatives too, I'm sure. Not sure where you're coming from ... the exchange rate isn't so good right now and that's unfortunate.
Ich könnte mir vorstellen, in Deutschland zu leben, wenn ich besser Deutsch spreche. Ich habe Familie da. Ich könnte mit ihnen bleiben, während ich meine Arbeitserlaubnis kriege. Beruflich bin ich Programmiererin, und man kann diesen Job überall machen. Meine Verwandten fahren Ski gerne in den Alpen, und es würde mich freuen, mit ihnen zu fahren.
Es ist jedoch nicht meine Absicht, jetzt umzuziehen. Ich habe viele Freunde hier, und keine dringinde Gründe, dieses Gebiet zu verlassen.
(I could imagine living in Germany if I spoke better German. I have family there. I could stay with them while I got my work permit. I am a programmer, and one can do that job anywhere. My relatives like to ski in the Alps, and I would be happy to ski with them.
It is not my intention to relocate now, however. I have many friends here, and no urgent need to leave this area.)
Just ask if you have any problems/questions. I try to answer what and when I can :)
I would say gar and überhaupt are always interchangeable. But sometimes one is more common (also that probably depends where you are in Germany). For example "gar kein" is more common then "überhaupt kein".
Maybe the emphasize can be a bit stronger with überhaupt because it's such a long word that you really hear it when spoken not like gar which is easy for your ears and hardly noticed. But maybe that is just me.
Very helpful and thank you!! I'm taking some time to process what you wrote, but one thing stands out ... I've heard "gar" kein Problem ... doesn't "gar" also mean "at all" in the same way "uberhaupt" does? Are those words sometime interchangeable?
Thanks again for your help!
@Karen
first to your question. überhaupt put emphasis on something like "at all" "even" "actually" in english
For example:
"Ich habe ÜBERHAUPT keine Ahnung "(I don't have a clue AT ALL)
"überhaupt kein Problem" (no problem whatsoever)
"Das steht doch überhaupt nicht zur Debatte." ("That doesn't even enter the equation.)
or you can use it in combination with wenn
wenn überhaupt -> (if any, if anything, if at all)
Second the corrections:
I am not sure about the preposition "um" so I leave it out. Somenody else might have better knowledge there. I don't think it's correct but I can't say what you should put there instead.
"Ich hab eine frage um eine wort im dialog: Die wort “uberhaupt” is benutzt (?) zehr oft … kann irgendjemand die bedeutung erklaeren und beispiele geben?" -> Ich habe eine Frage. Im Dialog wird das Wort 'überhaupt' sehr oft benutzt. Kann mir (irgendjemand die Bedeutung erklären und Beispiele geben?"
1) I don't know if you wrote everything in small letters on purpose or not, but for correct German you have to watch our for the nouns because they are capitalized.
2) Wort is neuter. Das Wort.
3) benutzt is always used with a form of wird. it is used => es wird benutzt. No to be!
4) sehr oft can't stand at the end here because benutzt has to be last. (there is some grammatical explanation for this, but I can't recall it right now). If you want to put sehr oft at the end you have to have a different word order.
Man benutzt dieses Wort sehr oft. (one uses this word very often) but with it is used (es wird benutzt) you put sehr oft between wird and benutzt.
5) "kann irgendjemand die bedeutung erklaeren" misses to whom it should be explained or what. Either "Kann mir irgendjemand die Bedeutung erklären" or "Kann das irgendjemand erklären" or you can put both together and say "Knan mir das irgendjemand erklären"
(bzw. you can leave of irgend- and just use jemand)
I hope that helps :)
Ich hab eine frage um eine wort im dialog: Die wort "uberhaupt" is benutzt (?) zehr oft ... kann irgendjemand die bedeutung erklaeren und beispiele geben?
(In addition to answering my question, please feel free to correct my grammar in the question -- I'm trying to write what I can in German!)
Many thanks!