Learn how to talk about special skills
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: This is Intermediate Series Lesson 6. |
| Judith: [Willkommen zurück]. |
| Chuck: Welcome back. |
| Judith: It’s great to have you back for another Intermediate Lesson. |
| Chuck: I hope you like the lessons so far. It’s very important to us that you, our listeners, are happy with the podcasts. |
| Judith: If you have any suggestions for how we can improve, please post them in the forum. That’s also where you can discuss German and Germany with your fellow listeners and request lessons on particular topics. |
| Chuck: Just click on the forum button underneath the big GermanPod101 logo. And you don’t need to create a user account. Just log in with your regular GermanPod101 username and password. |
| Judith: I’d love to see you there. My username on the forum is [Sprachprofi], that means language pro in German. |
| Chuck: Also, [Was lernen wir heute?]. |
| Judith: [Heute schreiben wir immer noch Mike’s Lebenslauf] Today we will look at the final section of the CV. So far his resume contains information on his education and professional background, the one about special abilities. |
| Chuck: So then we’ll have a complete resume in German. Great. Let’s listen to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| D: So, dann kommen wir jetzt zu den besonderen Kenntnissen und Fähigkeiten. |
| A: Was gehört hierhin? |
| D: Alles, was sonst noch für den Arbeitgeber wichtig sein könnte. Zum Beispiel Sprachkenntnisse, Computerkenntnisse, Hobbys und Freiwilligenarbeit. |
| A: Also unter 'Computerkenntnisse' schreibe ich: 'Erfahrener Benutzer von Microsoft Windows und Office'. |
| D: Gut. Und Sprachkenntnisse? Sprachkenntnisse sind sehr wichtig für diesen Job. |
| A: Ja, natürlich sind sie es. 'Muttersprache Englisch'... und wie sage ich, dass ich Deutsch fließend sprechen und schreiben kann? |
| D: 'Fließendes Deutsch in Wort und Schrift'. |
| A: Danke. Außerdem habe ich Grundkenntnisse in Spanisch. |
| D: Nicht schlecht. |
| Judith: Now read slowly. |
| D: So, dann kommen wir jetzt zu den besonderen Kenntnissen und Fähigkeiten. |
| A: Was gehört hierhin? |
| D: Alles, was sonst noch für den Arbeitgeber wichtig sein könnte. Zum Beispiel Sprachkenntnisse, Computerkenntnisse, Hobbys und Freiwilligenarbeit. |
| A: Also unter 'Computerkenntnisse' schreibe ich: 'Erfahrener Benutzer von Microsoft Windows und Office'. |
| D: Gut. Und Sprachkenntnisse? Sprachkenntnisse sind sehr wichtig für diesen Job. |
| A: Ja, natürlich sind sie es. 'Muttersprache Englisch'... und wie sage ich, dass ich Deutsch fließend sprechen und schreiben kann? |
| D: 'Fließendes Deutsch in Wort und Schrift'. |
| A: Danke. Außerdem habe ich Grundkenntnisse in Spanisch. |
| D: Nicht schlecht. |
| Judith: Now read with translation. |
| D: So, dann kommen wir jetzt zu den besonderen Kenntnissen und Fähigkeiten. |
| D: So, now we come to the special knowledge and abilities. |
| A: Was gehört hierhin? |
| A: And what belongs here? |
| D: Alles, was sonst noch für den Arbeitgeber wichtig sein könnte. Zum Beispiel Sprachkenntnisse, Computerkenntnisse, Hobbys und Freiwilligenarbeit. |
| D: Everything that could be important for the employer. For example language skills, computer skills, hobbies and volunteer work. |
| A: Also unter 'Computerkenntnisse' schreibe ich: 'Erfahrener Benutzer von Microsoft Windows und Office'. |
| A: So under 'Computer skills' I'll write: 'experienced user of Microsoft Windows and Office'' |
| D: Gut. Und Sprachkenntnisse? Sprachkenntnisse sind sehr wichtig für diesen Job. |
| D: Good. And language skills? Language skills are very important for this job. |
| A: Ja, natürlich sind sie es. 'Muttersprache Englisch'... und wie sage ich, dass ich Deutsch fließend sprechen und schreiben kann? |
| A: Yes, of course they are. 'Native language English'... and how do I say that I can write and speak German fluently? |
| D: 'Fließendes Deutsch in Wort und Schrift'. |
| D: 'Fluent German in word and writing' |
| A: Danke. Außerdem habe ich Grundkenntnisse in Spanisch. |
| A: Thank you. And besides that I have basic knowledge of Spanish. |
| D: Nicht schlecht. |
| D: Not bad. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: All right, what should we do now? |
| Chuck: How about with the [Vokabeln] |
| Judith: Ok, if you want. |
| Judith: First word, [Besonders] or [Besonderer]. |
| Chuck: “Especially” or “especial”. |
| Judith: Yes, [Besonders] as an adverb or as an adjective, [Besonderer]. Next, [Fähigkeit]. |
| Chuck: Ability. |
| Judith: [Fähigkeit, Fähigkeit] This word is feminine and the plural is [Fähigkeiten]. Next, [Gehören]. |
| Chuck: To belong. |
| Judith: [Gehören, gehören] Next, [Sonst]. |
| Chuck: Otherwise. |
| Judith: [Sonst] |
| Chuck: Otherwise. |
| Judith: Next, [Arbeitgeber]. |
| Chuck: Employer. |
| Judith: [Arbeitgeber] |
| Chuck: Employer. |
| Judith: This word is masculine and the plural is the same, just like all ER words. Next, [Zum Beispiel]. |
| Chuck: For example. |
| Judith: [Zum Beispiel, zum Beispiel] And this is abbreviated as [z.B.] |
| Chuck: Notice that when it’s abbreviated z.B. the B is capitalized. |
| Judith: Next, [Freiwillig]. |
| Chuck: Voluntary. |
| Judith: [Freiwillig, freiwillig] |
| Chuck: “Voluntary”. And also note that “volunteer” is [Freiwilliger]. |
| Judith: Yes. Next, [Erfahren]. |
| Chuck: “To experience” or “learn of something”, “experienced”. |
| Judith: [Erfahren, erfahren] |
| Chuck: Does this verb split off? |
| Judith: No, it does not. The [Er] never does. |
| Chuck: Interesting. |
| Judith: And it can be an adjective, you know, if it’s used as [Erfahren] as “experienced”. Next, [Benutzer]. |
| Chuck: User. |
| Judith: [Benutzer, Benutzer] This is another ER word. You know the drill, masculine and plural is the same. |
| Chuck: It’s quite useful if you are using German websites. |
| Judith: Yes. Next, [Muttersprache]. |
| Chuck: “Native language” or “mother tongue”, literally. |
| Judith: No, literally “mother language”. |
| Chuck: Oh, got me there. |
| Judith: “Tongue” would be [Zunge] and we don’t use it with relation to language. |
| Chuck: Right. |
| Judith: [Muttersprache], this is feminine, [Die Muttersprache] and plural [Muttersprachen]. |
| Chuck: Native languages. |
| Judith: Next, [Fließend]. |
| Chuck: “Flowing”, “fluent” or “fluently”. |
| Judith: [Fließend, fließend] |
| Chuck: “Fluent”. |
| Judith: Next, [Wort]. |
| Chuck: “Word” or here, “spoken language”. |
| Judith: [Wort] |
| Chuck: “Word”. |
| Judith: [Das Wort] it’s neuter. And the plural is either [Worte] or [Wörter]. |
| Chuck: How do you know? |
| Judith: I think in the more formal context you say [Worte], but [Wörter] otherwise. I'm not sure actually. |
| Chuck: [Wörter] is what you use for the dictionary, isn’t it? |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: [Wörterbuch] [doesn’t it?] the word book. |
| Judith: Next, [Schrift]. |
| Chuck: “Writing” or “script”. Notice in this dialogue it means “written language”. |
| Judith: [Schrift, die Schrift], feminine and the plural is [Schriften]. |
| Chuck: “Scripts”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Judith: Note, in this dialogue we had a collocation, [Wort und Schrift, In Wort und Schrift], that means literally “in word”, “in writing” but it means in spoken language and written language, as in fluent in both. |
| Chuck: Yeah. So, as you can see, this could be quite important on, say, job applications. |
| Judith: Yes, it’s a very, very common thing to see, somebody’s [describe his] language knowledge as that. Another useful word to describe here language knowledge would be [Verhandlungssicher]. |
| Chuck: Commercially secure? |
| Judith: No, [Verhandlung] is “negotiation” so “secure negotiations” means you would trust yourself doing negotiation in this language. |
| Chuck: Yeah, that’s pretty scary. |
| Judith: But [Fließend] is fine. Next, and the last word for today, I believe, is [Grund]. |
| Chuck: “Basic”, “elementary”, “ground” or “reason”. |
| Judith: Yes. As a prefix, it’s like an adjective, “basic” or “elementary”. If it goes on its own, like [Der Grund], it’s “the ground” or “the reason”. |
| Chuck: I think is see this most often in [Grundlagen]. |
| Judith: [Grundlagen] Yeah, “the basics”. |
| CULTURAL INSIGHTS |
| Chuck: Yeah. So you want to speak in our cultural point about job applications like I mentioned? |
| Judith: We already did that in the last lesson. I thought maybe today we could look at how Germans spend their time, you know, before they get a job, how German life might look like. |
| Chuck: Alright, sounds good. |
| Judith: Well, you start your education at the age of six or seven, and we have four years of primary school. |
| Chuck: Wow, alright. Quite different from the States, at least when I was there. |
| Judith: Ok. |
| Chuck: So do you also have kindergarten here? |
| Judith: Yes, of course, but it’s not compulsory. |
| Chuck: Oh ok. That’s before primary school, right? |
| Judith: Yes, they go there starting the age of 3 or… some only go for one year, when they’re 5 year old or something… |
| Chuck: Ok. |
| Judith: Just to prepare being able to interact with other children and the like. |
| Chuck: Ok. [I always thought that was funny] the children’s garden. |
| Judith: It’s a German word. |
| Chuck: Yeah, I know. |
| Judith: And after the four years of primary school, when pupil are 10 or 11 years old, they go to different kinds of secondary school. There’s [Hauptschule, Realschule, Gymnasium], and a comprehensive school which is like all of them combined. And this really depends on your abilities and on your later job prospects. If you want to go to university, you absolutely have to go to a [Gymnasium] type of secondary school. [Hauptschule and Gymnasium] you will be doing six years of secondary school and the [Gymnasium] you need to do nine years and possibly more because there’s also the possibility that you have to repeat a year if your marks are just too bad. |
| Chuck: I would explain more about the education system but I find it really confusing. |
| Judith: Yeah, it [inaudible 00:07:29] another audio blog just about this education system. |
| Chuck: Yeah. |
| Judith: I don’t want to get into too much detail in this lesson because we got other things to talk about too. So let’s just say that people spend between six and nine years, or possibly more if they have to repeat a year, in secondary school. And after that they go maybe to a [Trade] school for two or three years, or if they go to university they need to study at least 4.5 years and typically more. I think this is also different in the States, you go through the whole process a lot faster. |
| Chuck: Yeah. I mean it’s just four years of university generally, unless you go for masters or PHD. |
| Judith: Yeah, we’re currently trying to switch to bachelor system instead of the diploma and [Magister] and other kinds of degrees, but it’s… Yeah. |
| Chuck: Also, I think you’re expected to have more education here, in general. Cause usually a bachelor’s is enough for most jobs in the States from what I’ve seen, and here I think you’re expected to have a bit more. |
| Judith: I think it actually would be fine but the thing is that you already spent so much time getting the education at [Gymnasium] before you even enter university so you don’t necessarily need a degree, but it’s definitely better. |
| Chuck: Yeah. One thing that’s interesting is that here if you’re, say, 23 or 24 people ask you, “Are you still in university?” And you’ll be like, “No, I graduated like three years ago” and they’re like, “So early!”. |
| Judith: It’s not really possible in Germany. If you’re university graduate, you only enter the workforce at the age of 24 in the very, very best of cases, you know, if you enter primary school at six, never have to repeat a year, go through it as fast as possible, study right after you’re out of high school and then you graduate at university at 24. And there’re plenty of university graduates that only start to work at the age of 30 or something. If they do maybe a social year in between or they have to repeat a class or whatever. |
| Chuck: You’ll see it’s quite common to see people who are 28 or 29 still in university. It’s a completely normal thing here. And some of them actually stay in there because they want the student discounts for things. Cause they’ve only recently started introducing somewhat of a tuition cause now some schools change, say, 500 euros for… Is it a year or a semester? |
| Judith: A semester, six months. |
| Chuck: Yeah, so 500 euros for a semester and they’re complaining, “Oh my goodness, this is so expensive!” And people who go to American universities just sort of have to laugh at this, it’s just…so little. |
| Judith: Well, education is supposed to be free so that you can be your own master, you know… the idea is that you should be able to have a great career no matter if you’re coming from a rich household or not. |
| Chuck: Yeah. We have scholarships for that and, of course, you get to be a pain to apply to for the scholarships. And maybe you don’t manage to get one and yeah, anyway. |
| Judith: We recently had an audio blog about tuition fees in Germany, so just listen to that one if you want to learn more. |
| Chuck: Yeah. Oh I think earlier you were mentioning about that social year. |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: Yeah, it’s required for men to have nine months of compulsory military service, which will probably come to a shock as most Americans. But actually pretty much every European country has something very similar to this. But if, say, you are rejected because of reasons of conscious or religion, then you can choose to have community service, so in positions that are otherwise hard to fill, for example youth hostel cleaning or something like that. |
| Judith: Or old folks home, it’s very popular, you know. |
| Chuck: Oh right. And you’ll notice too that the community service tends to be longer than nine months if I'm not mistaken. |
| Judith: I think right now it’s the same length actually but it’s unconstitutional but they always try to make it longer because people just love going to community service instead of going to the army. |
| Chuck: Right. Well, it’s also interesting cause the army doesn’t have quite an appeal here like [inaudible 00:11:28]. |
| Judith: No, it’s bad reputation. |
| Chuck: Yeah. In the States, you tend to think of the soldiers as being like the people who are serving the country and going off to fight and save our freedom and… And in Germany it’s more like, “Oh those people who like to drink beer…” I don't know, what do you think? |
| Judith: I don't know about most of the army but public opinion is quite low because of a lot of excesses that are in the news or issues or racism or of mistreatment and… |
| Chuck: Right. I'm not saying what our opinion is, I'm saying what the general opinion is. Yeah. |
| Judith: Let’s just move on to the grammar. |
| Chuck: Yeah. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Judith: Today we will study the past participle some more. I mean we already started but in the last lesson we only learned that the past participle is typically formed by adding [Ge], that’s GE before the third person singular and… |
| Chuck: That’s the he, she or it form. |
| Judith: Yes, and of course present tense. For example, [Sagen] becomes [Gesagt]. |
| Chuck: However, there’s a large group of verbs for which this isn’t true. Ah, she’s been trying to trick us this whole time, hah. |
| Judith: Not trick you… It’s just a complication that we’re going to study this time. |
| Chuck: Alright, she always gets out of it. Anyway, the vowel changing verbs. Whenever there would be a vowel change for this particular form, the participle is formed based on the infinitive instead. Could you give us some examples? I'm a bit confused by that. |
| Judith: Yes. For example, [Sehen]. Normally, you would say [Er sieht], which is a vowel change. So instead of having [Gesieht] we say [Gesehen]. |
| Chuck: Ok. Are there any other ones? |
| Judith: Yes. Same for [Geben]. [Geben, Er gibt] but we say [Gegeben, given]. |
| Chuck: To make things a bit more complicated for you, there’s also some verbs who’s past participle is just plain irregular. You got any examples of those? |
| Judith: Yeah. Unfortunately, they’re very common. For the non-common verbs, the irregular forms just disappear because nobody remembers. So, for example, [Sein] is irregular, like in any language. [Sein] forms [Gewesen]. |
| Chuck: “Been”. |
| Judith: [Haben] is [Gehabt]. |
| Chuck: Had. |
| Judith: And [Kommen, Gekommen]. |
| Chuck: Come. |
| Judith: This is irregular because [Kommen] does not have a vowel change so [Er kommt], it should be [Gekommt] but it’s [Gekommen] anyway. |
| Chuck: Yeah, it can be quite confusing to remember which ones are based on the infinitives and which ones are based on the other form and you just have to remember it. It’s probably one of the errors I make the most even after being here for three years. |
| Judith: Possibly. That’s not all that hard, I mean if you look if there’s a vowel change, and if there is then you’d use the infinitive, and otherwise you use the third person singular form. |
| Chuck: Yeah. Of course the good news is even if you make the mistake people will still understand you quite well. You just sound a bit funny, but that’s ok. These issues of vowel changes and irregularities are carried over when you have the same verb with an added prefix. Then you just additionally have to remember the rules for prefixes, which we discussed in the last lesson. Do we have some examples of those? |
| Judith: Of course. For example [Ansehen, Er sieht an] and we say [Angesehen]. So this is the case where the [Ge] goes in between the split-able prefix and the actual stem. [Angesehen] means “looked at” or it can also mean “renowned”. Then there’s the case of [Vergeben]. [Ver] is one of those prefixes that don’t split off so [Er vergibt]. And this means that the [Ge] is just dropped – [Vergeben], as the participle “forgiven”. Then maybe some irregular forms. [Ankommen] is a verb based on irregular verb. [Er kommt an] splits off. [Angekommen], “arrived”. And [Bekommen] as the same thing, without a split-able prefix, [Er bekommt], and the participle [Bekommen], “received”. |
| Chuck: So, “I become a beef steak”. |
| Judith: That’s a mistake that Germans like to make because [Bekommen] sounds so much like “become”. But it’s not, it means “to receive” or “get”. |
| Chuck: Yes, quite often in the restaurants you’ll something like [Ich bekomme ein Beefsteak], which is “I’ll get the beef steak”. And so it’s a quite common mistake that Germans will make overseas. |
| Judith: But you don’t need to make it because you’re English native speakers. |
| Chuck: Yes. And now you know not to laugh too hard if you ever hear a German making that mistake. But, anyway, back to the topic. Past participles are not just used on their own, they’re also necessary for various tenses. This makes them vital to master. So be sure to practice. So remember [Übung macht den Meister]. |
| Judith: [Übung macht den Meister], “practice makes perfect” in English. But we say “practice makes the master”. |
| Chuck: That’s right. |
Outro |
| Judith: So don’t forget to practice before next week’s lesson. At GermanPod101.com you can find a lot of useful ressources for that. |
| Chuck: Remember, we are trying to be your one-stop place on the internet for not just learning German, but mastering it. |
| Judith: Hope to see you there. |
| Chuck: And see you soon for the next lesson. |
| Judith: Bis bald. |
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