Learn how to talk about experience
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: This is Intermediate Series Lesson 5. |
| Judith: [Willkommen zurück]. |
| Chuck: Welcome back. |
| Judith: I'm glad to see that you are still following the Intermediate Series. It’s hard to choose a course and then faithfully study each lesson without letting things get in the way. |
| Chuck: So I just want to say way to go, and we hope that you’ll always find that 15 minutes to listen to one of our podcasts and improve your German. |
| Judith: And, hopefully, you can find a little more time per week so that you can also do the exercises in Learning Center and maybe listen to more than one series. |
| Chuck: And be active in the forum, don’t forget that. The GermanPod101 forum is a great place to practice your German and to meet others who study German as well. |
| Judith: Hope to see you there. |
| Chuck: So if you’re trying to find work in Germany or with a German company, this lesson’s vital for you. This one’s about writing a resume or a CV. |
| Judith: As before, this conversation is between Mike and his German friend. |
| Chuck: So, for now, let’s listen to the new dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| D: Also schreiben wir einen Lebenslauf, in dem wir Ihre Englischkenntnisse und Ihre Erfahrungen als Lehrer unterstreichen. |
| A: Ja, das klingt gut. |
| D: Hier ist eine Vorlage. Als erstes müssen Sie Ihr Geburtsdatum, Ihren Geburtsort und Familienstand eintragen. |
| A: Familienstand auch? Wen interessiert das? |
| D: Das muss so. Und hier tragen Sie ihre Schulbildung ein. |
| A: '1997 bis 2000 Washington Highschool. Abgeschlossen mit Notendurchschnitt 1,7. 2000 bis 2004 University of Maine. Bachelor of Arts in Sozialwissenschaften.' |
| D: Sehr gut! Und jetzt die Berufserfahrung. |
| A: '2004 bis 2006 Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter an der University of Maine.' |
| D: Was waren Ihre Aufgaben? Das müssen Sie dazu sagen. |
| A: 'Angebot von Englischkursen für neu angekommene ausländische Studenten'. |
| D: Das klingt viel besser! Und seit 2006? |
| A: '2006 bis 2008 Sozialarbeiter in Augusta, Maine. Arbeit mit benachteiligten Jugendlichen.' |
| Judith: Now read slowly. |
| D: Also schreiben wir einen Lebenslauf, in dem wir Ihre Englischkenntnisse und Ihre Erfahrungen als Lehrer unterstreichen. |
| A: Ja, das klingt gut. |
| D: Hier ist eine Vorlage. Als erstes müssen Sie Ihr Geburtsdatum, Ihren Geburtsort und Familienstand eintragen. |
| A: Familienstand auch? Wen interessiert das? |
| D: Das muss so. Und hier tragen Sie ihre Schulbildung ein. |
| A: '1997 bis 2000 Washington Highschool. Abgeschlossen mit Notendurchschnitt 1,7. 2000 bis 2004 University of Maine. Bachelor of Arts in Sozialwissenschaften.' |
| D: Sehr gut! Und jetzt die Berufserfahrung. |
| A: '2004 bis 2006 Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter an der University of Maine.' |
| D: Was waren Ihre Aufgaben? Das müssen Sie dazu sagen. |
| A: 'Angebot von Englischkursen für neu angekommene ausländische Studenten'. |
| D: Das klingt viel besser! Und seit 2006? |
| A: '2006 bis 2008 Sozialarbeiter in Augusta, Maine. Arbeit mit benachteiligten Jugendlichen.' |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| D: Also schreiben wir einen Lebenslauf, in dem wir Ihre Englischkenntnisse und Ihre Erfahrungen als Lehrer unterstreichen. |
| D: So we will write a CV, in which we underline your knowledge of English and your experience as a teacher. |
| A: Ja, das klingt gut. |
| A: Yes, that sounds good. |
| D: Hier ist eine Vorlage. Als erstes müssen Sie Ihr Geburtsdatum, Ihren Geburtsort und Familienstand eintragen. |
| D: Here is a template. First of we have to fill in your date of birth, place of birth und your marital status. |
| A: Familienstand auch? Wen interessiert das? |
| A: Marial status, too? Who is interested in that? |
| D: Das muss so. Und hier tragen Sie ihre Schulbildung ein. |
| D: It has to be like that. And here you put in your school education. |
| A: '1997 bis 2000 Washington Highschool. Abgeschlossen mit Notendurchschnitt 1,7. 2000 bis 2004 University of Maine. Bachelor of Arts in Sozialwissenschaften.' |
| A: 1997 to 2000 Washington Highschool. Completed with a grade point average of 1,7. 2000 to 2004 University of Maine. Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies. |
| D: Sehr gut! Und jetzt die Berufserfahrung. |
| D: Very good. And now your work experience. |
| A: '2004 bis 2006 Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter an der University of Maine.' |
| A: 2004 to 2006 research assistant at the University of Maine. |
| D: Was waren Ihre Aufgaben? Das müssen Sie dazu sagen. |
| D: What where your tasks? You have to name them, too. |
| A: 'Angebot von Englischkursen für neu angekommene ausländische Studenten'. |
| A: Offer of English courses for newly arrived foreign students. |
| D: Das klingt viel besser! Und seit 2006? |
| D: That sounds a lot better. And since 2006? |
| A: '2006 bis 2008 Sozialarbeiter in Augusta, Maine. Arbeit mit benachteiligten Jugendlichen.' |
| A: 2006 to 2008 social worker in Augusta, Maine. Work with disadvantaged youths. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: A very long dialogue, now let’s look at all the new vocabulary. |
| Chuck: Alright, sounds good. |
| Judith: First work, [Kenntnis]. |
| Chuck: Knowledge. |
| Judith: This appeared in [Englischkenntnisse]. |
| Chuck: English knowledge. |
| Judith: [Kenntnis, die Kenntnis] and the plural is [Kenntnisse]. Next, [Vorlage]. |
| Chuck: Template. |
| Judith: [Die Vorlage], plural - [Vorlagen]. Next. [Familienstand]. |
| Chuck: Marital status. |
| Judith: [Familienstand, Familienstandt] This is masculine, [Der Familienstand]. Next, [Eintragen]. |
| Chuck: “To enter”, “record”. |
| Judith: [Eintragen, eintragen] Next, [Bildung]. |
| Chuck: Education. |
| Judith: [Bildung, Bildung, die Bildung] and there’s no plural. Next, [Abschließen]. |
| Chuck: “To lock up” or in this case “to conclude”. |
| Judith: [Abschließen, abschließebn] Next, [Note]. |
| Chuck: “Mark” or “grade”. |
| Judith: [Note] |
| Chuck: “Mark” or “grade”. |
| Judith: This is feminine, [Die Note], and the plural is [Noten]. Next, [Durchschnitt]. |
| Chuck: Average. |
| Judith: [Durchschnitt, Durchschnitt, der Durchschnitt], masculine. Next, [Sozialwissenschaften]. |
| Chuck: Social sciences. |
| Judith: [Sozialwissenschaften, Sozialwissenschaften] This word is feminine and always plural. Next, [Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter]. |
| Chuck: “Research assistant” or “assistant professor”. |
| Judith: [Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter] |
| Chuck: Note this literally means “scientific employee”. |
| Judith: Yes, it’s a position at the university. Next, [Aufgabe]. |
| Chuck: “Task”, “assignment” or “mission”. Also note this can mean “resignment”. |
| Judith: [Aufgabe, Aufgabe]. |
| Chuck: “Task”. |
| Judith: This word is feminine and the plural is [Aufgaben]. Next, [Angebot]. |
| Chuck: Offer. |
| Judith: [Angebot, Angebot] |
| Chuck: Offer. |
| Judith: This word is neutral and the plural is [Angebote]. |
| Chuck: Offers. |
| Judith: Next, [Sozialarbeiter]. |
| Chuck: Social worker. |
| Judith: [Sozialarbeiter, Sozialarbeiter] This word is masculine and the plural is the same. Next, [Benachteiligen]. |
| Chuck: To put somebody at a disadvantage. |
| Judith: [Benachteiligen] And that’s it for today. I mean in terms of vocabulary. |
| CULTURAL INSIGHTS |
| Chuck: Wait a minute, there’s still something really wrong in this. Why is he putting on his resume that he had a D in [inaudible 00:03:56] studies? |
| Judith: A D? |
| Chuck: 1.7? |
| Judith: No, that’s not a D. that’s an A. |
| Chuck: What? |
| Judith: A minus. |
| Chuck: Well, 0 is failing. |
| Judith: No. |
| Chuck: And then 1 is… |
| Judith: 1 is the best possible mark and 6 is the worst possible mark except if you get something lower than 4, then you failed. |
| Chuck: So wait, it’s opposite the American GPA system? |
| Judith: Pretty much. It’s not quite the same, but I imagine he converted this beforehand. |
| Chuck: Yeah, I would imagine so. Well, let’s hope so anyway. Otherwise he’s got a great way to put his American GPA down. |
| Judith: Ok, let’s talk about how a CV/resume is done in Germany. |
| Chuck: Alright. |
| Judith: First, in the header, you should put your name and contact information. |
| Chuck: It’s also quite common to have a picture there, isn’t it? |
| Judith: Ah, it’s possible. |
| Chuck: I'm thinking it’s much more common than in the States to have a picture on your resume. |
| Judith: Well, your resume should probably include a picture but you don’t need to put it at the top. You can also put it at the bottom. |
| Chuck: Right. I'm just saying that in American resumes is very uncommon to have a picture. Whereas German resumes it’s quite common to have it. |
| Judith: Well, you’re supposed to send a picture along, yes. Now, for the first section, right underneath the header, this is usually called [Persönliche Daten] and it contains personal data. |
| Chuck: Too personal data, if you ask me. |
| Judith: Yeah, well… date of birth, place of birth and the marital status, like if you’re married or not, if you have children. And, yeah, it sometimes draws criticism to have this kind of data open to your employee. |
| Chuck: Yeah, I think that’s even illegal in the states. |
| Judith: I mean open to your employer. |
| Chuck: Yeah, I think that’s even illegal in the States to be required to provide that data. |
| Judith: I think here, in Germany, they’re not allowed to ask for you religion whereas in the States they’re allowed to do that so… |
| Chuck: I don’t think they are unless it’s for a religious job. |
| Judith: Well, I think if it’s any kind of organization that has to do with religion in any kind of form. Anyway, just get used to it. |
| Chuck: You still have to fill out your religion on tax forms here, but that’s another story. |
| Judith: No, you don’t have to fill out your religion on tax forms, just if you want to pay church tax. |
| Chuck: Well, they don’t explain that to you. They just put religion on there. And then you’re like, “Ok, why are they asking me my religion on my tax form?” |
| Judith: This is not related to our current item, which is resumes, so… The second section of a resume should be called [Ausbildung] or something similar. And this means your education, your degrees, any additional courses you may have taken if they’re relevant and everything you can think of that makes you more qualified. |
| Chuck: So pretty much the same as an American resume. And the same with the professional experience, it’s the same. |
| Judith: Yeah, that’s the third section, [Berufserfahrung] or something similar. You would do professional experience, including part time work, internships. You should also provide an explanation of what exactly you did because for example [Wissenschaftlicher Assistent] can be a very broad description. It can be anything from running to the copier and copying all day long to only doing research or participating in a project. |
| Chuck: Yeah. But at least [Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter] sounds very high so… |
| Judith: You can fool Americans. [inaudible 00:07:27] in America. |
| Chuck: Well, just about any job in Germany, you have this really long title. It’s not just a long title but they’re really words too. |
| Judith: Finally, the fourth section is [Zusatzqualifikationen]. |
| Chuck: Speaking of long words… |
| Judith: Yes. It means additional qualifications and it’s all your other abilities and things that you want your employer to notice, like if you’re able to speak Swahili or if you have computer knowledge or whatever seems relevant. |
| Chuck: I guess awards would go in that area too, right? |
| Judith: Yes, definitely. Ok, and that’s the whole resume. So we can move on to grammar. Today I want to talk about the past participle. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: What’s that? |
| Judith: Well, a participle is a form of a verb that can be used like an adjective or like an adverb. For example, in English, you have the word “wasted” in the sentence “I don’t mind the wasted time”. And the verb “waste” has been turned into something that resembles an adjective and the meaning is passive because the time isn’t wasting something, somebody else has wasted that time. |
| Chuck: So how is this different in German? |
| Judith: Well, the form is the same, the usage is the same. It just looks different. In German, this past participle is normally formed by adding the [Ge], GE, before the third person singular at present tense form. So for example, we have [Sagen] and you make the third person singular present tense is [Er sagt]… and you take that [Sagt] and you add the [Ge], so [Gesagt]. This means “said”. Similarly for [Wagen], “to risk”, [Er wagt] and [Gewagt]. |
| Chuck: You lost me there. Could you use it in a sentence? |
| Judith: [Das war ein gewagter Stunt] |
| Chuck: Ah ok. |
| Judith: Or [Leben, Er lebt, gelebt, lived]. These participles, they can be used like an adjective or adverb. They can also be used in various tenses which we’ll deal with later. And, unfortunately, they’re not always easy as this, there’re also irregular forms. But one more regular thing I can tell you is about verbs with prefixes. You know in German there’s verbs with separable prefixes, splitting verbs and there’s ones with non-separable prefixes. The ones with separable prefixes, in those cases the prefix just goes before the [Ge] so, for example, [Ansagen] – it splits [Er sagt an] and you do [Angesagt]. |
| Chuck: So you could say [Angesagter Zug]? |
| Judith: Yeah, [Der angesagte Zug], “the announced train”. Or [Ankommen, Er kommt an, angekommen]. I believe we had that in a dialogue, [Neu angekommene Studenten]. |
| Chuck: Or you could say [Angekommener Zug], right? |
| Judith: Yeah, too. [If you like your trains] you can have that example. |
| Chuck: Yay, trains! |
| Judith: Verbs with non-separable prefixes, so just drop the [Ge] entirely so you have to identify them as participles without this help. Some examples… [Überleben, Er überlebt, überlebt] |
| Chuck: So you could have [Überlebte Zugreise]. |
| Judith: [The survived travel], yeah. [Beachten, Er beachtet, beachtet] It’s like [Der viel beachtete Autor], the author caught a lot of attention. I'm not sure how to translate [Beachten] in English without using more than two words. But it means caught attention, [Beachtet]. And in this lesson we also learned [Benachteiligen]. [Be] never splits off so it’s nice to use. [Benachteiligen, Er benachteiligt] He puts [Inaudible Spot] and [Benachteiligt] is “disadvantaged” as in [Die benachteiligten Studenten] “the disadvantaged students”. |
| Chuck: We’ll learn more about past participles later. |
Outro |
| Judith: Yeah, let’s do the rest later. So, [Das wars für heute]. |
| Chuck: That’s it for today. But don’t forget to practice your German in the GermanPod101 forum. |
| Judith: You can find it at www.GermanPod101.com/forum. Just drop by. |
| Chuck: Hope to see you there. |
| Judith: [Ich auch. Und ich hoffe ihr seid auch nächstes mal wieder dabei.] |
| Chuck: Me too, and I hope that you’ll be there next time. See you soon. |
| Judith: Bis bald. |
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