Learn about subclauses that deal with time
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here. Intermediate Season 4, Lesson 18 – “Are You Considering a Move to Germany?” |
| Judith: Hello everyone, I’m [Judith] and welcome to GermanPod101.com |
| Chuck: With us you’ll learn how 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 how to talk about your work experience in German. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place at a translator’s conference. |
| Chuck: The conversation is between Joe and [Birte], someone who attended the presentation. |
| Judith: The speakers don’t know each other, therefore they’ll be speaking formal German. |
| Chuck: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Birke: Herr Cardigan... |
| Joe: Ja? |
| Birke: Das war ein ausgezeichneter Vortrag. Und die Diskussion war auch interessant. |
| Joe: Danke. Ich glaube, wir haben alle davon überzeugt, dass eine automatische Übersetzung der Firmenwebseite ein sehr schlechtes Licht auf die Firma wirft. |
| Birke: Haha, ja, das auch. Nein, ich wollte noch wissen, wie lange Sie schon als Übersetzer arbeiten. |
| Joe: Ich habe erst drei Jahre lang bei einer Agentur gearbeitet und dann anderthalb Jahre selbständig. |
| Birke: Aha. Als Sie bei einer Agentur gearbeitet haben, war das in Deutschland? |
| Joe: Nein, das war in Amerika. Ich wohne nicht in Deutschland. |
| Birke: Sie sind nur wegen dieser Konferenz nach Deutschland gekommen? |
| Joe: Na ja, nicht nur wegen der Konferenz. Ich war letztes Jahr als Tourist in Deutschland. Als ich Berlin gesehen habe, hat es mir so gut gefallen, dass ich fast die gesamte Zeit in Berlin verbracht habe. |
| Birke: Nicht schlecht. |
| Joe: Ja, und als ich dann die Werbung für diese Konferenz gesehen habe, hatte ich eine Ausrede, um wieder Berlin zu besuchen. |
| Birke: Haha. Würden Sie in Berlin wohnen, wenn Sie es könnten? |
| Joe: Wenn ich genug Geld gespart habe, möchte ich schon nach Deutschland ziehen. Aber wann hat man schon genug Geld... Wenn ich von dieser Konferenz zurückkomme, muss ich mich erst einmal wieder nach neuen Aufträgen umsehen. |
| Birke: Sie sind Freiberufler? |
| Joe: Ja. |
| Birke: Arbeiten Sie von zuhause aus, wenn Sie in Amerika sind? |
| Joe: Ja. |
| Birke: Das könnten Sie auch von hier aus. Sie könnten sogar heute einen Auftrag annehmen. |
| Joe: Stimmt, aber wenn ich in Deutschland bin, arbeite ich nicht gern. |
| Birke: Mr. Cardigan... |
| Joe: Yes? |
| Birke: That was an excellent lecture. And the discussion was also interesting. |
| Joe: Thanks. I think we convinced everyone that an automatic translation of the company website casts a bad light on the company. |
| Birke: Haha, yes, that too. No, I just wanted to know how long you've worked as a translator. |
| Joe: I worked just three years with an agency and then a year and a half independently. |
| Birke: Aha. When you worked at an agency, was that in Germany? |
| Joe: No, that was in America. I don't live in Germany. |
| Birke: Did you just come to Germany for this conference? |
| Joe: Well, not only for this conference. I was in Germany as a tourist last year. When I saw Berlin, I liked it so much that I spent almost the whole time in Berlin. |
| Birke: Not bad. |
| Joe: Yes, and then when I saw the advertisement for this conference, I had an excuse to visit Berlin again. |
| Birke: Haha. Would you live in Berlin if you could? |
| Joe: When I have enough money saved, I would like to move to Germany. But when do you ever have enough money... When I get back from this conference, I have to start looking around for new contracts again. |
| Birke: Are you a freelancer? |
| Joe: Yes. |
| Birke: Do you work from home, when you're in America? |
| Joe: Yes. |
| Birke: You could also do that from here. You could even take on a new order today. |
| Joe: It's true, but when I'm in Germany, I don't like to work. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: If you’re thinking about moving to Germany, then use a five-step plan. |
| Chuck: Step one: earn enough money to support yourself for half a year at very least, it’s incredibly hard to get a visa or an apartment and people are afraid that some might be begging on the streets before long. |
| Judith: Step two: look into job possibilities. Depending on your country of origin, you might be allowed to come to Germany and then start looking for work, but it’s a lot easier if you already have some places that want to interview you. If you have a job offer already and can convince the company to write a letter of intent for you, then that’s the easiest way to get a visa. |
| Chuck: Step three: book your flight and get travel health insurance to cover you for the first weeks. |
| Judith: Step four: start looking into apartments, because usually it takes at least two weeks between finding an apartment and moving in. Maybe set up some appointments to look at apartments already, this way you’ll be able to do it faster. |
| Chuck: Step five: before you board your plane, pack up your things and be sure to collect all kinds of documents you might possibly need. German authorities love documents. The more, the better. For example, you should bring your birth certificate, your passport obviously, your health insurance documents, your vaccination chart, your payment stats of the last three months at least and a written form from your current landlord stating that you don’t own any rent. |
| Judith: It’s a lot, but the more the better, as we said. This last one is [right] will be vital for convincing a landlord to rent an apartment to you in Germany. |
| Chuck: Then, board the plane and have fun. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Chuck: The first word we shall look at is? |
| Judith: [ausgezeichnet] |
| Chuck: “Excellent”. |
| Judith: [ausgezeichnet, ausgezeichnet] |
| Chuck: Next? |
| Judith: [Licht] |
| Chuck: “Light”. |
| Judith: [Licht, das Licht] and the plural is [Lichter]. |
| Chuck: Next? |
| Judith: [werfen] |
| Chuck: “To throw”. |
| Judith: [werfen, werfen] the forms are [Er wirft, Er warf, Er hat geworfen]. |
| Chuck: Next? |
| Judith: [gefallen] |
| Chuck: “Pleasing”. |
| Judith: [gefallen, gefallen, Es gefällt, Es gefiel, Es hat gefallen] |
| Chuck: Next? |
| Judith: [Werbung] |
| Chuck: “Advertisement”. |
| Judith: [Werbung, die Werbung] |
| Chuck: Next? |
| Judith: [Ausrede] |
| Chuck: “Pretext” or “excuse”. |
| Judith: [Ausrede, die Ausrede] and the plural is [Ausreden]. |
| Chuck: Next? |
| Judith: [sparen] |
| Chuck: “To save up money”. |
| Judith: [sparen, sparen] |
| Chuck: Next? |
| Judith: [ziehen] |
| Chuck: “To pull” or “drag”. |
| Judith: [ziehen] the forms are [Er zieht, Er zog, Es ist gezogen]. |
| Chuck: Next? |
| Judith: [umziehen] |
| Chuck: “To move to another home”. |
| Judith: [umziehen, umziehen] the forms are [Er zieht um, Er zog um, Er ist umgezogen.] |
| Chuck: Next? |
| Judith: [sich umsehen] |
| Chuck: “To look around”. |
| Judith: [sich umsehen] the forms are [Er sieht sich um, Er sah sich um, Er hat sich umgesehen]. |
| 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 phrase we’ll look at is [ein Licht werfen] it’s a German expression that sounds quite nonsensical, but the English expression is just the same, “to cast a light”. So, [das wirft ein schlechtes Licht auf die Firma] is “to cast a bad light on the company”. Next, the phrase [Berlin gefällt mir]. |
| Chuck: Literally it means “Berlin pleases me”. |
| Judith: The verb [gefallen] is the equivalent of the English “to please”, but much more common in German. To translate this verb, you’d likely switch around the sentence, you’d say “I like Berlin” rather than “Berlin pleases me.” [ziehen] |
| Chuck: Normally means “to pull”. |
| Judith: Yeah, as in “you pull a door”. But, in context, it can also mean the same as [umziehen]. |
| Chuck: “To move to a different home.” |
| Judith: So, [nach Deutschland ziehen]. |
| Chuck: “Move to Germany.” |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: The focus of this lesson is [noch erst, als wenn] |
| Judith: For temporal sub-clauses that is sub-clauses that describe a time, there’s a distinction that you have to master in German. The distinction of [wenn] and [als]. |
| Chuck: Both of these can be translated as “when” in English, however in German there words are not interchangeable. So, when should we use one or should use the other? |
| Judith: The rule is actually simple. It will take some time to get used to until it’s completely natural for you, but it is simple. The rule is that when you’re talking about something that already happened, you have to use [als] and when you’re talking about something that hasn’t happened yet, then you have to use [wenn] also means “if”, not just “when”. So, maybe that’s a sign of German’s skepticism. Even talking about the sun rising tomorrow, you have to say [Wenn die Sonne morgen aufgeht]. |
| Chuck: “If even when sun raises tomorrow.” |
| Judith: This is always, always the case. You can’t use anything other than [wenn]. |
| Chuck: Let’s also look at another important distinction on this context. The distinction between [erst] and [noch]. Combined with another temporal word like for example, [gestern], both can be translated as “only” or “only yesterday”. |
| Judith: However, [erst] is used when the focus is on the new time period starting. Like, if you just started being able to do something or if you just met someone or if something finally happened. |
| Chuck: If [erst] is about a new time period starting, then [noch] places the focus on all time period ending. For example, [noch] is used for things you used to be able to do, but you can’t do now or something stopped happening. |
| Judith: In English, [noch] can be translated as “only” and “still” and [erst] can be translated as “only” and “just”. |
| Chuck: But how would that work in practice? |
| Judith: Well, I have some examples for you. First, [Ich habe ihn gestern erst gesehen]. |
| Chuck: “I saw him only yesterday” as in finally. |
| Judith: [Ich habe ihn gestern noch gesehen]. |
| Chuck: “I saw him only yesterday” as in yesterday he was still okay. |
| Judith: The focus of the first one, [Gestern erst] means “I finally saw him yesterday”, like you always heard about it and the other [Gestern noch] “I’ve only seen him yesterday, I don’t need to see him again so soon”. |
| Chuck: Can you give another example to clear things up? |
| Judith: Yeah, we also had [erst] and [noch] in a different context, like [Er hat das Buch erst heute weggebracht]. |
| Chuck: “You brought that book only today” as in finally after borrowing it for some time. |
| Judith: [Erst heute] Only today, boy it took so long. [Er hat das Buch noch heute weggebracht]. |
| Chuck: “He brought up the book today still” or earlier than expected, maybe he borrowed it this morning. |
| Judith: [Noch heute] That’s amazing! |
Outro |
| Chuck: Well, that just about does it for today. Attention perfectionists, you’re about to learn how to perfect your pronunciation. |
| Judith: Lesson review audio tracks. |
| Chuck: Increase fluency and vocabulary fast with these short, effective audio tracks. |
| Judith: Super simple to use! Listen to the German word or phrase. |
| Chuck: Then repeat it out loud in a loud, clear voice. |
| Judith: You’ll speak with confidence knowing that you’re speaking German like the locals. |
| Chuck: Go to GermanPod101.com and download the review audio tracks right on lessons’ page today! |
| Judith: And leave us a comment while you’re there! |
| Chuck: [Und schreibt uns einen Kommentar, wo ihr schon einmal da seid. Bis bald!] |
| Judith: See you! |
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