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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: This is Newbie Series Lesson 25. |
| Judith: [Willkommen zurück]. |
| Chuck: Welcome back, listeners. That’s our 25th Newbie lesson. Can you believe it? |
| Judith: And it’s the last one in this series. |
| Chuck: What? No more Newbie lessons? Yay, I'm free to go. Well, after this lesson I guess. I guess everyone should be happy, or at least I should be. What? |
| Judith: No, you’re not free and we’re not abandoning our listeners. |
| Chuck: Oh? |
| Judith: It’s just that after 25 lessons we’ve taught you a lot of German, and it would be wrong to still call this a series for newbies. So we will continue to teach you German, but in a new series starting Tuesday after next. And in that series you can improve your knowledge of German vocabulary and expressions. I would also recommend going back and doing the Beginner Series from lesson 1 now of you haven’t been following it, so that you can get a more in depth understanding of German grammar. |
| Chuck: I bet if they couldn’t get it before, now it should be easy, right? |
| Judith: Yes. Some of it will be plain review and some will be just a little more than you leaned in the Newbie lessons. And of course you’re learning more vocabulary that way. |
| Chuck: Ok, but now as a very studious student, now what if I’ve been following the Beginner Series at the same time as this one? |
| Judith: Then kudos to you. Having followed both series, you should now be ready to try out some of our intermediate lessons. |
| Chuck: Cool. So wait, can I take an official exam too to prove to my employer than I know some German? |
| Judith: Yes. At this point if you’ve been faithfully doing your exercises, you should have no trouble testing for completion of level A1 in the common European reference for languages. And with some study of vocabulary, you’re easily level A2. And guess what? Our new series will focus on just that, equipping people like you with a bigger vocabulary. |
| Chuck: Alright, I want to celebrate and get some beer so I’ll see you later and… |
| Judith: No. |
| Chuck: What? |
| Judith: I suggest we take our celebration to the picnic. Remember, Michael and Lena. |
| Chuck: … Ok. Let’s join Michael and Lena for the picnic. Then I'm going to go celebrate. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Thomas: So, ich lasse euch beide dann allein. |
| Lena Wagner: Wir sind kein Paar. Wir kennen uns noch kaum. |
| Thomas: Nur ein Scherz. Ich muss gehen. Ich muss noch arbeiten. |
| Michael Schmidt: Bis bald Thomas. |
| Daniel: Ich werde auch gehen. |
| Michael Schmidt: Bis bald Daniel. |
| Lena Wagner: Oh, ich muss auch gehen. Meine Cousine hat heute Geburtstag und ich muss zu ihr. |
| Michael Schmidt: Oh, das ist schade. Musst du wirklich? |
| Lena Wagner: Ja, es tut mir leid. Tschüss. |
| Michael Schmidt: Bis bald. |
| Judith: Now read slowly. |
| Thomas: So, ich lasse euch beide dann allein. |
| Lena Wagner: Wir sind kein Paar. Wir kennen uns noch kaum. |
| Thomas: Nur ein Scherz. Ich muss gehen. Ich muss noch arbeiten. |
| Michael Schmidt: Bis bald Thomas. |
| Daniel: Ich werde auch gehen. |
| Michael Schmidt: Bis bald Daniel. |
| Lena Wagner: Oh, ich muss auch gehen. Meine Cousine hat heute Geburtstag und ich muss zu ihr. |
| Michael Schmidt: Oh, das ist schade. Musst du wirklich? |
| Lena Wagner: Ja, es tut mir leid. Tschüss. |
| Michael Schmidt: Bis bald. |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| Judith: So, ich lasse euch beide dann allein. |
| Chuck: So I will leave you both alone then. |
| Judith: Wir sind kein Paar. |
| Chuck: We are not a couple. |
| Judith: Wir kennen uns noch kaum. |
| Chuck: We still hardly know each other. |
| Judith: Nur ein Scherz. |
| Chuck: Just a joke. |
| Judith: Ich muss gehen. Ich muss noch arbeiten. |
| Chuck: I got to go. I still got to work. |
| Judith: Bis bald Thomas. |
| Chuck: See you soon Thomas. |
| Judith: Ich werde auch gehen. |
| Chuck: I will go too. |
| Judith: Bis bald Daniel. |
| Chuck: See you soon Daniel. |
| Judith: Oh, ich muss auch gehen. |
| Chuck: Oh I also have to go. |
| Judith: Meine Cousine hat heute Geburtstag. |
| Chuck: My cousin has a birthday today. |
| Judith: Und ich muss zu ihr. |
| Chuck: And I have to go to her. |
| Judith: Das ist schade. |
| Chuck: That’s too bad. |
| Judith: Musst du wirklich? |
| Chuck: Do you really have to? |
| Judith: Ja, es tut mir leid. Tschüss. |
| Chuck: Yeah I am sorry. Bye. |
| Judith: Bis bald. |
| Chuck: See you soon. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: What do you think? Sad? |
| Chuck: I think it’s just sad because the 25th lesson, it’s the end of the series. |
| Judith: Yeah, I'm sorry I couldn’t do more. We have to align with the other series, the other podcasts. |
| Chuck: But I want to know what happens. |
| Judith: Maybe I can convince the boss to let me write a series about Michael and Lena later. |
| Chuck: Alright, that sounds good. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: Let’s go for the vocabulary. |
| Chuck: Alright, hit me. |
| Judith: The first word is lassen. |
| Chuck: “To let” or “leave”. |
| Judith: Careful because this verb used the forms [Du lässt] and [Er lässt] so there’s an [Ä] in there for those two forms. |
| Chuck: Just remember when you come across this verb, [Ä]. |
| Judith: [Lassen] |
| Chuck: “To let” or “leave”. |
| Judith: Next, beide. |
| Chuck: Both. |
| Judith: beide. beide. |
| Chuck: Both. |
| Judith: Next, allein. |
| Chuck: Alone. |
| Judith: allein. allein. |
| Chuck: Alone. |
| Judith: Next, Paar. |
| Chuck: “Pair” or “couple”. |
| Judith: Paar. |
| Chuck: “Pair” or “couple”. |
| Judith: This word is neuter, [Das Paar], and the plural is [Paare]. |
| Chuck: “Pairs” or “couples”. |
| Judith: Next, kaum. |
| Chuck: Hardly. |
| Judith: kaum. |
| Chuck: Hardly. |
| Judith: Next, Scherz. |
| Chuck: Joke. |
| Judith: Scherz. |
| Chuck: Joke. |
| Judith: You saw this in expression [Das war nur ein Scherz]. |
| Chuck: That was only a joke. |
| Judith: Next, Cousine. |
| Chuck: Female cousin. |
| Judith: Cousine. |
| Chuck: Female cousin. |
| Judith: This word is feminine and the plural is Cousinen. |
| Chuck: So what would the male cousin be then? |
| Judith: The male cousin is [Cousin]. |
| Chuck: … French? |
| Judith: [Couseng] if you pronounce it… |
| Chuck: We’re teaching German here, not French. |
| Judith: Yeah, I know, but in German we adopted both of these words from French, so if you have a good French pronunciation you can say [Cousin] or if you have a bad pronunciation… |
| Chuck: If you’re American like all of our listeners… |
| Judith: You could say [Couseng]. |
| Chuck: [Couseng], ok. |
| Judith: Anyway, it’s from French. |
| Chuck: Alright. |
| Judith: Next word, heute. |
| Chuck: Today. |
| Judith: heute. heute. |
| Chuck: “Today”. Rhymes with [Leute] for people. [Heute Leute] |
| Judith: Always the smartest, aren’t you? |
| Chuck: [Ne, das war nur ein Scherz]. |
| Judith: Next, Geburtstag. |
| Chuck: Birthday. |
| Judith: Geburtstag. Geburtstag. |
| Chuck: Birthday. |
| Judith: This word is masculine, and it consists of Geburt, “birth”, and the S to link two words together, and then Tag, “day”. Geburtstag. |
| Chuck: Birthday. |
| Judith: Last word for today. wirklich. |
| Chuck: Really? |
| Judith: Yeah, that’s the one, |
| Chuck: That’s the last word, really? |
| Judith: Wirklich. Wirklich. |
| CULTURAL INSIGHTS |
| Chuck: “Really”? So all the Germans went off in the evening. What is it that Germans do in the evening anyway? I doubt there’s too many people like Thomas that go work overtime in the evenings, or maybe study hard. But what about Daniel, for example? He didn’t even say why he left. |
| Judith: Daniel… He probably couldn’t survive without his computer. He had to check his email or something. |
| Chuck: Oh, is that what Germans do in the evenings, like you? |
| Judith: No. Well, young people in Germany like to meet friends in the evenings or maybe they’re going to a concert, to the cinema or go club dancing, especially if it’s a Friday or a Saturday night because you can sleep in on the next day. During the week there’s less people that go dancing at the club because they may have to study. When you’re meeting friends you may go to a bar of a pub, but you’ll very often also meet them at your home. I think compared to Latin countries, Germany doesn’t have as much of a culture of going out at night, maybe because they have warmer weather there. |
| Chuck: Yeah, I remember my neighbor would always… I mean she was a bit older and she would tend to stay at home and watch TV. I think I remember that around 8.15 she would always be there to watch TV. You know why? |
| Judith: Yes, of course, because 8.15 in the evening is when all major TV stations start showing interesting stuff like movies. Before that there’s mostly talk shows, or series or news or… Older people may also go to a pub to drink beer or talk to friends. Most of those who do that would be men. Or like my grandfather, for example, would always meet his friends for card games, like [Skat]. [Skat] is a German card game, it’s very popular here. Or [Doppelkopf]. If they’re more active, then they may go play at [Skittles], or my parents, for example, go ballroom dancing. |
| Chuck: Wait, did you say they eat Skittles? What’s this candy have to do with it? |
| Judith: No, they play at [Skittles]. It’s kind of like bowling except there’s no holes in the ball, you have to throw some other way. |
| Chuck: Ah, well isn’t that called [Kegeln]? |
| Judith: Yeah, [Kegeln] in German. |
| Chuck: Ok. |
| Judith: That’s very common. Bowling is only a recent thing, but if you have a club for that, it would be a [Skittles Clug] club. |
| Chuck: Ok. |
| Judith: And same for dancing. Ballroom dancing would be very popular with the older generation, or even some of the younger ones. There’s dancing clubs that you can go to to learn ballroom dancing, hint hint. |
| Chuck: I also hear there are bowling allies in Berlin, hint hint. |
| Judith: You never give up. Anyway, in the summer evenings you have more choices because you can just meet people outside and sit outside and have a good time. Like maybe you’re having a barbeque. That reminds me, in the States when they said I would have a barbeque, what I had was nothing resembling meat even. |
| Chuck: Well, you had southern barbeque. |
| Judith: Yeah, but how can I tell that what they mean is actually barbeque, you know, sitting outside and watching something roast over a fire? |
| Chuck: I think it’s usually if we’re going out for a barbeque you would recognize that. |
| Judith: Ok, anyway, summer evenings are just great to sit outside and drink and talk and have a barbeque. |
| Chuck: Yeah, it’s very nice. You can have the nice German sausages too. |
| Judith: Yeah, the [Weißwurst]. Germany is famous for that, but we also… we’re quite equal opportunity barbeque people because we also have specialties from the neighboring European countries. For example we have [Cevapcici], I believe it’s originally from Yugoslavia, it’s very yummy. |
| Chuck: And one thing you’ll notice that every barbeque here has a salad that comes with it. |
| Judith: People just like to eat healthy. |
| Chuck: I mean it does go well with the meat. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Judith: Ok, let’s do some grammar. Well, not real grammar today, I think we should do a quick revision of some phrases that we learned. |
| Chuck: What is the last lesson so that makes sense? |
| Judith: Yeah. So most basic phrase that you can think of. What would that be? |
| Chuck: How about Hallo? |
| Judith: That’s basic alright. Or when you’re talking to, say, elderly woman that you want to help across the street, what would you say? |
| Chuck: Maybe Guten Tag? |
| Judith: Yes, Guten Tag for strangers. The formal versions. Or even parents of friends and the like. |
| Chuck: You also use that, for example, in a supermarket. |
| Judith: Yeah, Guten Tag, or on the phone anywhere and it is used throughout the day. In the morning, you additionally have Guten Morgen. In the evening, you additionally have Guten Abend and to wish somebody good night, you say Gute Nacht. |
| Chuck: Yes. |
| Judith: That’s a quick revision of that and it was too easy. Do you still remember the phrase for “How are you?” |
| Chuck: Wie gehts? |
| Judith: Yeah or long form wie geht es dir? Wie geht es Ihnen? I would think that it’s hard to remember for a foreigner because it still doesn’t make sense, you know, you’re asking “how goes it to you?” |
| Chuck: Well, it sounds a bit like “How goes it with you?” |
| Judith: That should make it easier, yeah. |
| Chuck: Or actually I think you’d be more like say “How’s it going with you?” not “How goes it with you?” |
| Judith: Ok, just making sure that you can do all these basic phrases. The answer - Mir geht es gut.. |
| Chuck: I'm well. |
| Judith: And you probably want to add danke. |
| Chuck: Thanks. |
| Judith: The standard answer to danke is… |
| Chuck: Bitte. |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: And then also note that if someone says danke schön, you would reply by saying bitte schön. |
| Judith: Yeah so the schön makes it even more polite but bitte doesn’t just mean you are welcome. It also means please or it can also be used when you are giving something to a person. For example, I am giving you a present, I say bitte. |
| Chuck: That’s also extremely useful on your first trip to Germany when you don’t understand what anyone is saying. You can say bitte and they will repeat themselves. The polite way of saying what? because you wouldn’t want to say was? You’d say bitte. |
| Judith: When you don’t understand something, häh? |
| Chuck: I think bitte sounds more polite though. |
| Judith: It is more polite. |
| Chuck: So häh? is how you say “what?!” |
| Judith: No, there’s three ways in German. |
| Chuck: Yeah? |
| Judith: You can say häh? which is really bad or you can say was? which is what? or you can say bitte? or wie bitte? and it’s the really formal way. |
| Chuck: Nice. So now we can all formally not understand people. |
| Judith: Oh, my father always used to make a joke. When I would say [Häh] or when my brother said [Häh], he would also say [Hier gibt es keinen häh, hier gibt es nur wat]. |
| Chuck: Nice. |
| Judith: Because [What] is the colloquial of [Was]. |
| Chuck: Ah ok. |
| Judith: So we don’t do [Häh] here, [We only do] what. Entschuldigung. |
| Chuck: “Sorry” or “excuse me”. |
| Judith: Yes, it’s particularly when you want somebody’s attention or when you’re trying to make your way through a crowd. Entschuldigung. |
| Chuck: And more polite is “Entschuldigung Sie bitte”. |
| Judith: Entschuldigen Sie bitte, yeah. Entschuldigung is the noun, entschuldigen is the verb in imperative form. |
| Chuck: So I’ve been saying that wrong for, like, four years now, I think. |
| Judith: It’s very good. We’re doing this revision, isn’t it? |
| Chuck: Oh, es tut mir leid. |
| Judith: Yeah I am sorry. Es tut mir leid. |
| Chuck: Also note that this is quite powerful to Germans. It’s much more than the English “I'm sorry” in general. |
| Judith: Yeah, it’s “I feel really sorry” or… |
| Chuck: I feel my sorrow. |
| Judith: I deeply apologize. |
| Chuck: Yeah. And if you want to really apologize, you can even say Es tut mir wirklich leid. |
| Judith: Yes. This phrase would not be used as often when you are just meaning to say, “Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I feel for you.” That’s an American usage of it because you’re not actually responsible so you wouldn’t say es tut mir leid. It’s not my doing. Another phrase in that way is Das ist schade. |
| Chuck: That’s too bad. |
| Judith: Like when somebody can’t come, you could say Das ist schade. |
| Chuck: Or when you’re hearing the last lesson of the Newbie lesson you can say Das ist schade. |
| Judith: You could also say tschüss. |
| Chuck: Bye. |
| Judith: Or more formally, Auf Wiedersehen. |
| Chuck: Goodbye. |
| Judith: Or if you are only hearing us, which after all you are, then you might say Auf Wiederhören. And a more neutral way of saying it would be bis bald. |
| Chuck: See you soon. Or for example, Bis Morgen. |
| Judith: Yes you can insert any time or phrase there. Bis Morgen would be to see you tomorrow. bis später, see you later. |
| Chuck: But be careful because bis später in German typically means the same day. |
| Judith: Yes definitely otherwise it would be bis bald. Note you can also put like [Bis Montag]. |
| Chuck: [Bis nächstes Jahr] |
| Judith: Yeah, youth parties, right? Or seminars, or conferences. [Bis nächstes Jahr] it works. |
| Chuck: Yes. |
| Judith: Ok. I think that’s all the phrases that currently come to my mind. Let’s do some dialogue and then we’re off. |
| Thomas: So, ich lasse euch beide dann allein. |
| Lena Wagner: Wir sind kein Paar. Wir kennen uns noch kaum. |
| Thomas: Nur ein Scherz. Ich muss gehen. Ich muss noch arbeiten. |
| Michael Schmidt: Bis bald Thomas. |
| Daniel: Ich werde auch gehen. |
| Michael Schmidt: Bis bald Daniel. |
| Lena Wagner: Oh, ich muss auch gehen. Meine Cousine hat heute Geburtstag und ich muss zu ihr. |
| Michael Schmidt: Oh, das ist schade. Musst du wirklich? |
| Lena Wagner: Ja, es tut mir leid. Tschüss. |
| Michael Schmidt: Bis bald. |
Outro |
| Chuck: Well, I guess we have to say [Bis bald] too. |
| Judith: Remember to check back on GermanPod101.com Tuesday after next for the new series. |
| Chuck: Wait, there’s a new series? |
| Judith: Guess what? That’s what we were talking about at the beginning. |
| Chuck: Oh. |
| Judith: It’s a new series designed to help you learn more vocabulary and more situational dialogue. But you could also just review what you learned in the past 25 lessons or you could check out the Beginner and Intermediate Series meanwhile, because next Tuesday there’s no lesson, we’re taking a short break, and Tuesday after next is when the new series starts. |
| Chuck: I can particularly recommend you to Intermediate lesson number 10. |
| Judith: Why? |
| Chuck: Well, it’s obviously, isn’t it? Because it’s Rammstein. |
| Judith: Yeah, that lesson we’re discussing our theme song. In any event, we’re hoping to see you tune in again. |
| Chuck: But don’t worry, we don’t include any of that Wagner stuff in there. See you soon. |
| Judith: [Bis bald]. |
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