Learn how to find your way around a train station
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here. Upper Beginner Season 1, Lesson #5. This German lesson will have you on the right track in no time. |
| Judith: Hi my name is Judith and I am joined here by Chuck. |
| Chuck: Hello everyone and welcome back to germanpod101. |
| Judith: What are we learning today? |
| Chuck: In this lesson, you will learn how to find your way around the train station. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place at the train tracks. |
| Chuck: The conversation is between Joe and a random traveler. |
| Judith: The speakers don’t know each other. Therefore they will be speaking formal German. |
| Chuck: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Joe: Hmm, Entschuldigung…? |
| Reisende: Ja…? |
| Joe: Können Sie mir helfen? |
| Reisende: Natürlich, gern… |
| Joe: Also, ich weiß nicht, ob ich hier richtig bin… |
| Reisende: Wohin möchten Sie denn? |
| Joe: Ich fahre nach München. Ist dies hier das richtige Gleis? |
| Reisende: Ja. Der Zug auf diesem Gleis fährt nach München. Das sehen Sie auf der Anzeigetafel da oben. |
| Joe: Aaah. Dankeschön. |
| Reisende: Aber…. |
| Joe: Ja, bitte…? |
| Reisende: Es kann auch sein, dass mehrere Züge dasselbe Ziel haben. Ich glaube, der Zug auf jenem Gleis dort fährt auch nach München. Was steht denn auf der Fahrkarte? |
| Joe: Hmm, ich weiß nicht…Mal sehen….Also hier steht, dass der Zug von Gleis 14 abfährt. |
| Reisende: Äh, das kann aber nicht sein. Dieser Bahnhof hat nur 10 Gleise! |
| Joe: Oh! Wie geht denn das!?! |
| Reisende: Ach, sehen Sie. Da steht, Ankunft ist in München auf Gleis 14! Aber Abfahrt hier in Berlin ist von Gleis 4. Das ist dieses hier. Sie sind also richtig. |
| Joe: Oh, da bin ich ja froh. Vielen Dank! |
| Reisende: Kein Problem. Gute Reise. |
| Joe: Danke, gleichfalls! |
| Judith: And now it’s slowly. |
| Joe: Hmm, Entschuldigung…? |
| Reisende: Ja…? |
| Joe: Können Sie mir helfen? |
| Reisende: Natürlich, gern… |
| Joe: Also, ich weiß nicht, ob ich hier richtig bin… |
| Reisende: Wohin möchten Sie denn? |
| Joe: Ich fahre nach München. Ist dies hier das richtige Gleis? |
| Reisende: Ja. Der Zug auf diesem Gleis fährt nach München. Das sehen Sie auf der Anzeigetafel da oben. |
| Joe: Aaah. Dankeschön. |
| Reisende: Aber…. |
| Joe: Ja, bitte…? |
| Reisende: Es kann auch sein, dass mehrere Züge dasselbe Ziel haben. Ich glaube, der Zug auf jenem Gleis dort fährt auch nach München. Was steht denn auf der Fahrkarte? |
| Joe: Hmm, ich weiß nicht…Mal sehen….Also hier steht, dass der Zug von Gleis 14 abfährt. |
| Reisende: Äh, das kann aber nicht sein. Dieser Bahnhof hat nur 10 Gleise! |
| Joe: Oh! Wie geht denn das!?! |
| Reisende: Ach, sehen Sie. Da steht, Ankunft ist in München auf Gleis 14! Aber Abfahrt hier in Berlin ist von Gleis 4. Das ist dieses hier. Sie sind also richtig. |
| Joe: Oh, da bin ich ja froh. Vielen Dank! |
| Reisende: Kein Problem. Gute Reise. |
| Joe: Danke, gleichfalls! |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| Joe: Hmm, Entschuldigung…? |
| Joe: Hmm, excuse me...? |
| Reisende: Ja…? |
| Traveller: Yes...? |
| Joe: Können Sie mir helfen? |
| Joe: Could you help me? |
| Reisende: Natürlich, gern… |
| Traveller: Of course, my pleasure... |
| Joe: Also, ich weiß nicht, ob ich hier richtig bin… |
| Joe: So, I don't know, whether I'm at the right place... |
| Reisende: Wohin möchten Sie denn? |
| Traveller: Where would you like to go? |
| Joe: Ich fahre nach München. Ist dies hier das richtige Gleis? |
| Joe: I'm going to Munich. Is this the right track here? |
| Reisende: Ja. Der Zug auf diesem Gleis fährt nach München. Das sehen Sie auf der Anzeigetafel da oben. |
| Traveller: Yes. The train on this track goes to Munich. You can see that on the time table board up there. |
| Joe: Aaah. Dankeschön. |
| Joe: Ahhh. Thank you very much. |
| Reisende: Aber…. |
| Traveller: But... |
| Joe: Ja, bitte…? |
| Joe: Yes, please...? |
| Reisende: Es kann auch sein, dass mehrere Züge dasselbe Ziel haben. Ich glaube, der Zug auf jenem Gleis dort fährt auch nach München. Was steht denn auf der Fahrkarte? |
| Traveller: It's also possible that several trains have the same destination. I believe, the train on this train over there is also going to Munich. What's on your ticket? |
| Joe: Hmm, ich weiß nicht…Mal sehen….Also hier steht, dass der Zug von Gleis 14 abfährt. |
| Joe: Hmm, I don't know... let's see... so here it says that the train leaves on track 14. |
| Reisende: Äh, das kann aber nicht sein. Dieser Bahnhof hat nur 10 Gleise! |
| Traveller: Oh, but that can't be. This station only has 10 tracks! |
| Joe: Oh! Wie geht denn das!?! |
| Joe: Oh! How does that work!?! |
| Reisende: Ach, sehen Sie. Da steht, Ankunft ist in München auf Gleis 14! Aber Abfahrt hier in Berlin ist von Gleis 4. Das ist dieses hier. Sie sind also richtig. |
| Traveller: Oh, look. There it states that the arrival is in Munich on track 14! But the departure here in Berlin is on track 4. That is this one here. So, you're right. |
| Joe: Oh, da bin ich ja froh. Vielen Dank! |
| Joe: Oh, then I'm indeed happy. Thank you very much! |
| Reisende: Kein Problem. Gute Reise. |
| Traveller: No problem. Have a good trip. |
| Joe: Danke, gleichfalls! |
| Joe: Thanks, you too! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: Okay I think this is the perfect lesson to talk about the few things that you really have to watch out for when you are taking the train. |
| Chuck: Sounds good. |
| Judith: Train stations can be huge as in really huge. You should allow enough time to walk through the train station, find the track and walk to the part where your train stops. |
| Chuck: If I am not mistaken, I think that the Berlin train station has four floors. |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: Or is it five? I don’t remember. |
| Judith: So you can calculate 5 to 10 minutes just to find your track and get on the right part of it. |
| Chuck: Yeah always recommend getting to the track and then if you want to get something to eat, then look for a vending machine on the track. |
| Judith: Yeah. |
| Chuck: Sometimes there is two trains departing from the same track around the same time. One from one side and one from the other. Also one train is later split into two with different routes with different final destinations. |
| Judith: Yeah for this kind of thing, it’s best to look at the display on the track. Your ticket should also say something like track 12 A to D. This means only part of the train, the part that stops in track sections A to D will go to your destination. If you get on the train in Section G of the track, then you will likely wind up somewhere else. |
| Chuck: Well that may confuse you because you see sections A to D but yet on the train, it doesn’t have any sections on it like that but these are actually letters that are in the station itself. And if you want to not be confused at all, I’d recommend getting the seat reservation because you will always be reserved with the seat in the section that’s traveling to your destination of course. |
| Judith: Yes. To find out where your seat is going to be, well you need to look at the wagon number, the reservation consists of a car number and a seat number. So look at your car number and then there is a colorful post on the track which shows you approximately where each car will stop based on the track sections. |
| Chuck: But notice that it’s also possible to have a ticket without a reserved seat. It means you are not entitled to a seat and there may not be enough seats available on the train especially if you are traveling on a holiday. |
| Judith: Yeah or generally busy days especially Fridays, Mondays. More than a few people will be left standing. |
| Chuck: Yeah. When we needed to go to the bathroom, we might have a fun time waiting through all the people to get to the bathroom. |
| Judith: If you are along the ones left standing, then you can still sit down in any unoccupied seat. You just have to vacate it if someone arrives who reserved that seat. If you are lucky, your seat will be unreserved or the person who reserved it will not show up. |
| Chuck: Also notice that above each seat, there is an electronic display or at least in the ICE and the IC. |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: And there you will see where the reservation is from and to. So that way, you can see oh, that reservation doesn’t come up for a couple of stops and I am only going to there. So I can sit here, no problem. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Chuck: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word is |
| Judith: Ob. |
| Chuck: Whether. |
| Judith: Ob. Ob. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Denn. |
| Chuck: Because or a particle that adds emphasis. |
| Judith: Denn. Denn. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Dieser. |
| Chuck: This. |
| Judith: Dieser. Dieser. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Gleis. |
| Chuck: Track. |
| Judith: Gleis. Gleis. This word is neutral and the plural is Gleise. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Anzeige. |
| Chuck: Add or display. |
| Judith: Anzeige. Anzeige. Die Anzeige. And the plural is Anzeigen. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Tafel. |
| Chuck: Chalkboard, board or table. |
| Judith: Tafel. Tafel. This word is feminine and the plural is Tafeln. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Mehrere. |
| Chuck: Several. |
| Judith: Mehrere. Mehrere. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Dasselbe. |
| Chuck: The same |
| Judith: Dasselbe. Dasselbe. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Ziel. |
| Chuck: Destination, goal or target. |
| Judith: Ziel. Ziel. Das Ziel and the plural is Ziele. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Jener. |
| Chuck: That or those. |
| Judith: Jener. Jener. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Ankunft. |
| Chuck: Arrival. |
| Judith: Ankunft. Ankunft. This word is feminine and the plural is Ankünfte. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Abfahrt. |
| Chuck: Departure. |
| Judith: Abfahrt. Abfahrt. Die Abfahrt and the plural is Abfahrten. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: Gleichfalls. |
| Chuck: Same to you. |
| Judith: Gleichfalls. Gleichfalls. |
| 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 is Ich weiß nicht ob ich hier richtig bin. |
| Chuck: I don’t know if I am in the right place. |
| Judith: Hier richtig sein is to be in the right place. Then I wanted to talk about abfahren. |
| Chuck: To depart or leave. |
| Judith: It’s the same word as die Abfahrt. |
| Chuck: Departure. |
| Judith: So the noun is Abfahrt and what you are doing is abfahren and finally we saw the phrase Wie geht denn das? |
| Chuck: Literally how goes that but really it’s, how is that possible? |
| Judith: Es geht always has a second meaning of it is possible or it is functioning. For example, you might say Der Aufzug geht heute nicht. |
| Chuck: The elevator is broken today. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: The focus of this lesson is demonstrative pronouns. |
| Judith: This lesson’s dialogue featured two interesting words, dieser. |
| Chuck: This |
| Judith: And jener. |
| Chuck: That. |
| Judith: They are demonstrative pronouns. That’s the official term for them. Demonstrative because they are used when demonstrating in the sense of showing or indicating. |
| Chuck: When you point at something, you will usually use a demonstrative pronoun. You will say something like this car or that car over there. Even when you are not actually pointing, you will sometimes use demonstrative pronouns. |
| Judith: In German, the demonstrative pronouns are dieser for things that are close to you and jener for things that are further away. These words get the same endings as adjectives. Don’t concern yourself too much with them right now. We are covering adjective endings in depth in the intermediate series. Anyway, this is how we will end up with forms like auf diesem Gleis. |
| Chuck: On this track. |
| Judith: Or simply dies. For neuter. |
| Chuck: Dieser and jener are actually less often used in German than they are in English. In German, they are increasingly being replaced by the simple article. |
| Judith: Yes if we say something like auf dem Gleis emphasizing the dem more than we would in a regular sentence then that just means the same as auf diesem Gleis. Auf dem Gleis, auf diesem Gleis and to replace jener we say auf dem Gleis dort. |
Outro |
| Chuck: That just about does it for today. |
| Judith: Ready to test what you just learned? |
| Chuck: I hope you are. Make this lesson’s vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flashcards. |
| Judith: There is a reason everyone uses flashcards. |
| Chuck: Oh yeah they work. |
| Judith: They really do help memorization. |
| Chuck: You can get the flashcards for this lesson at |
| Judith: Germanpod101.com |
| Chuck: Okay see you next week. |
| Judith: Also, bis nächste Woche. |
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