Learn how to wish someone well, which will come in handy when practicing Germany's Christmas traditions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here, Upper-Beginner Season 2 Lesson 25 - Christmas in Germany. Hello and welcome to GermanPod101.com. The fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn German. |
| Judith: Hi, I'm Judith. This is Upper-Beginner Season 2 Lesson 25. |
| Chuck: The last lesson in the series. |
| Judith: It's sad, but all things must come to an end. |
| Chuck: Besides after this, you're ready for one of our intermediate series. |
| Judith: Maybe not season 1, because that one came out a bit more difficult than the rest. But many other of the intermediate series are good. |
| Chuck: You're an intermediate student now. Congratulations. |
| Judith: Not yet, only after this lesson. |
| Chuck: Ha.. |
| Judith: What are we learning today? |
| Chuck: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about the holidays. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place in class, on the last day of school before Christmas. |
| Chuck: The conversation is between Paul, Sarah and Chuck. |
| Judith: The speakers are classmates and friends, therefore they’ll be speaking informal German. |
| Chuck: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Paul: Frohe Weihnachten! Und schöne Ferien! |
| Sarah: Frohe Weihnachten! Mann, ich kann kaum glauben, dass heute schon der letzte Tag ist. |
| Paul: Ja, die Zeit ist so schnell um! Schon ein halbes Jahr in Deutschland... |
| Sarah: Wir haben so viel gelernt! Ich hoffe, ich vergesse nicht so viel in den Ferien. |
| Paul: Ja, das hoffe ich auch. |
| Chuck: Was macht ihr in den Ferien? |
| Sarah: Ich besuche meine Familie. Ich möchte mit ihnen gemeinsam Weihnachten feiern. |
| Paul: Du fährst nach Spanien? |
| Sarah: Nein, ich fliege. Mit dem Auto dauert es zu lange. Und du? Fliegst du nach Amerika? |
| Paul: Nein. An Weihnachten sind die Flüge zu teuer. Ich werde meinen Vater im Frühling besuchen. |
| Sarah: Hast du keine Geschwister? |
| Paul: Doch, eine Schwester. Sie wohnt und arbeitet in Marseille. An Weihnachten kommt sie nach Berlin. |
| Sarah: Das ist gut, dann siehst du zumindest einen Teil deiner Familie. Und was machst du nach Weihnachten? |
| Paul: Ich mache eine Woche lang Urlaub in den Alpen. Wintersport. |
| Sarah: Klingt gut. Dann viel Spaß! |
| Paul: Danke! |
| Judith: Now it’s slowly. |
| Paul: Frohe Weihnachten! Und schöne Ferien! |
| Sarah: Frohe Weihnachten! Mann, ich kann kaum glauben, dass heute schon der letzte Tag ist. |
| Paul: Ja, die Zeit ist so schnell um! Schon ein halbes Jahr in Deutschland... |
| Sarah: Wir haben so viel gelernt! Ich hoffe, ich vergesse nicht so viel in den Ferien. |
| Paul: Ja, das hoffe ich auch. |
| Chuck: Was macht ihr in den Ferien? |
| Sarah: Ich besuche meine Familie. Ich möchte mit ihnen gemeinsam Weihnachten feiern. |
| Paul: Du fährst nach Spanien? |
| Sarah: Nein, ich fliege. Mit dem Auto dauert es zu lange. Und du? Fliegst du nach Amerika? |
| Paul: Nein. An Weihnachten sind die Flüge zu teuer. Ich werde meinen Vater im Frühling besuchen. |
| Sarah: Hast du keine Geschwister? |
| Paul: Doch, eine Schwester. Sie wohnt und arbeitet in Marseille. An Weihnachten kommt sie nach Berlin. |
| Sarah: Das ist gut, dann siehst du zumindest einen Teil deiner Familie. Und was machst du nach Weihnachten? |
| Paul: Ich mache eine Woche lang Urlaub in den Alpen. Wintersport. |
| Sarah: Klingt gut. Dann viel Spaß! |
| Paul: Danke! |
| Judith: Now with the translation. Jetzt mit Übersetzung. |
| Paul: Frohe Weihnachten! Und schöne Ferien! |
| Paul: Merry Christmas! And enjoy your holidays! |
| Sarah: Frohe Weihnachten! Mann, ich kann kaum glauben, dass heute schon der letzte Tag ist. |
| Sarah: Merry Christmas! Man, I can hardly believe that today is already the last day. |
| Paul: Ja, die Zeit ist so schnell um! Schon ein halbes Jahr in Deutschland... |
| Paul: Yes, time comes by so fast! Already a half year in Germany… |
| Sarah: Wir haben so viel gelernt! Ich hoffe, ich vergesse nicht so viel in den Ferien. |
| Sarah: We've learned so much! I hope I don't forget so much over the holidays. |
| Paul: Ja, das hoffe ich auch. |
| Paul: Yes, I hope so too. |
| Chuck: Was macht ihr in den Ferien? |
| Chuck: What are you doing during the holidays? |
| Sarah: Ich besuche meine Familie. Ich möchte mit ihnen gemeinsam Weihnachten feiern. |
| Sarah: I visit my family. I would like to celebrate Christmas together. |
| Paul: Du fährst nach Spanien? |
| Paul: You're travelling to Spain? |
| Sarah: Nein, ich fliege. Mit dem Auto dauert es zu lange. Und du? Fliegst du nach Amerika? |
| Sarah: No, I'm flying. It takes too long to go by car. And you? Are you flying to America? |
| Paul: Nein. An Weihnachten sind die Flüge zu teuer. Ich werde meinen Vater im Frühling besuchen. |
| Paul: No. Flights are too expensive around Christmas. I'll visit my father in the spring. |
| Sarah: Hast du keine Geschwister? |
| Sarah: Do you not have any siblings? |
| Paul: Doch, eine Schwester. Sie wohnt und arbeitet in Marseille. An Weihnachten kommt sie nach Berlin. |
| Paul: Yes, a sister. She lives and works in Marseille. She's coming to Berlin for Christmas. |
| Sarah: Das ist gut, dann siehst du zumindest einen Teil deiner Familie. Und was machst du nach Weihnachten? |
| Sarah: That's good, then you will see at least part of your family. And what are you doing over Christmas? |
| Paul: Ich mache eine Woche lang Urlaub in den Alpen. Wintersport. |
| Paul: I'll take a one week long vacation in the Alps. Winter sports. |
| Sarah: Klingt gut. Dann viel Spaß! |
| Sarah: Sounds good. Then have a lot of fun! |
| Paul: Danke! |
| Paul: Thanks! |
| CULTURAL INSIGHTS |
| Chuck: Wow, it’s so cold and snow on the ground and lights everywhere. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? |
| Judith: German Christmas is amazing. I always want to be in Germany for Christmas. |
| Chuck: Germany has lots and lots of Christmas traditions. Most can be noticed already during the time of advent, that is four weekends before Christmas. |
| Judith: Germans will tastefully decorate their homes with lights, twigs, and candles, Christmas music will be playing on the radio and the entire house will occasionally be smelling of various German cookie specialties that are only baked for Christmas time. There’s also peculiar German cake for Christmas time, called Christstollen. |
| Chuck: Yeah. And the one thing I love too are the Christmas markets. I was just there yesterday. In the city center, they catch everyone’s attention. Like they’re little… I guess you just call them wooden houses selling handmade textiles, homemade jam, honey, decorations, stuff for your home or for the Christmas tree. |
| Judith: The Christmas tree is originally a German tradition and it’s truly authentic only if you’re using candles rather than electric lights. |
| Chuck: For Germans, the most important part of Christmas is the evening of the 24th. That is when the [Christkind], baby Jesus, is supposed to bring the presents and they’re opened the same night. |
| Judith: The 25th is a day to spend with your extended family or with friends, and so is the 26th. In Germany, the 26th of December is considered the second day of Christmas and, as such, it’s a holiday. |
| Chuck: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Chuck: The first word we shall see is. |
| Judith: Froh. |
| Chuck: Glad. |
| Judith: [Froh, froh] |
| Chuck: Next, |
| Judith: [Weihnachten] |
| Chuck: Christmas. |
| Judith: [Weihnachten, Weihnachten] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Ferien] |
| Chuck: Holidays. |
| Judith: [Ferien, Ferien] This word is always plural. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Vergessen] |
| Chuck: To forget. |
| Judith: [Vergessen, vergessen] And this is a vowel-changing verb, [Er vergisst]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Fliegen] |
| Chuck: To fly. |
| Judith: [Fliegen, fliegen] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Auto] |
| Chuck: Car. |
| Judith: [Auto, Auto, das Auto] And the plural is [Autos]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Dauern] |
| Chuck: To last or to take a certain amount of time. |
| Judith: [Dauern, dauern] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Flug] |
| Chuck: Flight. |
| Judith: [Flug, Flug, der Flug] and the plural is [Flüge]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Vater] |
| Chuck: Father. |
| Judith: [Vater, Vater, der Vater] and the plural is [Väter]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Frühling] |
| Chuck: Spring season. |
| Judith: [Frühling, Frühling, der Frühling] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Geschwister] |
| Chuck: Siblings. |
| Judith: [Geschwister, Geschwister] This word is always plural. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Schwester] |
| Chuck: Sister. |
| Judith: [Schwester, Schwester, die Schwester] and the plural is [Schwestern]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Zumindest] |
| Chuck: At least. |
| Judith: [Zumindest, zumindest] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Spaß] |
| Chuck: Fun. |
| Judith: [Spaß] |
| 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 word we'll look at is [Die Geschwister]. |
| Chuck: The siblings. |
| Judith: It’s a German word that doesn’t really have a direct English equivalent, I mean yeah, you can say “siblings” but it’s much more common in German. [Geschwister] refers to both brothers and sisters. It’s like “parents” is to mother and father, [Geschwister] is to brother and sister. Next we have [Die Alpen]. |
| Chuck: The Alps. |
| Judith: And [Wintersport]. |
| Chuck: Winter sports. |
| Judith: Not too difficult. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: The focus of this lesson is German well wishes. It’s universal to wish someone well, but the wording is often different across languages. |
| Judith: For example, in German we say [Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag]. |
| Chuck: But if a German translated that and said “A heart-felt well wish for your birthday”, that doesn’t come out quite right. So it’s best to learn the correct wording by heart. |
| Judith: Here’s what we say in German. [Frohe Weihnachten!]. |
| Chuck: Merry Christmas! |
| Judith: [Frohes neues Jahr!] |
| Chuck: Happy New Year! |
| Judith: [Frohe Ostern!] |
| Chuck: Happy Easter! |
| Judith: [Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!] |
| Chuck: Happy birthday! |
| Judith: [Alles Gute!] |
| Chuck: Wish you all the best! |
| Judith: This one can be used for any occasion, so it’s the most useful to learn. [Alles Gute!] And [Viel Spaß!]. |
| Chuck: Have fun! |
| Judith: [Viel Glück!] |
| Chuck: Good luck! |
| Judith: “Gute Reise!” |
| Chuck: Have a good trip! |
| Judith: Gute Besserung! |
| Chuck: Get well soon! |
Outro |
| Chuck: That just about does it for today. |
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| Chuck: Plus sample phrases and sentences. |
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| Judith: Get these easy instructions at GermanPod101.com/German-phrases. |
| Chuck: Well everyone stay warm, that's it for this season. |
| Judith: We hope you enjoyed it. |
| Chuck: Good bye! |
| Judith: Auf Wiedersehen! |
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