Learn how to send a package
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here, upper intermediate season 1 lesson 20. You have a package from Germany. Hello and welcome to Germanpod101.com. The fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn German. |
| Judith: I’m Judith and thanks again for being here with us for this upper intermediate season one lesson. |
| Chuck: In this lesson, you will learn how to send a package. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place at a German post office. |
| Chuck: The conversation is between Frank Jones and the post office clerk. |
| Judith: The speakers are in a business relationship therefore they’ll be speaking formal German. |
| Chuck: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jones: Guten Tag, ich möchte gerne diese zwei Pakete verschicken…. |
| Post: Kein Problem. Wo sollen die Pakete denn hin? |
| Jones: Das erste Paket soll nach München und das zweite Paket nach New York. |
| Post: Okay…..Dann machen wir erst mal die Sendung nach München fertig….Oh, das wiegt ja nur 1,5kg. Dann ist es sogar noch ein Päckchen… |
| Jones: Päckchen? Ist das nicht ein Paket? |
| Post: Ja…äh nein….Also, es gibt zwei Sendungsarten bei der Post. Die eine heißt Paket und die andere nennt sich Päckchen. |
| Jones: Hmm und wo ist der Unterschied? |
| Post: Ein Päckchen ist billiger als ein Paket. |
| Jones: Hmm, aber wieso schickt man dann nicht immer alles als Päckchen? |
| Post: Naja, erstens darf ein Päckchen maximal 2kg wiegen und zweitens darf es nicht zu groß sein… |
| Jones: Ach so, natürlich. |
| Post: Ihr erstes Päckchen kostet also 3,90€. Und jetzt das zweite Paket... |
| Jones: Ist das zweite Paket auch ein Päckchen? |
| Post: Moment…ja, da haben Sie Glück, das ist auch ein Päckchen. |
| Jones: Oh super, dann muss ich ja nur 7,80€ zahlen! |
| Post: Nein, tut mir leid. Beide Päckchen zusammen kosten 17,80€. |
| Jones: Oh! Wieso das? |
| Post: Na, es ist teurer ein Päckchen in die USA zu senden als innerhalb von Deutschland. |
| Jones: Na, das klingt logisch! |
| Jones: Hello, I'd like to send these two packages... |
| Post: No problem. Where are they going to? |
| Jones: The first package is going to Munich and the second package to New York. |
| Post: OKay...then we'll deal with the package to Munich first....Oh, it actually only weighs 1.5kg, so it's just a smaller package. |
| Jones: Small package? Is that not the same as a regular package? |
| Post: Yes...err...no...Well, there are two types of things that can be sent through the mail. The first is called a "Paket" and the others are called "Päckchen". |
| Jones: Hmm, and what's the difference? |
| Post: A small package is cheaper than a regular package. |
| Jones: Hmm, so why doesn't everyone always send everything as a small package? |
| Post: Well, first of all a small package can't weigh more than 2kg, and second of all it can't be too big. |
| Jones: Ahh, of course. |
| Post: Your first small package costs €3.90, and then the second package... |
| Jones: Is the second one also a small package? |
| Post: Just a sec. Ya, you're in luck. It's also a small package. |
| Jones: Great! Then I only have to pay €7.80! |
| Post: No, sorry. Both small packages together are €17.80. |
| Jones: Oh! Why's that? |
| Post: Well, it's more expensive to send a package to the USA than it is inside Germany. |
| Jones: Oh, that makes sense! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: Alright, maybe we should have a little refresher on how to send mail in Germany. |
| Chuck: Okay sounds great. |
| Judith: For example, do you know how to address a letter, how to write a German address? |
| Chuck: I do. You put the first name and the last name, the street and then the number, not the numbers in the street. |
| Judith: Yes so first name, last name on one line and then the street and number on the next line. |
| Chuck: The next line it’s the postal code and then the city and then the final line will get the country, Germany. |
| Judith: Yes, all in all, four lines. |
| Chuck: Except that if you are sending it within Germany then you don’t need the country name. |
| Judith: Yes, three lines. The postal code usually only specifies the city. Not the street or block or anything. Only major cities or cities that used to be towns and have different postal codes for different parts of town. |
| Chuck: Also note that usually you don’t indicate like an apartment number or certain mailbox or something because typically all the names of those living in the house are on the post boxes and so what they do is that they bring your mail and if they don’t see your name then well, you just don’t get your mail. |
| Judith: Yes, it’s very important if you are moving to Germany, first thing to do is to have your name changed on the mailbox. |
| Chuck: Yes and even though your landlord says he’ll do it tomorrow he probably won’t. I just find a little post it note with my name on there while I move. |
| Judith: Yes good advice Chuck. And also note that if you want to send a postcard from Germany, then, well you can buy a postcard at just about anywhere but to buy a post stamp you have to go to the post office most likely and then you can identify the post office and also the mail box, specify the yellow color with the black symbol on it. |
| Chuck: Within Germany, your letters or parcels are probably delivered around noon on the next, day. Note that this is, well, the country is relatively small but at least in comparison with the U.S and the German post is pretty efficient but on Sundays there’s no service. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word is; |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: [Packet] |
| Chuck: Package or a parcel. |
| Judith: [Packet, das] and the plural is [Packete]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [verschicken] |
| Chuck: To send out or mail. |
| Judith: [verschicken] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Sendung] |
| Chuck: Something being sent, a transmission or a TV program item. |
| Judith: [Sendung, die] and the plural is [Sendungen]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [nennen]. |
| Chuck: To name or call. |
| Judith: [nennen] the forms are [Er nennt, Er nannte, Er hat genannt] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Päckchen] |
| Chuck: Small parcel. |
| Judith: [Päckchen, das] and the plural is the same. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Art] |
| Chuck: Type or kind. |
| Judith: [Art, die] and the plural is [Arten]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Unterschied]. |
| Chuck: Difference. |
| Judith: [Unterschied, der] and the plural is [Unterschiede]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [billig] |
| Chuck: Cheap or tacky. |
| Judith: [billig] it’s often used negatively. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [maximal] |
| Chuck: At most or maximum. |
| Judith: [maximal] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [erstens] |
| Chuck: Firstly. |
| Judith: [erstens] it’s only used when making several points. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [zweitens] |
| Chuck: Secondly. |
| Judith: [zweitens] again only used when making several points. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [logisch] |
| Chuck: Logical or logically. |
| Judith: [logisch] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [innerhalb] |
| Chuck: Within. |
| Judith: [innerhalb] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Chuck: Let’s have a look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Judith: First I want to look at [chen] as in [Päckchen] this is a diminutive, this means it turns for example [Hund]. |
| Chuck: Dog |
| Judith: Into [Hündchen]. |
| Chuck: Little dog. |
| Judith: Or [Haus] |
| Chuck: House. |
| Judith: Into [Häuschen] |
| Chuck: Little house. |
| Judith: As you can see the recipe is to add [chen] and to change the vowel where possible. All nouns ending in [chen] are neutral and they are the same for singular and plural. Let’s also talk about [innerhalb] can be used in both local and a temporal sense. So you can say [innerhalb von München] |
| Chuck: Inside Munich. |
| Judith: But you can also say [innerhalb von fünf Minuten] |
| Chuck: Within five minutes. |
| Judith: The opposite of [innerhalb] is [außerhalb] |
| Chuck: Outside of. |
| F: [außerhalb] this word cannot be used for time only location. For example you could say [Außerhalb von München sind die Wohnungen viel billiger als innerhalb]. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: Outside of Munich apartments are much cheaper than inside. The focus of this lesson is enumerating arguments. When you want to list several arguments in a text or conversation, there are several sets of words you should know. |
| Judith: One set is [einerseits - andererseits] |
| Chuck: Translates to “on the one hand” and “on the other hand” |
| Judith: Another set is [die eine - die andere] |
| Chuck: The one thing and the other thing. |
| Judith: You can also vary this, for example [der eine Grund ist] and [der andere Grund ist]. For longer lists and other situations you will need the special German numbers ending in tense [erstens, zweitens, drittens, viertens, fünftens] |
| Chuck: Could you give us an example for how to use those? |
| Judith: Sure [Es gibt drei Gründe dagegen: erstens dauert es zu lange, zweitens ist es zu teuer und drittens gibt es eine bessere Lösung] |
Outro |
| Chuck: There are three reasons against it. It takes two long, it’s too expensive and there is a better solution. Well that just about does it for today. Remember, you can leave us a comment on this lesson |
| Judith: So if you have a question or some feedback, please leave us a comment. |
| Chuck: It’s very easy to do. Firstly just stop by germanpod101.com and secondly. |
| Judith: And secondly click on comments, |
| Chuck: Thirdly, enter your comment and name. |
| Judith: And that’s it. |
| Chuck: No excuses. We are looking forward to hearing from you. So see you next week. |
| Judith: [Also bis nächste Woche]! |
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