Deutsch - German
Anke: Löwen, hallo….
Joe: Hallo Anke.
Anke: Ja, hallo. Wer spricht denn da?
Joe: Hier ist Joe!
Anke: Ach Joe! Du bist es! Wie geht es dir?
Joe: Danke, sehr gut. Dir auch?
Anke: Ja. Joe, du hörst dich ja so weit weg an….Bist du noch in München?
Joe: Ja, ich bin noch bis morgen Abend hier, aber dann komme ich wieder nach Berlin.
Anke: Oh, fährst du also nicht mehr nach Zürich?
Joe: Nein, dafür habe ich leider keine Zeit mehr.
Anke: Ach so. Dann bist du also noch ein paar Tage in Berlin, bevor du wieder in die USA fliegst…
Joe: Genau. Ich möchte ja noch etwas von der Hauptstadt sehen...
Anke: Stimmt, da gibt es sicher noch ein paar Dinge, die du noch sehen musst.
Joe: Ja, auf jeden Fall. Ich muss unbedingt noch auf den Dom, und zum Checkpoint Charlie muss ich auch noch gehen...
Anke: Die Aussicht vom Dom ist sehr schön! Weißt du was... da komme ich mit!
Joe: Oh, das ist ja super! Dann muss ich das nicht alleine machen!
Zusammen macht das ja auch mehr Spaß!
Anke: Das stimmt! Hmm, wir können uns ja übermorgen um 13 Uhr am Dom treffen.
Joe: Okay, super! Dann bis übermorgen!
Anke: Ja, bis dann!
Englisch - English
Anke: Löwen, hello...
Joe: Hello Anke.
Anke: Yes, hello. Who is speaking?
Joe: This is Joe!
Anke: Ah, Joe! It's you! How are you?
Joe: Thanks, I'm well. You too?
Anke: Yes. Joe, you sound so far away. Are you still in Munich?
Joe: Yes, I'm here until tomorrow evening, but then I'm coming back to Berlin.
Anke: Oh, you're not going to Zurich anymore?
Joe: No, unfortunately I don't have time for that anymore.
Anke: I see. So you'll be in Berlin a couple more days before you're flying back to the USA...
Joe: Exactly. I do want to see something more of the capital.
Anke: Right, there are certainly a few more things, which you have to see still.
Joe: Yes, definitely. I absolutely have to go to the top of the cathedral, and I also still have to go to Checkpoint Charlie...
Anke: The view from the cathedral is really nice! You know what... I'll come along!
Joe: Oh, that's great! Then I don't have to do that alone! Together it's more fun anyway!
Anke: That's right! Hmm, we could meet at the cathedral day after tomorrow at 1pm.
Joe: Okay, great! See you day after tomorrow then!
Anke: Yes, see you then!
Wortschatz- und Satzgebrauch - Vocabulary Phrase Usage
1. Haupt- is used for "main" in German. For example, we've already seen "Hauptbahnhof" (main train station) and "Hauptsache" (main thing, most important thing). This lesson introduces the word "Hauptstadt". The "main city" of a country is... the capital, of course!
2. "auf jeden Fall" is an expression you should memorize. It means "in any case, no matter what". Similarly, there is "auf keinen Fall" (no way, under no circumstance).
3. "Weißt du was" is an expression, but it mirrors the English, so it should be easy for you. The English is of course "you know what" - German "weißt du was".
Grammatik - Grammar
The focus of this lesson is the use of the particle'ja'
Ich möchte ja noch etwas von der Hauptstadt sehen.
"I do want to see a little more of the capital."
As you may have noticed, Germans put a lot of „ja“'s in their sentences, and these usually aren't translated to English. To sound really natural, you have to develop a feel for this important particle and start using it yourself.
Let's look at the various ways it was used in this dialog.
„Hallo Anke...“ - „Ja, hallo“ - here, it's a confirmation that Joe has indeed reached Anke.
„Joe, du hörst dich ja so weit weg an“ - if you left out the „ja“ in this sentence, the sentence would sound like a fact. With the „ja“ it sounds like Anke is making a point, and that subtly prompts Joe's explanation.
„Ich möchte ja noch etwas von der Hauptstadt sehen...“. - again, the „ja“ makes this sentence sound like Joe is making a point. Because of this, you might wonder if Joe is defensive about this issue, if he wants to prevent anyone implying that Joe is not interested in Berlin.
„Oh, das ist ja super!“ - here the „ja“ expresses surprise, as Joe didn't expect Anke to come along sight-seeing.
„Zusammen macht das ja auch mehr Spaß!“ - Joe is making another point for going sight-seeing together, even though Anke is already convinced.
„Hmm, wir können uns ja übermorgen um 13 Uhr am Dom treffen.“ - even though Anke uses „können“ instead of „könnten“, the „ja“ makes it clear that this is just an idea / a suggestion. She is not presuming to know that Joe will be able to meet at that time (which „wir können“ would imply).
Kultureller Einblick - Cultural Insight
Let's imagine for a moment that Joe didn't reach Anke immediately, but that her husband answer the phone. This could happen to you, too, when calling a German friend. And if you got their parents, chances are that you have to get by in German until they decide that you're not an axe-murderer.
So you might say something like „Hallo, ich heiße ... und ich bin ein Freund von ... . Ist ... gerade zu sprechen?“. The last bit means „Is ... available to talk right now?“. Then you'll learn if your friend is there. If she is, you'll hear something like „Ich gebe den Hörer weiter“, which means that the receiver is being passed on.
DANKE
ReplyDelete