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Learn German with GermanPod101.com! Things are really looking up for you in Germany…and you owe much of it to your German friend, well, and GermanPod101.com. In just a few short months in Germany you have gotten a job, met a few friends, and now you are finally getting out from under your friend’s roof and getting your very first apartment of your own in Germany! That is…if you can figure out all of this German paperwork. The rental contract is filled with German legal mumbo jumbo! You ask your friend once again in German, “What does ‘The apartment is to be rented for the purposes of inhabiting only’ mean?” Before he can answer, you jump in with another in German, “Oh and, what does ‘Excessive damage outside normal wear and tear is to be taken care of by the tenant’ mean?” Your friend begins to answer, but you ask again in German, “And what does ‘In the event that said tenant misses three rent payments, the apartment is to be vacated at once’…oh wait, I understand that one.” You temporary roommate and friend waits a minute to make sure you aren’t going to interrupt again, and then asks in German, “I will answer all of those questions for you, but does it say anything like, ‘Loud noise is to be avoided between certain hours’? Oh, it’s obvious that your German is likely to be improving immediately!

Learning German with GermanPod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn German! This German Intermediate lesson will teach you how to use the German phrase meaning “is to be.” You will learn how to understand some German legal phrases. Finally, we will discuss some common rules you might find in a German apartment contract. Visit us at GermanPod101 where you will find many more fantastic German lessons and learning materials! Leave us a message while you are there!

Grammar: , | Function: , | Topic: , | Politeness Level:


This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Intermediate Season 2 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “Intermediate Lesson S2 #38 - Legally Speaking, Your German Is Likely to Be Improving Immediately!”

GermanPod101.com says:


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Judith says:

Can you think of other important German legalese phrases to know - or have you encountered some yourself that you’d like to see translated?

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salivia_baker says:

Warum einfach wenn’s auch kompliziert geht :D ;)

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Ed says:

Just trying this out, but I’m disappointed that the conversation is with someone who is not a native speaker. Listening to him mispronounce words and stumble is not something of value to me.

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Robert says:

I’m really enjoying your language site . Thank you Chuck And Ude for all that you do to make this program a fun and rewarding way to learn German. I upgraded to the premium Service and couldnt be any happier with the Service.

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Archie says:

Initially, like Ed, I had some misgivings about listining to German conversations involving a non native speaker. Afterwards, I realized it was not an impediment but actually had advantages associated with it. Since Judith always reads the complete dialog by herself while Chuck translates, the correct pronuciation is never a problem. Judith’s pronounciation is very clear and my German neighboor says if I sound like her I will be speaking perfect German. She goes over the German vocabulary and any German pronunciation on the Website involves either her or another native speaker. Chuck provides humor and the cultural insite of a non native speaker trying to live and learn German in Germany. He illuminates many of the problems us learners have that a native speaker might not readily recognize as being difficult. I find that many times when he is being corrected I am also guilty of the same mistake. In all fairness though I think his German has really improved since I first started listening to him a couple of years ago. I’d bet that working with Judith has helped him a lot though he probably wouldn’t want to admit it. Anyway, if your concerned about learning from a native speaker focus in on Judith because no one wants to speak German with a Scottish accent, especially if your not from Scotland!

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Vanessa says:

Muttersprachler wissen nicht immer, welche Ausdrücke sind für Ausländer schwierig. Ich bin zufrieden, eine Muttersprachlerin und einen Englischsprachler zu haben.

(Native speakers don’t always know which expressions are difficult for foreigners. I am content to have a native speaker and an English speaker.)

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salivia_baker says:

Hi Vanessa,
In you rfirst sentencesind has to be at the end. “Muttersprachler wissen nicht immer, welche Ausdrücke sind für Ausländer schwierig” -> “Muttersprachler wissen nicht immer, welche Ausdrücke für Ausländer schwierig sind” Since it’s not a main clause the verb (sind) has to be at the end of the sentence.

I think the absolute best would be 3 hosts. Judith, Chuck and one other German native speaker for the conversation (like on JapanesePod101 - and I yes I know I bring that site up all the time, I just like it ;) ). so two native speakers for the conversation and for the grammar points and other things one native one non-native speaker.

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Ed says:

I lived in Germany for 5 years, but that was 15 years ago. My German is pretty good and I have a good ear for spotting non-native speakers. For me, proper pronunciation more important than the grammar at this point and I was hoping to have found something to listen to, but Chuck’s soft voice and obvious American accent make it difficult to switch modes (english thinking speaking to German speaking thinking).

I have found some free German Audio books on iTunes that I will listen too which will provide the immersion in the language I seek.

If germanpod101 had full native speakers with mid level to advanced levels, I would sign up in a heartbeat.

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Judith says:

Ed, have you tried the Advanced Audio Blogs? We stopped them just for this season, to replace them with the pronunciation and prefix lessons, but there are still lots of them on the site. The audio blogs are intended for intermediate/advanced learners and are read only by me; Chuck isn’t even in the room for those.

Besides if you want to work on your pronunciation, I recommend the Accent Improvement series we have right now.

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Linda says:

What article would the verbs made into nouns take? ie gespartenes, verlorenes
Thanks

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Judith says:

These are always neuter, just like gerunds (das Schwimmen, das Singen, …). Note that the final -s is dropped when you use them with the article: das Gesparte, das Verlorene.

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