Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute German Season 1, Lesson 16 - Asking for directions. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask and understand basic directions in German.
Body
Eric: Here's the way to ask 'How do I get to the station?' in German.
Albert: [Normal] Wie komme ich zum Bahnhof?
Eric: First is a word meaning 'how'
Albert: [Normal] wie [Slow] wie
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to come'
Albert: [Normal] komme [Slow] komme
Eric: Next comes the word meaning 'I'
Albert: [Normal] ich [Slow] ich
Eric: Following is the word meaning 'to the'
Albert: [Normal] zum [Slow] zum
Eric: And lastly, we have the word meaning 'Train station'
Albert: [Normal] Bahnhof [Slow] Bahnhof
Eric: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the question meaning 'How do I get to the station?'
Albert: [Slow] Wie komme ich zum Bahnhof? [Normal] Wie komme ich zum Bahnhof?
Eric: Now, imagine that you're speaking to a stranger. Here's how you would say, 'Go straight.'
Albert: [Normal] Gehen Sie geradeaus.
Eric: First is a word meaning 'to go, to walk'
Albert: [Normal] Gehen [Slow] Gehen
Eric: Next comes the word meaning 'you (formal)'
Albert: [Normal] Sie [Slow] Sie
Eric: And last is the word meaning 'straight ahead'
Albert: [Normal] geradeaus [Slow] geradeaus
Eric: Again, note the rising intonation. Listen again to the phrase meaning 'Go straight.'
Albert: [Slow] Gehen Sie geradeaus. [Normal] Gehen Sie geradeaus.
Eric: Here's a response meaning 'Turn right.'
Albert: [Normal] Rechts abbiegen.
Eric: First is a word meaning 'right,’ or ‘on the right'
Albert: [Normal] Rechts [Slow] Rechts
Eric: Followed by the word that means 'to turn (by car)'
Albert: [Normal] abbiegen [Slow] abbiegen
Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'Turn right.'
Albert: [Slow] Rechts abbiegen. [Normal] Rechts abbiegen.
Eric: Here's a response meaning 'Turn left.'
Albert: [Normal] Links abbiegen.
Eric: First comes a word meaning 'left, on the left'
Albert: [Normal] Links [Slow] Links
Eric: Followed by the word meaning 'to turn (by car)'
Albert: [Normal] abbiegen [Slow] abbiegen
Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'Turn left.'
Albert: [Slow] Links abbiegen. [Normal] Links abbiegen.
Cultural Insight
Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Albert: German streets, like other European streets, tend to be long, narrow and curvy. When walking down a long street, you may notice the name of that street changes. Street names don’t always remain constant, so be careful when asking about a location or address! When looking for directions to a place, it is probably best to ask a local, because they will be most familiar with the street system.

Outro

Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson!

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