Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute German Season 1, Lesson 8 - Talking about your age. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask somebody’s age and to say yours in German.
Body
Eric: Here's the informal way to ask 'How old are you?' in German.
Albert: [Normal] Wie alt bist du?
Eric: First is a word meaning 'how'
Albert: [Normal] wie [Slow] wie
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'old'
Albert: [Normal] alt [Slow] alt
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'are'
Albert: [Normal] bist [Slow] bist
Eric: Last is the word meaning 'you’ (informal)
Albert: [Normal] du [Slow] du
Eric: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning 'How old are you?'
Albert: [Slow] Wie alt bist du? [Normal] Wie alt bist du?
Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the formal way to ask, 'How old are you?'
Albert: [Normal] Wie alt sind Sie?
Eric: First is a word 'how'
Albert: [Normal] wie [Slow] wie
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'old'
Albert: [Normal] alt [Slow] alt
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'are'
Albert: [Normal] sind [Slow] sind
Eric: Last is the word meaning 'you’ (formal)
Albert: [Normal] Sie [Slow] Sie
Eric: Note again the rising intonation. Listen again to the formal question meaning 'How old are you?'
Albert: [Slow] Wie alt sind Sie? [Normal] Wie alt sind Sie?
Eric: Here's a response meaning 'I am 18.'
Albert: [Normal] Ich bin achtzehn.
Eric: First is a word meaning 'I'
Albert: [Normal] ich [Slow] ich
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'am'
Albert: [Normal] bin [Slow] bin
Eric: Last is the word meaning 'eighteen'
Albert: [Normal] achtzehn [Slow] achtzehn
Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'I am 18.'
Albert: [Slow] Ich bin achtzehn. [Normal] Ich bin achtzehn.
Eric: Here's a response meaning, 'I am 25.'
Albert: [Normal] Ich bin fünfundzwanzig.
Eric: First is a word meaning 'I'
Albert: [Normal] Ich [Slow] Ich
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'am'
Albert: [Normal] bin [Slow] bin
Eric: Last is the word meaning 'twenty-five'
Albert: [Normal] fünfundzwanzig [Slow] fünfundzwanzig
Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'I am 25.'
Albert: [Slow] Ich bin fünfundzwanzig. [Normal] Ich bin fünfundzwanzig.
Cultural Insight
Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Albert: If you are estimating somebody’s age, you say:
“Du bist um die dreißig. “You‘re around 30“.
“Du bist um die fünfundzwanzig“, You’re around 25 and so on.
It’s okay if you overestimate the other person’s age, but try to get as close as you can!

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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