INTRODUCTION |
Chuck: Chuck here. Absolute Beginners Series, Season 1, Lesson 1 – “Is Your Coffee as Strong as Your German Apologies?” Hello everyone, welcome to GermanPod101. |
Judith: If you’re looking for the best place online to learn German. |
Chuck: You found it. |
Judith: Today we’re making a clean, fresh start. If you haven’t studied any German before, start learning today with this lesson. |
Chuck: And then just study a new lesson every week and you’ll be speaking German in no time. |
Judith: If you have studied German before, use these series for review or check out our intermediate series to learn more. |
Chuck: In this lesson you’ll be learning how to apologize in German. |
Judith: This conversation takes place during a flight to Germany. |
Chuck: The conversation is between Joe and [Anke]. |
Judith: Joe just spilled his water on [Ankes]’s lap. |
Chuck: The speakers don’t know each other. Therefore, they’re speaking formal German. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
DIALOGUE |
(A spills his water onto the next passenger's lap) |
A: Oh! Entschuldigung! … Entschuldigung, es tut mir wirklich leid. |
D: Es ist schon okay. |
A: Sind Sie sicher? |
D: Ja. Es ist okay. |
A: Sind Sie wirklich sicher? |
D (grins): Ja. Es ist nur Wasser. |
A: Kein Problem? |
D: Nein, kein Problem. |
A: Ich bin Joe Cardigan, und Sie? |
D: Ich bin Anke Löwen. |
(A spills his water onto the next passenger's lap) |
A: Oh! Excuse me! ... Excuse me, I'm really sorry. |
D: It's okay. |
A: Are you sure? |
D: Yes. It's okay. |
A: Are you really sure? |
D (grins): Yes. It's just water. |
A: No problem? |
D: No, no problem. |
A: I'm Joe Cardigan, and you? |
D: I'm Anke Löwen. |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
Judith: Well, I think this lesson is perfect to teach you the word [Entschuldigung] because it appears so often. It’s the most general word of apology in German. |
Chuck: This literally means “apology” and it’s used in most situations. |
Judith: It is however not used when somebody tells you some sad news about themselves. |
Chuck: Because that’s not something you should apologize for. Unless you has any stake in it. |
Judith: If you need something stronger than [Entschuldigung] use [Es tut mir leid]. |
Chuck: That means literally “It does me harm.” And you can make it even stronger by adding an adverb before the leid]. |
Judith: [Es tut mir wirklich leid] |
Chuck: “I’m really sorry.” |
Judith: [Es tut mir sehr leid] |
Chuck: “I’m very sorry.” So, [Judith] how do you accept an apology informally? |
Judith: [Es ist okay, Es ist schon okay] |
Chuck: “It’s okay.” “It’s okay already.” |
Judith: [Kein Problem] |
Chuck: “No problem.” Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
VOCAB LIST |
Judith: First word. [wirklich] |
Chuck: “Really”. |
Judith: [wirklich, wirklich] Next, [sein] |
Chuck: “To be”. |
Judith: [sein, sein] Next, [es] |
Chuck: “It”. |
Judith: [es, es] Next, [schon] |
Chuck: “Already”. |
Judith: [schon, schon] Next, [Sie] |
Chuck: “You” – formally. |
Judith: [Sie, Sie] Next, [sicher] |
Chuck: “Certain” or “sure”. |
Judith: [sicher, sicher] Next, [ja] |
Chuck: “Yes”. |
Judith: [ja, ja] Next, [nur] |
Chuck: “Only” or “just”. |
Judith: [nur, nur] Next, [Wasser] |
Chuck: “Water”. |
Judith: [Wasser, das Wasser] This is neutral. Next, [nein] |
Chuck: “No”. |
Judith: [nein, nein] Next, [Ich] |
Chuck: “I”. |
Judith: [Ich, Ich] Next, [und] |
Chuck: “And”. |
Judith: [und, und] |
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
Chuck: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
Judith: The first word we’ll look at is [Sie]. |
Chuck: “You” – formally. It does national formality in German just like in French, Spanish, Italian and other languages. |
Judith: If you’re addressing somebody by their family name you should also call them [Sie] and you should use the corresponding form of the verbs. |
Chuck: If you’re addressing somebody by their first name, you usually use another pronoun, [Du]. |
Judith: The formal address is the default in German, unless you’re talking to children or people who exclusively ask you to switch to an informal address. As a foreigner, you do well to address everybody as [Sie], initially. |
Chuck: Though you might occasionally get some laughs if you’re younger and you did that to people about your own age. |
Judith: Yeah, about student age. |
Chuck: Did you learn that in a text book? |
Judith: It’s worst than offending somebody by calling them [Du] when they don’t want you to. |
Chuck: Yeah, that’s true. |
Lesson focus
|
Chuck: In this lesson, we’ve seen a few forms of the verb [sein], “to be”. This verb is regular on almost all languages and German is no exception. Here’re the forms we’ve seen. |
Judith: [sein] |
Chuck: “To be”. |
Judith: [Ich bin] |
Chuck: “I am”. |
Judith: [Es ist] |
Chuck: “It is”. |
Judith: [Sie sind] |
Chuck: “You are” – formally. |
Judith: I’ll repeat. [Ich bin, Es ist, Sie sind] |
Chuck: We’ve also seen the German word order corresponds to English so far. When you’re asking a question, the verb is most in front of the sentence in German, just like in English. |
Judith: [Sind Sie Joe] |
Chuck: “Are you Joe?” |
Judith: [Sind Sie sicher]? |
Chuck: “Are you sure?” Well, that just about does it for today. Before we go, I want to tell you about a way to drastically improve your pronunciation. |
Outro
|
Judith: The voice recording tool. |
Chuck: Yes, the voice recording tool in the premium learning center. |
Judith: Record your voice with the click of a button. |
Chuck: Then play it back just as easily. |
Judith: So, you record your voice then you listen to it. |
Chuck: Compare it to the native speakers. |
Judith: And adjust your pronunciation. |
Chuck: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast. |
Judith: Also, I recommend you to listen to our accent improvement lessons that we published last year. And tune in again next week for the next beginner lesson. [Bis dann]! |
Chuck: See you then. |
-- |
Comments
HideHave you met anybody interesting or freaky on the airplane?
Hi Abbas Ali Anjum!
Vielen Dank für dein nettes Kompliment! 😊 (Thank you for your kind compliment!) We're thrilled to hear that you love our site. If you have any questions or need help with your German learning journey, feel free to let us know.
Have a great day!
Danke!
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Ich bin smaa 💓
Hi Jelliane Heart!
Vielen Dank für deine freundlichen Worte! (Thank you for your kind words!) 😊 We're thrilled to hear that you're finding our lessons helpful. It's our pleasure to assist you in learning German and to help you improve. If you ever have any questions or need further clarification, feel free to reach out.
Have a great day!
Team GermanPod101.com
Hi Aira!
We understand that learning a new language can sometimes feel challenging 😭. But don't worry, you're doing great by reaching out for help! Remember, every step you take brings you closer to your goal. If there's anything specific you need help with or if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Have a great day!
Vielen Dank (Thank you)
Team GermanPod101.com
Ich liebe dich site
Thank you for teaching me here i appreciate it very much also thank you for correcting all of my mistakes.😎😎😎😎😎
Too hard
😭😭
Hi Eunice Esi Takyi!
Es ist toll, dass du Deutsch lernst! 😊 (It's great that you are learning German!)
Hier sind ein paar kleine Korrekturen, die dir helfen können:
1. "Ich kome" sollte "Ich komme" sein. (You should use "Ich komme" instead of "Ich kome.")
2. "Ich learne Deutch" sollte "Ich lerne Deutsch" sein. (You should use "Ich lerne Deutsch" instead of "Ich learne Deutch.")
Du machst großartige Fortschritte! (You are making great progress!) Weiter so! (Keep it up!)
Let us know if you have any questions.
Vielen Dank!
Team GermanPod101.com
Ich bin Eunice Esi Takyi. Ich kome aus Ghana. Ich learne Deutch.
Hi Ola & Jon,
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Team GermanPod101.com
At 86 years of age, nothing gets easy. But you seem to be taking me on the right track.
Thank you. It’s somewhat expensive taking these lessons. I need a better discount. Once again, thanks.
Done 👍✅
Hi Mark,
Thank you for posting and welcome to GermanPod101. 👍
😉
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Yours sincerely,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
es ist eine Angang
Hello Guash Abay,
Thank you for posting. It's nice to meet you. ❤️
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you in the near future.
If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. 😉
Yours sincerely,
Reinhard
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Vielen dank!
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Team GermanPod101.com
It is an interesting way to learn German. It looks promissing as a first lesson.
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Team GermanPod101.com
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