Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Chuck: Chuck here. Beginner series, Season 2, Lesson #35. If You Can't Drive, Then Stay Off the Street in Germany! Hello and welcome to the Beginner series, Season 2 at germanpod101.com where we study modern German in a fun, educational format.
Judith: So brush up on the German that you started learning long ago or start learning today.
Chuck: Thanks for being here with us for this lesson. So Judith, what are we looking at?
Judith: In this lesson, you will learn how to express hate in German.
Chuck: This conversation takes place on the German Autobahn. The conversation is between Martin and Caroline, two American tourists.
Judith: The speakers are friends. Therefore they will be speaking informal German. Listeners, I have a question.
Chuck: A question!
Judith: Yep. I want to know when was the last time you commented?
Chuck: All right. That’s a good question.
Judith: Stop by germanpod101.com, leave us a comment or just say hi.
Chuck: All right. You heard her. Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Martin: Leute wie er sollten nicht Auto fahren. Ich könnte ihn umbringen!
Caroline: Umbringen? Übertreibst du nicht ein bisschen?
Martin: Ich hasse solche Leute! ... Wenn du nicht Auto fahren kannst, dann bleib von der Straße.
Caroline: Das Problem ist ja, dass solche Menschen nicht wissen, dass sie nicht Auto fahren können.
Martin: Haha, stimmt. Sie denken, dass sie ganz toll sind.
Martin: Moment... wo sind wir eigentlich? Diese Städtenamen kommen mir nicht bekannt vor. Sie waren nicht auf der Karte.
Caroline: Scheiße! Wir hätten vor einer Viertelstunde schon auf eine andere Autobahn wechseln sollen!
Martin: Verdammt! Was machen wir jetzt?
Caroline: Wir nehmen die nächste Ausfahrt und fahren zurück in die Richtung, aus der wir gekommen sind.
Martin: Okay, lass uns das tun.
Judith: Now it’s slowly.
Martin: Leute wie er sollten nicht Auto fahren. Ich könnte ihn umbringen!
Caroline: Umbringen? Übertreibst du nicht ein bisschen?
Martin: Ich hasse solche Leute! ... Wenn du nicht Auto fahren kannst, dann bleib von der Straße.
Caroline: Das Problem ist ja, dass solche Menschen nicht wissen, dass sie nicht Auto fahren können.
Martin: Haha, stimmt. Sie denken, dass sie ganz toll sind.
Martin: Moment... wo sind wir eigentlich? Diese Städtenamen kommen mir nicht bekannt vor. Sie waren nicht auf der Karte.
Caroline: Scheiße! Wir hätten vor einer Viertelstunde schon auf eine andere Autobahn wechseln sollen!
Martin: Verdammt! Was machen wir jetzt?
Caroline: Wir nehmen die nächste Ausfahrt und fahren zurück in die Richtung, aus der wir gekommen sind.
Martin: Okay, lass uns das tun.
Judith: Now with the translation.
Martin: Leute wie er sollten nicht Auto fahren. Ich könnte ihn umbringen!
Martin: People like him shouldn't drive cars. I could kill him!
Caroline: Umbringen? Übertreibst du nicht ein bisschen?
Caroline: Kill? Aren't you exaggerating a little?
Martin: Ich hasse solche Leute! ... Wenn du nicht Auto fahren kannst, dann bleib von der Straße.
Martin: I hate people like this! ... If you can't drive a car, then stay off the street.
Caroline: Das Problem ist ja, dass solche Menschen nicht wissen, dass sie nicht Auto fahren können.
Caroline: The problem is, that these people don't know, that they can't drive.
Martin: Haha, stimmt. Sie denken, dass sie ganz toll sind.
Martin: Haha, that's true. They think they're really great.
Martin: Moment... wo sind wir eigentlich? Diese Städtenamen kommen mir nicht bekannt vor. Sie waren nicht auf der Karte.
Martin: One moment... where are we actually? These city names don't seem familiar to me. They weren't on the map.
Caroline: Scheiße! Wir hätten vor einer Viertelstunde schon auf eine andere Autobahn wechseln sollen!
Caroline: Shit! We should have changed to another interstate already a quarter of an hour ago!
Martin: Verdammt! Was machen wir jetzt?
Martin: Damn! What do we do now?
Caroline: Wir nehmen die nächste Ausfahrt und fahren zurück in die Richtung, aus der wir gekommen sind.
Caroline: We take the next exit and drive back in the direction, from which we came.
Martin: Okay, lass uns das tun.
Martin: Okay, let's do that.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Judith: How about we talk some more about those Autobahn?
Chuck: Sounds good.
Judith: I hear a lot of Americans are fascinated with them.
Chuck: Go faster, faster, faster.
Judith: There is no speed limit except where indicated for example around construction sites.
Chuck: And they don’t have toll roads here. So you don’t have to pay well except for trucks that is.
Judith: Yes. If you are shipping cargo, then maybe you are going from France to Lithuania, then you should pay for the privilege of using German roads. There is no traffic lights or stop signs.
Chuck: When there is an entrance or when two Autobahns cross, the newcomers always appear on the right most lane and then merge into traffic from there.
Judith: This makes it easier to accommodate them. Sometimes traffic lights govern how many cars can enter the Autobahn there but not often.
Chuck: But you said the Autobahn has no traffic lights?
Judith: It is not on the Autobahn, it’s to get on to the Autobahn.
Chuck: Oh okay. Well speaking of getting on or rather getting off the Autobahn, all access including those for rest areas are on the right as well. So you can use the right most lanes to slow down leisurely.
Judith: You never have to worry about your lane suddenly going on to another Autobahn if you are on the left.
Chuck: Since Germany is densely populated, you are also never far away from a rest area, gas station or a roadside restaurant.
Judith: Yeah and the exits don’t say what restaurants or hotels are around there. Only the rest area exits indicate if you can get gas and if you can eat at a No Name Restaurant there.
Chuck: All those restaurants are really yummy, aren’t they?
Judith: Umm no, they are usually pretty awful and that in exchange, you don’t have to get off the Autobahn and look for something similar place to eat.
Chuck: You know I guess that works but what about the billboards? Are there billboards over here too?
Judith: No advertisement on the Autobahn is very unusual.
Chuck: Okay. So let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
VOCAB LIST
Judith: First word [Übertreiben]
Chuck: To exaggerate.
Judith: [Übertreiben, übertreiben] The forms are [Er übertreibt, er übertrieb] and [Er hat es übertrieben]. Next [Solch]
Chuck: Such.
Judith: [Solch, solch] Next [Straße]
Chuck: Street.
Judith: [Straße, Straße, die Straße] This word is feminine and the plural is [Straßen] Next [Toll]
Chuck: Great.
Judith: [Toll, toll] Next [Moment]
Chuck: Moment.
Judith: [Moment, Moment, der Moment] It’s masculine. Next [Eigentlich]
Chuck: Actually.
Judith: [Eigentlich, eigentlich] Next [Vorkommen]
Chuck: To occur or with dative, to seem.
Judith: [Vorkommen, vorkommen] The [Vor] splits off. Next [Bekannt]
Chuck: Known or well known.
Judith: [Bekannt, bekannt] Next [Viertel]
Chuck: Quarter.
Judith: [Viertel, Viertel, das Viertel] its neuter. Next [Stunde]
Chuck: Hour.
Judith: [Stunde, Stunde, die Stunde] And the plural is [Stunden]. Next [Wechseln]
Chuck: To switch or exchange.
Judith: [Wechseln, wechseln] Next [Verdammt]
Chuck: Damn
Judith: [Verdammt, verdammt] Next [Ausfahrt]
Chuck: Exit but only for cars.
Judith: [Ausfahrt, Ausfahrt, die Ausfahrt] And the plural is [Ausfahren]. Next [Richtung]
Chuck: Direction.
Judith: [Richtung, Richtung, die Richtung] And the plural is [Richtungen]
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: At first we will look at compound nouns in this lesson. It is [Städtenamen].
Chuck: Names of cities.
Judith: And [Viertelstunde]
Chuck: Quarter of an hour.
Judith: And there is also the expression [Mir vorkommen]
Chuck: Seems to me.
Judith: For example, [Die Fahrt kommt mir zu lange vor]
Chuck: The drive seems too long to me.

Lesson focus

Chuck: The grammar focus of this lesson is an overview of prepositions. Let’s look at the prepositions that were used in this lesson’s dialogue. You’ve studied them individually before but now it’s a good time to compare and contrast.
Judith: At first, we have [Wie]
Chuck: Like or as.
Judith: For example, [Leute wie er]
Chuck: People like him.
Judith: Then there is [Von]
Chuck: Off or away from.
Judith: [Einer von ihnen]
Chuck: One of them.
Judith: Or [Bleib von der Straße]
Chuck: Stay off the street.
Judith: Then not to be confused with [Von] there is [Aus]
Chuck: From.
Judith: [Ich komme aus Deutschland]
Chuck: I come from Germany.
Judith: You would never say [Ich komme von Deutschland] or [Von] anything. Be very careful. You always have to use [Aus]. Then there is a preposition [Auf].
Chuck: On or on to.
Judith: For example, [Auf der Straße]
Chuck: On the street.
Judith: And this preposition can also describe the direction. For example, [Auf die Autobahn]
Chuck: On to the interstate.
Judith: When it describes a direction, you use the accusative with it. Then there is [Vor]
Chuck: Before. A place or time or as you go.
Judith: [Vor der Ausfahrt]
Chuck: Before the exit.
Judith: [Vor einer Stunde]
Chuck: One hour ago.
Judith: Note that in German, this word comes before the indication of time, not afterwards. [Vor einer Stunde] not [Einer Stunde vor]. That would be weird. Lastly, there is in.
Chuck: In or into.
Judith: Yeah that’s the only difficulty. It’s the same word but it can also mean into when combined with an accusative. With a dative like [In der Kirche]
Chuck: In the church.
Judith: It means the location and with the accusative [In die Kirche]
Chuck: Into the Church.
Judith: A direction.
Chuck: These are not all German propositions but the most important ones.

Outro

Chuck: Well that just about does it for today. Okay some of our listeners already know about the most powerful tool on germanpod101.com
Judith: Line by line audio
Chuck: The perfect tool for rapidly improving listening comprehension.
Judith: By listening to lines of the conversation again and again.
Chuck: Listen until every word and syllable becomes clear. Basically we break down the dialogue into comprehensible bite size sentences.
Judith: You can try the line by line audio in the premium learning center at germanpod101.com
Chuck: So see you next week.
Judith: [Bis nächste Woche]

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