Learn how to ask for a simple piece of information
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to GermanPod101.com. This is Business German for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 10 - Asking for Simple Business Information in German. John Here. |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag! I'm Jennifer. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn How to Ask for a Simple Piece of Information. The conversation takes place in the office. |
| Jennifer: It's between Linda Müller and Stefan Herzog. |
| John: The speakers are colleagues, so they will use informal German. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda Müller: Kennst du die Nummer von Dr. Schmitt? |
| Stefan Herzog: Ja, die Praxisnummer lautet 069-503040. |
| Linda Müller: Ich habe es vorhin versucht, aber er war nicht zu erreichen. Kennst du seine Handynummer? |
| Stefan Herzog: Ja, die Handynummer lautet 0170-653192. Kennst du vielleicht auch seine Email-Adresse? |
| Linda Müller: Na klar, es ist die schmitt@mail.com |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda Müller: Kennst du die Nummer von Dr. Schmitt? |
| Stefan Herzog: Ja, die Praxisnummer lautet 069-503040. |
| Linda Müller: Ich habe es vorhin versucht, aber er war nicht zu erreichen. Kennst du seine Handynummer? |
| Stefan Herzog: Ja, die Handynummer lautet 0170-653192. Kennst du vielleicht auch seine Email-Adresse? |
| Linda Müller: Na klar, es ist die schmitt@mail.com |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Linda Müller: Do you know Doctor Schmitt's telephone number? |
| Stefan Herzog: Yes, his office number is 069-503040. |
| Linda Müller: I tried earlier, but he was not in. Do you know his mobile phone number? |
| Stefan Herzog: Yes, his mobile phone number is 0170-653192. Do you also know his email address? |
| Linda Müller: Sure, it's schmitt@mail.com. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Are office transfers common in Germany? |
| Jennifer: A transfer to another office or branch doesn't happen often in an average German company. Although it’s one of the largest and most innovative economies in the world, office transfers are rare. |
| John: What about transfers of position or section in the same company? |
| Jennifer: Yes, transfers of position or section, inside the same office, can happen, especially if the person covers a managing position and gets a “promotion,” which in German is Die Beförderung. Another exception is for start-up companies. |
| John: So office transfers are common for start-up companies. |
| Jennifer: As they grow over time, they often move to a larger office space or they move to buildings with other start-up companies and create their own start-up culture. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Jennifer: kennen [natural native speed] |
| John: to know somebody |
| Jennifer: kennen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: kennen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: Nummer [natural native speed] |
| John: number |
| Jennifer: Nummer[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Nummer [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: vorhin [natural native speed] |
| John: just |
| Jennifer: vorhin[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: vorhin [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: versuchen [natural native speed] |
| John: to try |
| Jennifer: versuchen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: versuchen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: erreichen [natural native speed] |
| John: to reach; to achieve, to accomplish |
| Jennifer: erreichen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: erreichen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: Email-Adresse [natural native speed] |
| John: email address |
| Jennifer: Email-Adresse[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Email-Adresse [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Jennifer: Praxisnummer [natural native speed] |
| John: doctor's office number |
| Jennifer: Praxisnummer[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Praxisnummer [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Jennifer: versuchen |
| John: meaning "to attempt" |
| Jennifer: Versuchen can either mean "to attempt something," or to try a dish, as in: Kann ich das mal versuchen? |
| John: "Could I taste it, maybe?" |
| Jennifer: Here is another example, Immer ist es besser zu versuchen, als zu viel zu reden. |
| John: ..which means "It's always better to say less and to try more." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Jennifer: erreichen |
| John: "to accomplish" |
| Jennifer: erreichen is either used when talking about an abstract thing, like reaching a goal or a dream, or when something is practically reached, for example, when you reached a place where you wanted to go. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say.. Ich habe endlich mein Traum erreicht. |
| John: .. which means "I finally reached my dream." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn How to Ask for a Simple Piece of Information. |
| Jennifer: The example in the dialogue is Kennst du die Nummer von Dr. Schmitt? |
| John: meaning “Do you know Doctor Schmitt’s telephone number?” Jennifer, can you break down the structure of this sentence? |
| Jennifer: First we have Kennst, which is a conjugated form of kennen, then we have du, which is the informal “you,” and finally the accusative object die Nummer von Frau Schmitt |
| John: This interrogative sentence follows the basic sentence rule: verb + subject + object. Can you give us some other examples? |
| Jennifer: Gehst du nach Hause? |
| John: “Are you going home?” |
| Jennifer: Machst du Feierabend? |
| John: “Are you done for today?” |
| Jennifer: However, kennen is used differently than wissen meaning “to know” even though it seems to have the same meaning as in English. |
| John: What’s an example? |
| Jennifer: For example, you can use kennen also to say Kennst du sie? |
| John: “Do you know her?” |
| Jennifer: or Kennst du den Chef schon? |
| John: meaning “Do you know the boss already?” |
| Jennifer: Kennen is also used as kennen lernen meaning “to get to know”, for example, Ich habe ihn kennengelernt meaning “I got to know him”. |
| John: This German verb is used in terms of obtaining knowledge about someone or a circumstance, and it is similar to the English “to get acquainted with.” |
| Jennifer: It expresses that you got in touch with someone, even if you don’t know them well. |
| John: What is the other verb that an English speaker may mismatch with this one? |
| Jennifer: wissen |
| John: This is more similar to the English “to be informed of the fact,” as it refers to one’s own knowledge about something. It refers to a deeper understanding of knowledge. |
| Jennifer: here are some examples, Weißt du, ob sie heute kommt? |
| John: “Do you know if she is coming today?” |
| Jennifer: Wissen Sie, wieviel Uhr es ist? |
| John: “Do you know what time it is?” Ok, now let’s take a look at how to answer to the first question, which was... |
| Jennifer: Kennst du die Nummer von Dr. Schmitt? |
| John: If you know the information, you can simply say... |
| Jennifer: Ja, which means “Yes,” or Na klar, which means “Sure” and add the information. |
| John: If you don’t know, you can say... |
| Jennifer: Nein, das weiß ich nicht. |
| John: “No, I don’t know.” |
| Jennifer: or Davon habe ich noch nicht gehört. |
| John: “I haven’t heard about this yet.” Let’s wrap up this lesson by checking how to read an email address in German. How do you read the e-mail address schmitt@mail.com? |
| Jennifer: It’s very similar, Schmitt at mail Punkt com |
| John: and for websites? For example www. |
| Jennifer: Use the German w in a row, and then Punkt. All together www. |
| John: how would you say, https:// |
| Jennifer: Use the German alphabet for https then Doppelpunkt (“colon”), Slash Slash (“slash”). |
| John: In this case the English “slash” is used as it is a computer term. |
| Jennifer: In sentences though, you use the German word Schrägstrich instead. |
| John: As computer language is universal, there is no specific translation necessary from English. |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Jennifer: Auf Wiedersehen! |
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