Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to GermanPod101.com. This is Business German for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 15 - Saying You Can't Speak the Language. John Here.
Jennifer: Guten Tag! I'm Jennifer.
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask someone to speak another language. The conversation takes place on the phone.
Jennifer: It's between Linda Müller and a receptionist.
John: The speakers are colleagues, therefore, they will speak informal German. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Rezeptionist: Guten Morgen, sie sprechen mit der Euro Bank.
Linda Müller: Hallo, ich bin Linda Müller von der Firma ABC.
Rezeptionist: Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen?
Linda Müller: Ah...Verzeihung, ich spreche kaum Deutsch, können wir auf Englisch weitersprechen?
Rezeptionist: Natürlich, kein Problem.
John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Rezeptionist: Guten Morgen, sie sprechen mit der Euro Bank.
Linda Müller: Hallo, ich bin Linda Müller von der Firma ABC.
Rezeptionist: Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen?
Linda Müller: Ah...Verzeihung, ich spreche kaum Deutsch, können wir auf Englisch weitersprechen?
Rezeptionist: Natürlich, kein Problem.
John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Receptionist: Good morning, this is Euro Bank.
Linda Müller: Hello, this is Linda Müller from ABC.
Receptionist: How can I help you?
Linda Müller: Ah ... I'm sorry, I don't know German very well, can we speak in English?
Receptionist: Of course, no problem.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
John: That was very kind of the receptionist to be willing to switch to English for Linda.
Jennifer: It was, wasn’t it?
John: I guess the receptionist can speak pretty good English.
Jennifer: I guess so!
John: Is that typical? Can the average German speak English well?
Jennifer: We study English from elementary school. And at university level, some literature will be given in English.
John: Oh, so I suppose that most German people can speak English?
Jennifer: It all depends on the level of education. The average German can at least speak basic English, though.
John: Does that change in the big cities?
Jennifer: I think that in places like Berlin or Frankfurt, most people can understand English well.
John: I heard that English is the second most spoken language in Berlin.
Jennifer: That’s right. You might even find some restaurants where only English is spoken.
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: kann [natural native speed]
John: can
Jennifer: kann[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: kann [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: sprechen [natural native speed]
John: to speak
Jennifer: sprechen[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: sprechen [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: helfen [natural native speed]
John: to help
Jennifer: helfen[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: helfen [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: Verzeihung [natural native speed]
John: the apology
Jennifer: Verzeihung[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: Verzeihung [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: kaum [natural native speed]
John: hardly
Jennifer: kaum[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: kaum [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: weitersprechen [natural native speed]
John: to keep talking
Jennifer: weitersprechen[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: weitersprechen [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Jennifer: natürlich [natural native speed]
John: of course, natural, naturally
Jennifer: natürlich[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: natürlich [natural native speed]
John: And last...
Jennifer: Kein Problem. [natural native speed]
John: No problem.
Jennifer: Kein Problem.[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jennifer: Kein Problem. [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: Verzeihung
John: meaning "Pardon me." What can you tell us about this word?
Jennifer: This is related to the feminine noun die Verzeihung, meaning "the apology."
John: It’s used to ask someone to forgive your mistake or misbehavior.
Jennifer: There is also das Verzeihen, which literally means “the forgive.”
John: This is for the act of forgiving someone. Can you give us another example using “Pardon me?”
Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say, Ich bitte um Verzeihung.
John: ...which means "I beg your pardon."
John: Okay, what's the next word?
Jennifer: Natürlich, kein Problem.
John: meaning "Of course, no problem." What can you tell us about this phrase?
Jennifer: This is a friendly expression.
John: Can you break it down for us?
Jennifer: First is natürlich.
John: This means “naturally.” Next is...
Jennifer: kein Problem, meaning "no problem."
John: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Jennifer: Sure. I’ll give you a short dialogue. Kann ich das ausleihen? Natürlich, kein Problem.
John: "Can I borrow this? Of course, no problem."
John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

John: In this lesson, you'll learn about how to ask someone to speak another language. First, how do we say that we don’t speak German very well?
Jennifer: Ich spreche nicht so gut Deutsch.
John: Are there other ways to say this?
Jennifer: You can also say Mein Deutsch ist schlecht.
John: “My German is bad.” How about if your German is actually good and you want to say that?
Jennifer: The expression you should use is Mein Deutsch ist sehr gut.
John: “My German is very good.”
Jennifer: There are other ways to say it, but you should use sehr gut so that it doesn’t sound like bragging.
John: Are there more modest ways of saying that your German is good?
Jennifer: You could say how long you’ve been studying, and let people guess from there. If it’s a business setting, it’s best to be modest.
John: How do I say “I've been studying German for a long time now.”
Jennifer: Ich lerne Deutsch schon seit vielen Jahren.
John: So we’ve explained that we don’t speak German well. How do we ask the other person to speak in English?
Jennifer: Können wir auf Englisch weitersprechen?
John: “Can we speak in English?” If you want to say that you’d like to switch from English to German, use the verb meaning “to keep talking.”
Jennifer: This is weitersprechen.
John: This makes the transition nice and smooth.
Jennifer: weitersprechen is an irregular verb.
John: The conjugation table is in the lesson notes.
Jennifer: Weitersprechen has a prefix, weiter, which means “again.” The other part of the word, sprechen, means “to speak.”
John: Does the order of the words ever change?
Jennifer: When written in a sentence, the word weiter is placed after the verb sprechen, as in Ich spreche jetzt weiter.
John: That literally means “I keep on talking now.”

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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