Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Chuck: Chuck here. Intermediate Series Season 2, Lesson 32. Don’t fall victim to the German bureaucracy.
Judith: Hello, everyone. I'm Judith and welcome to GermanPod101.
Chuck: With us you’ll learn to speak German with fun and effective lessons.
Judith: We also provide you with cultural insights.
Chuck: And tips you won’t find in a textbook. In this lesson, you’ll learn about what you need if you want to stay in Germany for more than one month.
Judith: This conversation takes place at a German home.
Chuck: The conversation is between Mike and his German friend. The speakers are friends, therefore they will be speaking informal German. Now if you’re listening on an iPod…
Judith: Or an iPod Touch or iPhone.
Chuck: Click the center button of the iPod or tap the screen on an iPod Touch or iPhone to see the notes for this lesson and listen.
Judith: Read along while you listen.
Chuck: This technique will help you remember faster. Ok, let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
D: Mike, da ist eine Nachricht auf dem Anrufbeantworter für dich!
A: Ah, von wem?
D: Hör's dir einfach an.
A: ... Juchhu, das war Frau Michely, ich hab den Job gekriegt!
D: Ich gratuliere!
A: Jetzt brauche ich dringend die Arbeitserlaubnis, damit ich anfangen darf. Kannst du mich heute noch in die Stadt zum Ausländeramt fahren?
D: Heute? Ich dachte, dass du Bauchschmerzen hast??
A: Es geht mir schon viel besser.
D: Außerdem ist es schon nach vier, das Amt hat bestimmt schon zu.
A: Schade...
D: Guck nicht so traurig! Du hast die Unterlagen auch noch nicht alle. Du musst mehrere Formulare ausfüllen und Frau Michely muss dir auch noch eine Absichtserklärung schicken...
A: Aber ich muss erst zum Ausländeramt, um diese Formulare überhaupt zu kriegen.
D: Was? Nein, das musst du nicht. Die Formulare gibt es bestimmt online, ich drucke sie dir aus.
Judith: Now read slowly.
D: Mike, da ist eine Nachricht auf dem Anrufbeantworter für dich!
A: Ah, von wem?
D: Hör's dir einfach an.
A: ... Juchhu, das war Frau Michely, ich hab den Job gekriegt!
D: Ich gratuliere!
A: Jetzt brauche ich dringend die Arbeitserlaubnis, damit ich anfangen darf. Kannst du mich heute noch in die Stadt zum Ausländeramt fahren?
D: Heute? Ich dachte, dass du Bauchschmerzen hast??
A: Es geht mir schon viel besser.
D: Außerdem ist es schon nach vier, das Amt hat bestimmt schon zu.
A: Schade...
D: Guck nicht so traurig! Du hast die Unterlagen auch noch nicht alle. Du musst mehrere Formulare ausfüllen und Frau Michely muss dir auch noch eine Absichtserklärung schicken...
A: Aber ich muss erst zum Ausländeramt, um diese Formulare überhaupt zu kriegen.
D: Was? Nein, das musst du nicht. Die Formulare gibt es bestimmt online, ich drucke sie dir aus.
Judith: Now with the translation.
D: Mike, da ist eine Nachricht auf dem Anrufbeantworter für dich!
D: Mike, there is a message on the answering machine for you!
A: Ah, von wem?
A: Ah, from who?
D: Hör's dir einfach an.
D: Just listen to it.
A: ... Juchhu, das war Frau Michely, ich hab den Job gekriegt!
A: ... Yay, that was Mrs Michely, I got the job!
D: Ich gratuliere!
D: Congratulations!
A: Jetzt brauche ich dringend die Arbeitserlaubnis, damit ich anfangen darf. Kannst du mich heute noch in die Stadt zum Ausländeramt fahren?
A: Now I urgently need that work permit, so that I can start. Can you still drive me to the foreigners' office in the city today?
D: Heute? Ich dachte, dass du Bauchschmerzen hast??
D: Today? I thought you have a stomach ache??
A: Es geht mir schon viel besser.
A: I'm already feeling much better.
D: Außerdem ist es schon nach vier, das Amt hat bestimmt schon zu.
D: Besides, it's already past 4pm, the bureau is probably closed already.
A: Schade...
A: A pity…
D: Guck nicht so traurig! Du hast die Unterlagen auch noch nicht alle. Du musst mehrere Formulare ausfüllen und Frau Michely muss dir auch noch eine Absichtserklärung schicken...
D: Don't look so sad! You don't yet have all the documents anyway. You have to fill out several forms and Mrs Michely also still has to send you a letter of intent…
A: Aber ich muss erst zum Ausländeramt, um diese Formulare überhaupt zu kriegen.
A: But first I must go to the foreigners' office in order to get those forms in the first place.
D: Was? Nein, das musst du nicht. Die Formulare gibt es bestimmt online, ich drucke sie dir aus.
D: What? No, you don't need to. The forms are probably available online, I'll print them for you.
CULTURAL INSIGHTS
Judith: So, Chuck you’ve gone through the whole experience of coming to Germany, finding a job, finding everything you need. What tips can you give people? What kind of order should they do things in if they want to stay in Germany permanently or let’s say more than a few months.
Chuck: So I’d say first find a company willing to employ you for at least 20 hours a week. University is best because at university you could get a visa within 24 hours, but a regular company would take one to three months because they like for universities to have diversities in there, they don’t want foreigners taking jobs from regular companies.
Judith: I guess people assume that if a university wants to hire somebody, then that somebody’s an expert in his field and can’t easily be replaced by one of Germany’s unemployed. The thing is you can come to Germany without having a job offer immediately. I mean if you’re American or from another developed country, then you have the right to come to Germany without having an open job offer and you can stay here for up to three months looking for somebody who’s ready to employ you.
Chuck: So once you have a job offer, you have to apply for a work visa which will allow you to stay in Germany as long as you’re employed for that company or the company that gave you the letter of intent. If you get another job, you’ll have to separately be approved again for another visa.
Judith: Yeah, because it’s all about not taking German’s work possibilities.
Chuck: Yeah.
Judith: Taking jobs away from the unemployed.
Chuck: But, however, there’s a law that says that if you work for the same company for two years without interruption, you can get a visa that’s independent of an employer. And with that you can even do freelance work.
Judith: Yeah, or you can change jobs all the much you like.
Chuck: Yes. So once you have a visa, you have to set up your German health insurance and then you just start working. So if you’re working for university, they’ll give you a checklist of everything that you have to do, like get into German health insurance, getting a [Lohnsteuerkarte], that’s like a tax… What do you call that?
Judith: It’s a paper where they record what taxes you owe for your income.
Chuck: And, of course, once you go through that you have to find an apartment because without a regular job or a visa it’s hard to tell someone that you want to rent their apartment if you’re not legally allowed to stay there.
Judith: And also if you don’t have money coming in. I mean unless you have somebody who’s vouching for your ability to pay the rent.
Chuck: So, probably in the meantime while you’re looking for an apartment, you’ll have to either stay at a hostel or with a friend.
Judith: Or maybe you can sublet an apartment or do a flat share.
Chuck: And then, of course, you have to inform the foreigner’s office of your new address. So let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
VOCAB LIST
Judith: First word, [Nachricht].
Chuck: “Message” or “news”.
Judith: [Nachricht, Nachricht] This is feminine and the plural is [Nachrichten]. Next, [Beantworten].
Chuck: To answer.
Judith: [Beantworten, beantworten] Next, [Gratulieren].
Chuck: To congratulate.
Judith: [Gratulieren, gratulieren]. Next, [Dringend].
Chuck: “Urgent” or “urgently”.
Judith: [Dringend, dringend] Next, [Erlaubnis].
Chuck: Permission.
Judith: [Erlaubnis, Erlaubnis, die Erlaubnis] this is feminine. Next, [Damit].
Chuck: “So that” or “with that”.
Judith: [Damit, damit] Next, [Ausländer].
Chuck: Foreigner.
Judith: [Ausländer, Ausländer] This word is masculine and the plural is the same. Next, [Amt].
Chuck: “Office”, “agency” or “bureau”.
Judith: [Amt, Amt] Next, [Traurig].
Chuck: Sad.
Judith: [Traurig, traurig] Next, [Unterlagen].
Chuck: Documents.
Judith: [Unterlagen, Unterlagen] This word is always plural. Next, [Absicht].
Chuck: Intention.
Judith: [Absicht, Absicht, die Absicht] and the plural is [Absichten]. Next, [Erklären].
Chuck: “To explain” or “to declare”.
Judith: [Erklären, erklären] Next, [Drucken].
Chuck: To print.
Judith: [Drucken, drucken]
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 [Anrufbeantworter].
Chuck: Answering machine.
Judith: So this consists of [Anruf].
Chuck: “Call”, we’ve had that before.
Judith: [Beantworter] is somebody who answers. It’s the noun form of the verb [Beantworten]. In a similar way, [Drucker] is the word for printer in German based on the word [Drucken]. There’s also a [Long noun] [Absichtserklärung].
Chuck: Letter of intent.
Judith: [Absicht] is “intention” and [Erklärung] is the noun based on [Erklären] so it’s a “declaration”.
Chuck: So to our grammar point.

Lesson focus

Chuck: German noun genders can be tricky and generally have to be learned in a [per word] basis. However, there are some regularities, especially when you get into the higher levels of the language with words borrowed from Latin or Greek.
Judith: Today we shall explore endings with are a surefire sign that the noun is feminine. First ending is [Heit] as in [Freiheit].
Chuck: Freedom.
Judith: And similarly [Keit] also indicates that a noun is feminine, as in [Die Einsamkeit].
Chuck: Loneliness.
Judith: Also words ending in [Ie] like [Die Demokratie].
Chuck: Democracy.
Judith: Or [Tät] like [Die Universität].
Chuck: University.
Judith: Also the ending [Ung] as in [Die Zeitung].
Chuck: Newspaper.
Judith: And [Schaft] like [Die Freundschaft].
Chuck: Friendship.
Judith: Additionally, words ending in [In] are feminine if they’re referring to people. For example, [Schülerin].
Chuck: Student.
Judith: Or [Architektin].
Chuck: Architect.
Judith: And, of course, words ending in [K] are typically feminine, with some exceptions. These are words like [Die Musik, die Mathematik, die Grafik].

Outro

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Judith: Bis dann!

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