Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Chuck: Chuck here, upper and intermediate season 3 lesson 23. Exercising in Germany is a lot to think about.
Judith: Hi my name is Judith and I’m joined here by Chuck.
Chuck: Hey everyone, welcome back to germanpod101.
Judith: What are we learning today?
Chuck: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about the best, brightest and most awesome things in German.
Judith: This conversation takes place at a German office.
Chuck: The conversation is between Mr. Jones and Mrs. Bayer.
Judith: The speakers are colleagues, therefore they’ll be speaking formal German.
Chuck: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Jones: Sagen Sie, Frau Bayer, kennen Sie ein gutes Fitness-Studio?
Bayer: Ähm, aber Sie sind doch erkältet! Wenn man krank ist, sollte man besser keinen Sport treiben.
Jones: Ja, ich weiß. Aber wenn ich gesund bin, möchte ich wieder mehr Sport treiben. Da dachte ich, es ist am besten, wenn ich mich in einem Fitness-Studio anmelde.
Bayer: Ach so. Hmm, also ich bin in einem Fitness-Studio für Frauen. Da fühle ich mich am wohlsten. Aber ich habe gehört, dass das Fitness-Studio hier um die Ecke auch sehr gut sein soll.
Jones: Okay, das hört sich gut an. Wissen Sie, wie teuer die Mitgliedschaft dort ist?
Bayer: Hm, nein. Also ich zahle in meinem Fitness-Studio 30 Euro im Monat.
Jones: Oh, das ist ja nicht billig.
Bayer: Ja, das stimmt. Aber umsonst ist nur der Tod und der kostet das Leben.
Jones: Hä?
Bayer: Das heißt, alles hat seinen Preis.
Jones: Ach so.
Bayer: Mein Studio ist eines der teuersten Fitness-Studios hier in der Gegend, aber dafür gibt es ein Schwimmbad und eine Sauna. Und ich kann trainieren so oft ich will.
Jones: Hmm. Am besten ist wohl, ich frage einfach mal im Fitness-Studio nach.
Bayer: Ja, das ist eine gute Idee. Meistens kann man auch ein kostenloses Probetraining machen.
Jones: Na dann!
Jones: Tell me, Ms Bayer, do you know a good gym?
Bayer: Ehm, but you have a cold! When you're sick, you rather shouldn't do sports.
Jones: Yes, I know. But when I'm healthy I want to do more sports again. Then I thought it's best if I sign up at a gym.
Bayer: Ah. Hmm, well, I'm at a gym for women. I feel most comfortable there. But I heard that the gym around the corner here is also supposed to be very good.
Jones: Okay, that sounds good. Do you know how expensive membership is there?
Bayer: Hmm, no. I pay 30 euros a month at my gym.
Jones: Oh, that's not cheap.
Bayer: Yes, that's right. But only death is free, and that costs your life.
Jones: Wha?
Bayer: That means everything has its price.
Jones: Ah.
Bayer: My gym is one of the most expensive gyms in this area, but in exchange there is a swimming-pool and a sauna. And I can train as often as I want.
Jones: Hmm. I guess it would be best if I just ask at the gym.
Bayer: Yes, that's a good idea. Most of the time it's also possible to do a free trial training.
Jones: Well then!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Judith: Okay let’s talk about being fit in Germany.
Chuck: Sounds great. Germans are very health conscious these days. There is an increase in the amount of healthy products or should I say healthier products available in the supermarkets and seems like a new gym’s opening every week.
Judith: Yes. Well, they can use it I mean because of the high beer consumption and the heavy cuisine with a lot of bacon, there are actually…
Chuck: That’s the best part.
Judith: Yes but the thing is that they are actually statistically more overweight people in Germany than in other European countries.
Chuck: Are you trying to hint at something?
Judith: No, no not at all. Also most people are just mildly overweight. There are almost no really obese people.
Chuck: That’s true, still the German government’s supporting various programs in order to promote a healthier lifestyle. One of the programs that’s very popular right now is the [Gesund abnehmen] or lose weight in a healthy way program which already has half a million participants.
Judith: It’s a free online diet change program offered by the [Apothekenumschau] this is the name of the free magazine that you can pick up at any German pharmacy. If you want you can try out this program yourself, it’s quite effective.
Chuck: Are you paid to advertise in our show?
Judith: It’s all free and non-commercial, they don’t try to sell you any product, they don’t have you taking special pills or drinks or whatever, and it’s just regular food.
Chuck: That sounds cool.
Judith: Yes and it’s all in German so you’d have to practice your German while going through the site.
Chuck: No! An English version?
Judith: No, no!So I think on the whole it’s a big plus on all accounts.
Chuck: Where is it?
Judith: You have to sign up online. The address is http://gesund-abnehmen.apotheken/umschau.de and for those of you who are not so comfortable about writing this down in German, I will also put it in the pdf and the comments.
Chuck: Or maybe they are driving.
Judith: Yes.
Chuck: You don’t want people to take out their notebooks really quick to write this down when they are driving. Please don’t do that if you are driving.
Judith: Just look in the pdf or in the comments.
Chuck: So let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word is;
VOCAB LIST
Judith: [erkältet].
Chuck: Having a cold.
Judith: [erkältet]
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [treiben]
Chuck: To impel, chase, drive or do.
Judith: [treiben] and the forms are [Er treibt, Er trieb, Er hat getrieben]
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [anmelden]
Chuck: To register or sign up.
Judith: [anmelden] and the [an] splits off.
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [sich wohl fühlen]
Chuck: To be well, feel good or be comfortable.
Judith: [sich wohl fühlen]
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [Mitgliedschaft]
Chuck: Membership.
Judith: [Mitgliedschaft, die] and the plural is [Mitgliedschaften]
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [umsonst]
Chuck: Free of charge or in vain.
Judith: [umsonst]
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [Tod]
Chuck: Death.
Judith: [Tod, der] and the plural is [Tode]
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [Leben]
Chuck: Life.
Judith: [Leben, das] and the plural is the same.
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [Gegend]
Chuck: Area.
Judith: [Gegend, die] and the plural is [Gegenden]
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [Schwimmbad]
Chuck: Swimming pool.
Judith: [Schwimmbad, das] and the plural is [Schwimmbäder]
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [Sauna]
Chuck: Sauna.
Judith: [Sauna, die] and the plural is [Saunen]
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [trainieren]
Chuck: To train.
Judith: [trainieren]
Chuck: Next.
Judith: [Probe]
Chuck: Trial or rehearsal.
Judith: [Probe, die] and the plural is [Proben]
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 is [Fitnessstudio]
Chuck: It’s what you call a gym in Germany.
Judith: Yes but only if it’s the kind of gym that anyone can go to in order to use the machines. If you are thinking of a gym that would be used by schools or clubs, those are called [Turnhalle] okay another phrase we should talk about is [Sport treiben]
Chuck: Literally to drive sports.
Judith: Yes to do sports.
Chuck: Is driving like the word used for driving a tractor or what is that?
Judith: No driving like to drive to expel to, drive cattle.
Chuck: Okay.
Judith: Another expression. [Alles hat seinen Preis].
Chuck: Everything has it’s price.
Judith: Yes it’s kind of like you get what you pay for. And finally [eines der teuersten].
Chuck: What are the most expensive?
Judith: Another common phrase you should be aware of is [einer der besten]

Lesson focus

Chuck: One of the best. The focus of this lesson is the superlative.
Judith: In the last lesson we already covered how to compare things and say that one is better. That grammatical form is called the comparative.
Chuck: However, if you want to say something is the very best out of a large group, you need the superlative. Superlative is the most augmented form of an adjective, for example superlatives in English are strongest, hardest or most beautiful.
Judith: In German, the superlative is formed in much the same way by adding “st” or “est” to the adjective and then the adjective ending. For example [stärkste] or [härteste].
Chuck: In contrast to English, it’s not possible to use the word most to form the superlative. SO most wonderful would be [wunderbarste] use [am] to take the place of “the” in this form. [Am wunderbarsten] is the most wonderful. What are some more forms?
Judith: Well, for [schlimm] you get [am schlimmsten].
Chuck: The direst or the most dire.
Judith: [stark, am stärksten]
Chuck: The strongest.
Judith: [wirksam, am wirksamsten]
Chuck: The most effective or most strongly.
Judith: [süß, am süßesten]
Chuck: Oh the sweetest.
Judith: [wenig, am wenigstens]
Chuck: the least.
Judith: And again there are a few irregular forms, most importantly [gut] changes to [am besten]
Chuck: The best.
Judith: And [viel] changes to [meisten]
Chuck: The most.
Judith: And now let’s look at the usage in a sentence for example I could say [Diese Schokolade ist am süßesten]
Chuck: This chocolate is the sweetest.
Judith: But to use this as an adjective as an attribute I have to say [Die süßeste Schokolade ist die von Ritter Sport].

Outro

Chuck: The sweetest chocolate is the one by ritter sport. Still getting sports in there. That just about does it for today.
Judith: Ready to test what you just learned?
Chuck: Make this lesson’s vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flash cards.
Judith: There is a reason everyone uses flashcards.
Chuck: They work.
Judith: They really do help memorization.
Chuck: You can get flashcards for this lesson at;
Judith: germanpod101.com.
Chuck: Okay, now go for a workout. See you next week.
Judith: [Also bis nächste Woche].

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