Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Chuck: This is Newbie Series Lesson 19.
Judith: [Willkommen zurück].
Chuck: Welcome back, listeners.
Judith: I'm glad you’re with us because today is a very important lesson.
Chuck: How so?
Judith: Today Lena is leaving the café, so we’re going to do a big review of all the phrases you can use when at a German restaurant or café.
Chuck: Cool. I'm sure some of them will be useful at a pub too.
Judith: Of course. Plus, we’ll be finishing up with the numbers.
Chuck: Alright, let’s listen to the dialogue.
DIALOGUE
Lena Wagner: Bleibst du noch?
Michael Schmidt: Nein, ich werde jetzt auch gehen.
Lena Wagner: Die Rechnung, bitte.
Staff: Zahlen Sie zusammen oder getrennt?
Lena Wagner: Getrennt.
Staff: Was hatten Sie?
Lena Wagner: Ich hatte die Apfelschorle.
Staff: Das macht 2,50 Euro.
Lena Wagner: Hier, stimmt so.
Michael Schmidt: Ich hatte einen Cocktail Hawaii.
Staff: Macht 4 Euro und 99 Cent.
Michael Schmidt: Macht 6 Euro.
Staff: Danke. Einen schönen Tag noch.
Lena Wagner: Danke. Wir sehen uns dann am Mittwoch beim Picknick.
Michael Schmidt: Okay, bis Mittwoch.
Lena Wagner: Ciao.
Judith: Now read slowly.
Lena Wagner: Bleibst du noch?
Michael Schmidt: Nein, ich werde jetzt auch gehen.
Lena Wagner: Die Rechnung, bitte.
Staff: Zahlen Sie zusammen oder getrennt?
Lena Wagner: Getrennt.
Staff: Was hatten Sie?
Lena Wagner: Ich hatte die Apfelschorle.
Staff: Das macht 2,50 Euro.
Lena Wagner: Hier, stimmt so.
Michael Schmidt: Ich hatte einen Cocktail Hawaii.
Staff: Macht 4 Euro und 99 Cent.
Michael Schmidt: Macht 6 Euro.
Staff: Danke. Einen schönen Tag noch.
Lena Wagner: Danke. Wir sehen uns dann am Mittwoch beim Picknick.
Michael Schmidt: Okay, bis Mittwoch.
Lena Wagner: Ciao.
Judith: Now with the translation.
Judith: Bleibst du noch?
Chuck: Are you still staying?
Judith: Nein, ich werde jetzt auch gehen.
Chuck: No I am also going now.
Judith: Die Rechnung, bitte.
Chuck: The check please.
Judith: Zahlen Sie zusammen oder getrennt?
Chuck: Are you paying together or separately?
Judith: Getrennt.
Chuck: Separately.
Judith: Was hatten Sie?
Chuck: What did you have?
Judith: Ich hatte die Apfelschorle.
Chuck: I had the Apple Spritzer.
Judith: Das macht 2,50 Euro.
Chuck: That’s €2.50.
Judith: Hier, stimmt so.
Chuck: Here, keep the change.
Judith: Ich hatte einen Cocktail Hawaii.
Chuck: I had a cocktail Hawaii.
Judith: Macht 4 Euro und 99 Cent.
Chuck: That’s 4 euros and 99 cents.
Judith: Macht 6 Euro.
Chuck: Make it 6.
Judith: Danke, einen schönen Tag noch.
Chuck: Thanks have a nice day.
Judith: Danke. Wir sehen uns dann am Mittwoch beim Picknick.
Chuck: Thanks. We will see each other then on Wednesday at the picnic.
Judith: Okay, bis Mittwoch.
Chuck: Okay till Wednesday.
Judith: Ciao.
Chuck: Bye.
VOCAB LIST
Judith: This is another lesson with some very useful vocabulary. Let’s go through it one by one. The first word is Rechnung.
Chuck: Bill.
Judith: Rechnung.
Chuck: [Bill]
Judith: This word is feminine [Die Rechnung]. Next word, zahlen.
Chuck: To pay.
Judith: zahlen.
Chuck: To pay.
Judith: Next, dreißig.
Chuck: 30.
Judith: dreißig.
Chuck: 30.
Judith: Next, vierzig.
Chuck: 40.
Judith: vierzig.
Chuck: 40.
Judith: Next, fünfzig.
Chuck: 50.
Judith: fünfzig.
Chuck: 50.
Judith: Next, sechzig.
Chuck: 60.
Judith: sechzig.
Chuck: 60.
Judith: Next, siebzig.
Chuck: 70.
Judith: siebzig.
Chuck: 70.
Judith: Next, achtzig.
Chuck: 80.
Judith: achtzig.
Chuck: 80.
Judith: Next, neunzig.
Chuck: 90.
Judith: neunzig.
Chuck: 90. Wouldn’t this be easier to explain if we just, like, told them it’s the number with [Zig] at the end?
Judith: Well, there’s a couple of shortenings like [Sechzig] is not [Sechszig] and [Siebzig] is not [Siebenzig].
Chuck: Ah, that’s true.
Judith: But the rest is very regular.
Chuck: Ok.
Judith: Just like in English.
Chuck: Alright. Sorry to interrupt the vocabulary.
Judith: Ok, where were we? I think we just said [Neunzig].
Chuck: Yeah, 90.
Judith: And now for something different, hundert.
Chuck: I bet no one can guess this - 100.
Judith: hundert.
Chuck: 100.
Judith: Next, tausend.
Chuck: Another toughie, 1,000.
Judith: tausend.
Chuck: 1,000.
Judith: And now for something completely different - zusammen.
Chuck: Together.
Judith: zusammen. zusammen.
Chuck: Together.
Judith: And the last one for today, getrennt.
Chuck: Separately.
Judith: getrennt.
Chuck: “Separately”. So I believe the waitress asked at one point [Zusammen oder getrennt]. So that would mean “together or separately”, right?
CULTURAL INSIGHTS
Judith: Yes, she’s asking whether you will go Dutch or not. You know that it’s the norm in Germany that everybody will pay for himself.
Chuck: Yeah, in fact that term actually comes from the fact that the Dutch typically pay that way as well.
Judith: Oh really? Well, the Germans do.
Chuck: Ok. So let’s go through all the phrases you may need when eating out. Note you can also review these phrases in this lesson’s PDF.
Judith: In fact, I highly suggest looking at them again before leaving for your trip to Germany or a German-speaking country. So the first phrase is useful if you’re with a friend. You could ask them [Wo möchtest du sitzen? Wo möchtest du sitzen?].
Chuck: Where would you like to sit?
Judith: Of course you have to know that outdoor seating is very popular if it’s warm enough in Germany. A lot of cafés will put their chairs and tables outside, and then it might be very crowded. So if you’re alone, or even if you’re with a friend, you might have to sit down at somebody else’s table. In that case, it’s probably best to ask [Ist hier noch frei?].
Chuck: Is this free?
Judith: [Ist hier noch frei?]
Chuck: Literally, “Is here still free?” Note that this phrase is also very important on, say, trains and busses.
Judith: Definitely.
Chuck: Or the theatre, or anywhere you might want to end up sitting.
Judith: Well, in the theatre you usually have reservations.
Chuck: Ah, that’s true. Yes, this is Germany. Even in the movie theaters they reserve the seats to keep order.
Judith: It’s better than fighting.
Chuck: Fighting’s more fun because then you can spill your drink on someone else.
Judith: [Are you in the habit] of doing that?
Chuck: Only when someone takes my reserved seat.
Judith: You’re so German. Ok, assuming you’re seated… Can you think of a phrase that we should teach?
Chuck: Well, the first phrase we always ask is “What would you like to drink?”
Judith: Yes, very important phrase. That would be [Was möchten Sie trinken?, Was möchten Sie trinken?].
Chuck: What would you like to drink?
Judith: And then maybe if you’re not sure what you would like to drink, if you haven’t had the chance to look at the menu yet, you may ask them - [Haben Sie] something?
Chuck: Yeah. Like you might want to drink Orangina perhaps, and that’s not available at every restaurant, so you might say [Haben Sie Orangina?].
Judith: Yeah, for example. And I can already tell you that the restaurants and cafés are unlikely to have American sodas like Dr. Pepper or [Mello Yello] or whatever or American-style lemonade. If you ask for lemonade, you’ll get something like [Sunkist].
Chuck: You’re more likely to get Sprite I found.
Judith: Maybe.
Chuck: Anyway, you won’t get lemonade if you ask for [Limonade].
Judith: Yeah. And also non-sparkling water is hard to get.
Chuck: Yeah, if you want something without carbonation, you better go for juice.
Judith: Yeah, but don’t make it a spritzer. [Apfelschorle] is juice with carbonation because they add the sparkling water.
Chuck: Yeah, because Germans love their carbonation.
Judith: Ok. So maybe you want to see the menu first to see what would be the best alternative for you. So then you would ask [Ich möchte bitte die Karte sehen].
Chuck: I would like to see the menu.
Judith: [Ich möchte bitte die Karte sehen].
Chuck: “I would like to see the menu, please.” And also note this could be [Speisekarte].
Judith: Yeah, or [Weinkarte].[Speisekarte] is for meals and [Weinkarte] is for wines.
Chuck: Also note that all the prices include the 19 percent sales taxes in Germany.
Judith: Yeah, I guess you’re happy not to be surprised by the surcharge.
Chuck: Yeah, I was quite surprised the other day ordering something from the states and ordering from the German store only to find out that that price in dollars doesn’t include the sales tax in Germany.
Judith: Well, I think they should make it a law so it always has to be shown in American too. You know that’s a law here, you can’t have prices without sales tax.
Chuck: Yeah. I think it’s done here just so that people don’t realize they’re paying the extra 19 percent sales tax. At least it’s not as bad as…
Judith: It’s not always 19 percent. For food items it’s only 7, I believe, right now.
Chuck: Yeah, but at least it’s not as bad as Denmark, which is 25 percent.
Judith: Yeah.
Judith: So when you’re done looking at the menu, you should fold it up and put it back on your table so that the waitress knows to come by and ask you [Wissen Sie schon was Sie wollen?].
Chuck: Do you already know what you want?
Judith: This includes two words that you haven’t seen before. [Wissen] is the verb “to know” and [Wollen] is “to want”. [Wissen Sie schon was Sie wollen?]
Chuck: “Do you already know what you want?” Yeah, you should really know about this because I see some Americans, they come over and they keep holding the menu and because they just keep looking at it, just expecting the waitress to come, and then they’re like, “ Ugh, they never come over! The service is so bad here!” But really they’re just waiting till you close the menu. And I’ve even noticed at some, like, really nice Italian restaurants, the instant you close the menu they walk right up to you and they’re actually watching you.
Judith: Yes, that’s the idea, that the waitresses and waiters don’t disturb you during your meal either or during your selection and they don’t try to hurry you along by asking if you’ve already chosen, if you’re still looking at the menu.
Chuck: Yes.
Judith: It would feel uncomfortable to me at least.
Chuck: Just different cultures.
Judith: Ok, so then you might order and you’d say something like [Ich hätte gern].
Chuck: I would like.
Judith: We covered this in a previous lesson.
Chuck: You might say [Ich möchte].
Judith: Yeah, that works, but [Ich hätte gern] is very common if you want to order something. It’s a special phrase.
Chuck: Yeah, [Ich möchte] has less syllables. It’s easier to learn.
Judith: Ok, it works. Either one works. And they will probably respond [Kommt sofort] or something like that. [Kommt sofort]
Chuck: “Coming right away.” And also note that during the meal, they typically won’t come around to ask you if things are going well, like they will in American restaurants.
Judith: It depends on the restaurant, of course, but that would also be seen as an intrusion. A lot of Germans use this time of having a meal in a restaurant to talk about family or business things.
Chuck: Yeah, so note that if you want the waiter or waitress you may have to like look over and specifically get their attention, but I wouldn’t say anything like [Ober].
Judith: That sounds very old.
Chuck: Some German books still teach you to say [Ober] if you want the waiter, that’s why I'm mentioning that.
Judith: Just looking at them should be enough.
Chuck: Yeah.
Judith: Ok, after the meal, the most important phrase for you to know is [Die Rechnung bitte].
Chuck: The bill, please.
Judith: [Die Rechnung bitte]
Chuck: The bill, please.
Judith: Or you could also say something like [Wir möchten bitte zahlen].
Chuck: We would like to pay, please.
Judith: And then you’re typically asked [Zusammen oder getrennt?]. Or the long form, [Zahlen Sie zusammen oder getrennt?].
Chuck: Together or separately?
Judith: Yeah, how you’re going to pay. And usually Germans would pay separately, but in some places, like Asian places, they may not give you a separate bill for each person so you have to sort out the finances between your group and then pay the waiter.
Chuck: Yeah, I think about the only times I would ever have a chance in Germany to see that someone’s paying for me is when someone specifically invites me to a meal or if, say, a company invites you over, then you might end up having that too, where they end up paying for you. But most of the time just assume that it will be separate.
Judith: Yeah, even when you’re with a company it may still be separate.
Chuck: Quite likely, yeah.
Judith: Once you know who’s going to pay, the waiter is going to give you the amount and that would usually involve the phrase, [Macht], some amount of [Euro und Cent].
Chuck: That’s so many euros and so many cents.
Judith: Yes, for example [Macht fünf Euro und fünfzig Cent].
Chuck: That’s 5 euros and 50 cents.
Judith: Note that in German there is no connotation with the currencies. Like in English you would say euros and cents, but in German they’re not changeable, so you say [Fünf Euro fünfzig Cent]. Of course, then you’re expected to give a small tip so service is usually included in the bill but you tip a bit anyway.
Chuck: Yes, if the bill is 5,50 you would usually pay 6.
Judith: Yeah, for example. So if you want to pay 6 euros, you could for example give exactly 6 euros and then say [Stimmt so].
Chuck: Keep the change.
Judith: Literally it means “it’s right this way”. Or, for example if you don’t have 6 euros and change, you could give, say, a 10 euro bill and say [Macht sechs Euro].
Chuck: Make it 6.
Judith: And then the waiter will give you the rest.
Chuck: Notice when you leave tips you never leave your tip on the table, you give it directly to the waiter or waitress.
Judith: Yes, very important.
Chuck: Other than of course collect it afterwards if you do leave it on the table, it’s not a good idea. Be very careful also if you, say, after leaving Germany you go to the Czech Republic or a Slavic country cause you leave a tip on the table there, then someone will just come and take it off, from the table.
Judith: Well, that’s the subject of new podcast RussianPod101. It’s not technically ours but it’s the same company and the same format, and if you’re interested in learning Russian you should definitely check it out.
Chuck: Yeah, then you could learn how to tip in Russia. It’s always something that’s confusing is learning how to tip in each different country.
Judith: I think there’s one more phrase that you may need in a restaurant, or I hope you never will, and that is [Das ist eine Fliege in meiner Suppe].
Chuck: There’s a fly in my soup.
Judith: This is also the beginning of a lot of jokes. I’ll say the phrase slowly. Da ist eine Fliege in meiner Suppe.
Chuck: “There is a fly in my soup.” Or maybe [Da sind dreißig Fliegen in meiner Suppe].
Judith: There are 30 flies in my soup.
Chuck: Well, you never know.
Judith: That might be bad. Are you supposed to count them?
Chuck: I guess you could be like [Da sind dreiunddreißig Fliegen in meiner Suppe].
Judith: Ok. Speaking of higher numbers, let’s learn enough numbers to last you a lifetime. So far we’ve used the numbers up to 29, however, this lesson’s vocabulary section already taught you the words for 30, 50, 60 and so on, so counting up to 99 should not be a problem. They all work the same way. So you just keep in mind that people literally say 4 and 20 rather than 24 and you’re fine. It’s kind of like old English.
Chuck: Yeah, just be careful with phone numbers.
Judith: Ok. Let’s have some examples, just to practice.
Chuck: Ok. One to be careful that you know backwards and forwards, let’s do vierundvierzig.
Judith: Hey, I do the exercises here.
Chuck: Alright. You think you can do it better than me?
Judith: Yes.
Chuck: Alright.
Judith: Vierundvierzig.
Chuck: 44.
Judith: Give them some time to think in between. They can come up with a number before you tell them.
Chuck: Alright, now think, [Vierundvierzig].
Judith: You already told them. Next one. Next one, Siebenundachtzig.
Chuck: La la la… How much time should I give them?
Judith: Tell them?
Chuck: 87.
Judith: Zweiunddreißig.
Chuck: 2 and 30. Oh wait, 32.
Judith: Fünfundsechzig.
Chuck: 65.
Judith: Neunundneunzig.
Chuck: 99. So I guess they can… well, they can almost say, “Let’s party like it 1999”.
Judith: Yeah, except you need one more word for that because in German we would say 999 in German, Neunzehnhundertneunundneunzig.
Chuck: Oh, ok.
Judith: So that’s an important word to learn, hundert.
Chuck: Hundred.
Judith: We already had it in the vocabulary and of course, tausend.
Chuck: 1000.
Judith: So you can say zweitausendacht.
Chuck: 2008.
Judith: When working with these, just put the amount of thousands or hundreds right in front. For example, eintausendzweihundertunddrei.
Chuck: 1203.
Judith: This way, you can describe a lot of numbers. For example, fünftausendvierhundertsechsunddreißig.
Chuck: 5436. Or should we say 5000, 400, 6 and 30.
Judith: Yeah, that inversion always stays. Now just one more quick thing, in addition to numbers this lesson featured the past tense forms of haben.
Chuck: To have.
Judith: I’ll just go through them quickly because they’re really easy. Ich hatte.
Chuck: I had.
Judith: Du hattest.
Chuck: You had.
Judith: Er hatte.
Chuck: He had.
Judith: Wir hatten.
Chuck: We had.
Judith: Sie hatten.
Chuck: You had (formal).
Judith: Apart from the irregular stem, hat instead of haben, the endings are very regular. I think in the dialogue we heard one example of this, Lena was saying Ich hatte die Apfelschorle.
Chuck: I had the apple spritzer.
Judith: Let’s listen to the whole dialogue again.
Lena Wagner: Bleibst du noch?
Michael Schmidt: Nein, ich werde jetzt auch gehen.
Lena Wagner: Die Rechnung, bitte.
Staff: Zahlen Sie zusammen oder getrennt?
Lena Wagner: Getrennt.
Staff: Was hatten Sie?
Lena Wagner: Ich hatte die Apfelschorle.
Staff: Das macht 2,50 Euro.
Lena Wagner: Hier, stimmt so.
Michael Schmidt: Ich hatte einen Cocktail Hawaii.
Staff: Macht 4 Euro und 99 Cent.
Michael Schmidt: Macht 6 Euro.
Staff: Danke. Einen schönen Tag noch.
Lena Wagner: Danke. Wir sehen uns dann am Mittwoch beim Picknick.
Michael Schmidt: Okay, bis Mittwoch.
Lena Wagner: Ciao.

Outro

Chuck: So now I can already say [Bis nächsten Dienstag]. Till next Tuesday, because next Tuesday is the next Newbie lesson.
Judith: But I would like to say [Bis morgen] because tomorrow we’re releasing another intermediate lesson and you are now at a level where it can’t hurt to hear some intermediate German already.
Chuck: Yeah, it’s actually much easier because the intermediate German is even in just a song.
Judith: Yes, it’s fun. The Beginner Series on Thursday’s should be interesting too because it explains grammar in a lot more depth.
Chuck: It’s interesting too, don’t let grammar pull you off a bit. Alright, so I guess we’ll say [See you soon].
Judith: [Bis bald].

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