Dialogue

Vocabulary

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M: Hello and welcome to German Survival Phrases brought to you by germanpod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Germany. You will be surprised at how far a little German will go. Now before we jump in, remember to stop by germanpod101.com and there you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.
F: German Survival Phrases. Lesson 21, Traveling by Bus in Germany. Once on the bus, you will hear announcements informing the passengers of where the bus will stop next. Now in the case that there is no English announcement, you may not catch the location just announced. So the phrase what is the next stop maybe indispensable. In German, what is the next stop is [Wie heißt die nächste Haltestelle] Let’s break it down by syllable. [Wie heißt die nächste Haltestelle] Now let’s hear it once again [Wie heißt die nächste Haltestelle] The first word [Wie] means how. Let’s hear this word slowly one more time [Wie] This is followed by [heißt] which in English is, is called [heißt]. So to recap here, we have [Wie heißt] literally this means, how is called. This is followed by die which is the article for feminine noun [die]. This is followed by [nächste] which means coming up or simply next. [nächste] And finally we have made it to the noun itself [Haltestelle] which means stop or bus stop. Let’s hear it again [Haltestelle] and now broken down by syllable [Haltestelle] So altogether we have [Wie heißt die nächste Haltestelle] literally this means how is called the next stop. Another way of enquiring could be asking if your desired destination is the next stop. For this phrase, we will use Alexanderplatz as the destination. So the phrase is Alexanderplatz the next stop is [Ist Alexanderplatz die nächste Haltestelle] Let’s break it down by syllable [Ist Alexanderplatz die nächste Haltestelle] Now let’s hear it once again [Ist Alexanderplatz die nächste Haltestelle] The first word [Ist] means is. Let’s hear this word slowly one more time [Ist] This is followed by Alexanderplatz or whatever station you want to go to. Alexanderplatz is one of the most famous squares in Berlin. The platz in it means square. So this is literally Alexander Square. Let’s break it down by syllable and hear it one more time [Alexanderplatz] This is followed by the phrase [die nächste Haltestelle] which you should already recognize from the previous question we learned. [Die nächste Haltestelle] means the next stop. Let’s break it down again. die is the article for feminine nouns [die] die. [nächste] in English means next [die nächste] means the next. Finally we have [Haltestelle] stop. This is a long word. So let’s break it down by syllable and hear it one more time. [Haltestelle] Altogether we have [Ist Alexanderplatz die nächste Haltestelle] Literally this means is Alexander Square the next stop? Please do not forget to raise your voice at the end of the sentence because it shows that your sentence is a question. If you do not know the name of a stop but only know a landmark, you will have to phrase your question slightly differently. For example, if you are looking for the zoo, you would ask [Ist die nächste Haltestelle am Zoo] The only thing that’s new in this question is that [am Zoo] which in English is at the zoo. [am] literally means at the and [Zoo] is the German pronunciation of the word zoo. So [Ist die nächste Haltestelle am Zoo] you are literally asking, is the next stop at the zoo or when looking for museum, you would ask [Ist die nächste Haltestelle am Museum, im] again means at the and [Museum] is the German way of pronouncing museum. Let’s hear it again [Museum] Easy, isn’t it and this question is really useful when you are taking a bus and you forgot what the right bus stop was called. Even as a native, I sometimes wonder where to get off the bus when I am not that often in a certain area. Modern buses often have a digital display at the front of the bus so that the passengers can read the name of the next stop or the name of the bus’s final destination. This is really useful but some buses don’t have them. Almost all buses have little red buttons though that show with the light bulb or maybe the words [Wagen hält] or Stop. When you are nearing your destination, look for one of these buttons and push it because otherwise the bus may not stop at your destination. Buses only stop at the sign stops and only if one of the passengers has pushed the button. If there are several people waiting to get on the bus or if it’s the final stop where everybody has to get off. So it pays to find out not just what your stop is, but what the stop before yours is. Once the bus has gone beyond the stop that comes before yours, push the red button to ensure that it will stop at your stop. Typically the driver will then push a button to open the doors for you. If however the bus stopped and you find yourself standing at the doors without them opening, you will need to push the button yourself to open the doors. That button is located either on the doors or in a small white box near where you are waiting. Push it and the automatic doors will open.
M: Okay to close our today’s lesson, we’d like you to practice what you’ve just learned. I provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So [Viel Glück] which means good luck in German.
F: What is the next stop [Wie heißt die nächste Haltestelle] is Alexanderplatz the next stop [Ist Alexanderplatz die nächste Haltestelle]
M: That’s going to do it for today.

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