英文讲解初级德语-Don't be left out in conversations!

Formal German

#1 Wie geht es Ihnen, Herr Schmidt?

#2 Gut, danke, und Ihnen?

#1 Auch gut. Was macht die Arbeit?

#2 Viel Stress, aber es macht Spaß.

#1 Müssen Sie lange arbeiten?

#2 Ja, oft auch am Samstag. Und was macht die Uni?

#1 Ich muss viel lernen.

English

#1 How are you, Mr Schmidt?

#2 Good, thanks, and you?

#1 [I’m] good, too. How is work? [literally

#2 A lot of stress, but it’s fun. [literally

#1 Do you have to work long?

#2 Yes, also often on Saturday[s]. And how is university? [literally

#1 I have to learn a lot.

Informal German

#1 Wie geht es dir, Michael?

#2 Gut, danke, und dir?

#1 Auch gut. Was macht die Arbeit?

#2 Viel Stress, aber es macht Spaß.

#1 Musst du lange arbeiten?

#2 Ja, oft auch am Samstag. Und was macht die Uni?

#1 Ich muss viel lernen.

Informal English

#1 How are you, Michael?

#2 Good, thanks, and you?

#1 [I’m] good, too. How is work? [literally 

#2 A lot of stress, but it’s fun. [literally

#1 Do you have to work long?

#2 Yes, also often on Saturday[s]. And how is university? [literally

#1 I have to learn a lot.

 

Vocabulary Sample Sentences

Das ist eine sehr angenehme Arbeit. That is a very pleasant/nice [type of] work.

Die Autos machen viel Lärm. The cars are making a lot of noise.

Viele Studenten sind arm. Many students are poor.

Ich habe viel Stress auf der Arbeit. I have a lot of stress at work.

Es gibt viele Cafés hier. There are many cafés here.

Es ist schön, dass Sie da sind. It’s nice that you’re there.

Es ist früh am Morgen. It is early in the morning.

Es ist ein sonniger Morgen. It's a sunny morning.

Es macht Spaß! It's fun!

Die Technische Universität Berlin bietet viele

interessante Kurse an.

Berlin Technical University offers a lot of

interesting courses.

Ich muss viel für die Uni lernen. I have to study a lot for university.

Ich muss den Film nicht unbedingt sehen. I don't absolutely have to watch that movie.

Musst du wieder Gitarre spielen? Do you have to play the guitar again?

Ich muss viel für die Uni lernen. I have to study a lot for university.

Ich muss heute noch zur Uni. I still have to go to university today.

Musstest du lange warten? Did you have to wait a long time?

Ich möchte auch Deutsch lernen. I also want to learn German.

Ich muss viel für die Uni lernen. I have to study a lot for university.

 

　　Grammar Points

In this lesson, you have encountered a new modal verb: müssen (must; have to do). Its forms are:

　　ich muss - I mustdu musst - you must (informally)er muss - he mustSie müssen - you must (formally)You will find this really convenient and easy to use, as it works just like m?chte.

　　Some examples:

　　Ich muss arbeiten - I must workEr muss heute Abend lernen - He has to work this eveningSie müssen auf der linken Seite gehen - You must go on the left sideDu musst mit mir morgen ins Café gehen - You have to go to the café with me tomorrow

 

Cultural Insight

       Universities in GermanyNot everybody in Germany may go to a university, only those who completed 13 years of schooling.

　　The rest will only do 10 years of schooling and go on to trade schools. Of course there are also thosewho do 13 years and don’t go on to universities, because completing more years of high school givesyou access to better career opportunities.

　　After 13 years you do baccalaureate examinations, which are called “Abitur” in Germany. The Abiturallows you to enter any university and study anything, with no further entrance exams – however, ifthere are too many students applying for the same program, it’s mostly the grade point average thatdecides who gets to enter the program this year.

　　Universities can assume that students have been prepared decently, so when you enter a university you immediately start with things related to your subject. Unlike in American universities, you don't haveto take a wide range of topics. There may be some preparatory courses however, such as “BusinessEnglish” or “Statistics for social science students”, and the courses of first two years of courses willstill be quite wide-spread in subject matter. Not to the point that you would have to take generalhistory classes if you're studying to become a programmer, but yes you might have to take classes onearly hardware design before you can focus entirely on programming classes. This is why theHauptstudium (after two years) is typically more interesting than what came before.

　　A lot of university courses will be academic-oriented – if you want a practical study, a Fachhochschulemight be a better choice. Right now this is gradually changing however: universities cancel oldprograms in favor of the new Bachelor/Master studies, which focus more on speedy learning ofanything you will need for a job. These new programs also mean that there are actual universityclasses studying according to the same timetable and graduating together; under the old systemeverybody was free to attend whatever lectures he chose for the semester and there were no realclasses.

　　Being free to select their schedule for the semester, some students spent many years at university underthe old system. The typical German university graduate is 28 years old when applying for a job. Ofcourse you have to account for people typically starting to study later than in the USA, and also doingcompulsory military service in many cases. That doesn’t mean that a university graduate won’t havejob experience already. German universities have two breaks of almost 3 months each, during whichthere are no lectures and only examinations take place. It's great for partying and for going onvacation. A lot of students also use this time to work – either for professional experience or to havesome income. Fortunately tuition fees are still very low in Germany.