Day 6 of 16

Day 6: Major Revisions, Says Reviewer Two

Over coffee in Göttingen, Torsten (A), a master carpenter, finds his son Linus (B), a physics doctoral student, brooding over the anonymous review of his first paper.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
  2. Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a German word to see what it means.
  3. Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native German, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.

Dialogue

Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.

Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning

  1. A

    Na, Herr Doktor in spe, du rührst seit zehn Minuten in einem Kaffee ohne Zucker. Was ist passiert?

    Well, Doctor-to-be, you've been stirring a coffee with no sugar in it for ten minutes. What's happened?

  2. B

    Ich hab meinen ersten Artikel zurückgeschickt bekommen, mit drei Seiten Gutachten. Gutachter zwei findet alles daran falsch, bis hin zu den Kommas.

    I've had my first paper sent back, with a three-page review. Reviewer Two thinks everything about it is wrong, right down to the commas.

  3. A

    Zeig mal: Er bemängelt, die Fehlerabschätzung in Abschnitt drei sei nicht nachvollziehbar. Und, hat er recht?

    Let's see: he complains that the error estimate in section three is impossible to follow. Well, is he right?

  4. B

    Also ich verstehe sie, Papa. Aber da arbeitet man zwei Jahre an etwas und bekommt dann zwanzig Einwände um die Ohren gehauen.

    Well, I understand it, Dad. But you work on something for two years and then get twenty objections thrown in your face.

  5. A

    Weißt du, was die Prüfer damals über mein Meisterstück gesagt haben? Schubladen klemmen, Gehrungen klaffen, Oberfläche fleckig.

    Do you know what the examiners said about my master craftsman's piece back then? Drawers stick, mitres gape, finish blotchy.

  6. B

    Und, wolltest du die Kommode nicht am liebsten gleich verfeuern?

    And didn't you just want to burn the chest of drawers on the spot?

  7. A

    Drei Tage lang schon. Bei Licht betrachtet, hatten die aber fast überall recht, und nachgebessert war das Ding das Beste, was ich je gebaut hatte.

    For three days, yes. But in the cold light of day they were right about nearly everything, and once I'd put it right, the thing was the best I'd ever built.

  8. B

    Schön und gut, aber sein Einwand zur Kalibrierung ist schlicht falsch. Soll ich das etwa auch noch schlucken?

    All very well, but his objection about the calibration is simply wrong. Am I supposed to swallow that too?

  9. A

    Nein, den widerlegst du, höflich und mit Belegen. Genau gelesen, steht hier nicht „abgelehnt“, sondern „größere Überarbeitung“: Die wollen deinen Artikel, Junge.

    No, that one you refute, politely and with evidence. Read properly, it doesn't say 'rejected' here, it says 'major revisions': they want your paper, son.

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