Day 111: Moin at Any Time of Day
On a video call, Lilly (A), who has just started an apprenticeship at a boatyard in Flensburg, talks to her older sister Kristin (B), who studied in Kiel and now lives in Munich.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- 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.
- 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
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A
Kristin, hier sagen alle sogar abends um acht noch „Moin“. Ist das normal?
Kristin, everyone here says 'Moin' even at eight in the evening. Is that normal?
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B
Völlig normal. „Moin“ hat mit „Morgen“ nichts zu tun, das geht rund um die Uhr.
Perfectly normal. 'Moin' has nothing to do with 'Morgen', 'morning'; you can say it round the clock.
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A
Und in der Werft reden die Älteren Platt, und zwar so schnell, dass ich nur noch nicke.
And at the boatyard the older ones speak Low German, and so fast that I just nod along.
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B
Vorsicht mit dem Nicken. In Kiel hab ich so mal aus Versehen versprochen, beim Umzug zu helfen.
Careful with the nodding. That's how I once promised by mistake to help someone move house in Kiel.
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A
Sehr witzig. Und warum grinsen alle, wenn ich „Moin moin“ sage?
Very funny. And why does everyone grin when I say 'Moin moin'?
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B
Weil das für die schon Gequatsche ist. Ein „Moin“ reicht, und dann lange nichts.
Because to them that's already chatter. One 'Moin' is enough, and then nothing for a good while.
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A
Na gut, ab morgen nur noch „Moin“ und nicken. Bald hält mich jeder für eine echte Flensburgerin.
Fine, from tomorrow it's just 'Moin' and nodding. Soon everyone will take me for a real Flensburg local.
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