Day 143: Two Damaged Parcels, One Locker
At a parcel locker in Bochum, Oliver (A) has just taken out his new coffee machine when he notices Mats (B), a young man with a torn-open parcel.
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
Na, das fängt ja gut an: eine neue Kaffeemaschine mit gesprungenem Deckel. Hat es Sie auch erwischt?
Well, that's a great start: a new coffee machine with a cracked lid. Has it happened to you too?
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B
Und wie. Zwei zerbrochene Tassen in einem aufgerissenen Paket, obwohl groß „Zerbrechlich“ auf dem Karton steht.
Not half. Two broken mugs in a torn-open parcel, even though it says 'Fragile' on the box in big letters.
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A
Dann beschweren wir uns am besten gemeinsam beim Paketdienst. Zu zweit haben wir bessere Karten.
Then we'd better complain to the delivery company together. We'll stand a better chance, the two of us.
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B
Das bringt leider nichts. Als Privatkunde reklamieren Sie beim Händler, der trägt nämlich das Risiko beim Versand.
That won't get us anywhere, I'm afraid. As a private customer you complain to the seller: they carry the risk in transit, you see.
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A
Ach so? Dann geht die beschädigte Maschine eben zurück, obwohl ich mich so auf den ersten Kaffee gefreut hatte.
Oh, really? Then the damaged machine goes back, even though I'd been so looking forward to my first coffee.
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B
Machen Sie aber vorher Fotos, auch vom Karton. Sonst heißt es nachher, das sei erst bei Ihnen passiert.
But take photos first, of the box too. Otherwise they'll say afterwards that it only happened at your end.
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A
Gut, dass Sie das sagen. Den eingedrückten Karton wollte ich nämlich gerade wegwerfen.
Good thing you mentioned it. I was just about to throw away the squashed box.
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