Day 146: A Freezer From 1989
In her flat in Gelsenkirchen, Marius (A), a volunteer from an energy-saving project, visits Waltraud Kaczmarek (B), an older resident whose electricity bill has jumped.
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
Frau Kaczmarek, die Messung ist eindeutig: Am meisten Strom frisst Ihre Gefriertruhe im Keller.
Mrs Kaczmarek, the readings are clear: your chest freezer in the cellar eats up the most electricity.
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B
Die Truhe? Die läuft, seit wir 1989 eingezogen sind, und hat nie Ärger gemacht.
The freezer? It's been running ever since we moved in, in 1989, and it's never given us any trouble.
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A
Das glaube ich Ihnen. Aber ihr Verbrauch ist dreimal so hoch wie bei einem neuen Gerät.
I believe you. But it uses three times as much electricity as a new one.
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B
Solange sie läuft, bleibt sie auch. Mein Mann hat sie damals von seinem Weihnachtsgeld gekauft.
As long as it's running, it's staying. My husband bought it with his Christmas bonus back then.
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A
Es lohnt sich trotzdem, sie zu tauschen. Sie sparen gut 150 Euro im Jahr, und von uns gibt's 100 Euro Zuschuss.
It's still worth swapping it. You'll save a good 150 euros a year, and we'll give you a 100-euro subsidy.
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B
Na gut, da sind sowieso nur noch Erbsen und Eis für die Enkel drin. Und wer schleppt die Truhe hoch?
Oh, all right, there's nothing in it but peas and ice cream for the grandchildren anyway. And who's going to haul the freezer upstairs?
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A
Die nimmt der Händler bei der Lieferung kostenlos mit. Das Eis sollten die Enkel aber vorher aufessen.
The shop will take it away for free when they deliver the new one. But the grandchildren had better finish the ice cream first.
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