Day 185 of 185

Day 185: Night Train to a New Job

In a couchette on the night train from Hamburg to Vienna, Konrad (A), a German who has lived in Austria for twenty years, gets talking to Levin (B), a young engineer on his way to his first job abroad.

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

    Sie haben ja Gepäck für ein halbes Jahr dabei. Fahren Sie auch bis Wien?

    You've got enough luggage for six months. Are you going to Vienna too?

  2. B

    Ja, am Montag trete ich dort meine erste Stelle im Ausland an. Das wird eine ganz schöne Umstellung.

    Yes, on Monday I start my first job abroad there. It's going to be quite a change.

  3. A

    Das kenne ich. Als ich 2006 ankam, verstand ich meine Kollegen kaum, obwohl wir alle Deutsch sprachen.

    I know the feeling. When I arrived in 2006, I could hardly understand my colleagues, even though we all spoke German.

  4. B

    Wirklich? Ich dachte, außer „Servus“ und „Paradeiser“ sei der Unterschied gar nicht so groß.

    Really? I thought that apart from 'Servus' and 'Paradeiser' for tomatoes, there wasn't much of a difference.

  5. A

    Am meisten überraschten mich die Titel. Während ich in Hamburg einfach Herr Soundso war, hieß ich in Wien plötzlich Herr Diplomingenieur.

    What surprised me most were the titles. While in Hamburg I was just Mr So-and-so, in Vienna I was suddenly 'Mr Engineer'.

  6. B

    Und daran gewöhnt man sich? Ich würde mich jedes Mal umdrehen, um zu sehen, wer gemeint ist.

    And you get used to that? I'd turn round every time to see who they meant.

  7. A

    Schneller, als Sie denken. Letztes Jahr in Hamburg war ich beleidigt, weil mich keiner Herr Diplomingenieur nannte.

    Quicker than you think. Last year in Hamburg I was offended because nobody called me 'Mr Engineer'.

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