Day 89: Coffee on the Old Border
On the terrace of a café by the former border memorial in the Rhön, Annika (A), a young customer, asks the waiter, Milan (B), about a line of stones that runs past her table.
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
Entschuldigung, was bedeuten eigentlich die Steine hier neben meinem Tisch?
Excuse me, what do these stones next to my table actually mean?
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B
Die markieren die alte Grenze. Ihr Kaffee steht in Hessen, Ihr Kuchen in Thüringen.
They mark the old border. Your coffee's in Hesse and your cake's in Thuringia.
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A
Im Ernst? Dann bin ich vorhin über die Grenze gelaufen, ohne es zu merken?
Seriously? So I walked across the border earlier without noticing?
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B
Sogar zweimal, die Toiletten sind nämlich in Thüringen. Vor 1989 hätten Sie an diesem Tisch nicht sitzen können.
Twice, in fact: the toilets are in Thuringia. Before 1989 you couldn't have sat at this table.
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A
Wahnsinn. Und wo wird der Kuchen gebacken, hier oder drüben?
Incredible. And where's the cake baked, on this side or over there?
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B
Meine Mutter backt ihn drüben. Ohne die Grenzöffnung hätte sie meinen hessischen Vater nie kennengelernt.
My mother bakes it over there. If the border hadn't opened, she'd never have met my father from Hesse.
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