Day 113: The Nutcracker Workshop's Future
In their parents' workshop in Seiffen, a village in the Erzgebirge famous for its wooden toys and nutcrackers, Hendrik (A) shows his older brother Robert (B), a master woodturner, something he has found online.
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
Robert, guck mal: ein maschinell gefräster Nussknacker mit aufgeklebtem Kunstbart, angeblich aus dem Erzgebirge, für 14,99 Euro.
Robert, look at this: a machine-milled nutcracker with a stuck-on fake beard, supposedly from the Erzgebirge, for 14.99 euros.
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B
Na und? Je billiger die Kopien werden, desto mehr wissen echte Sammler unsere handgedrechselten Figuren zu schätzen.
So what? The cheaper the copies get, the more real collectors appreciate our hand-turned figures.
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A
Nur wenn sie den Unterschied sehen. Deshalb will ich online zeigen, wie bei uns gearbeitet wird, vom Drechseln bis zum Bemalen.
Only if they can see the difference. That's why I want to show online how we work here, from the turning to the painting.
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B
Und ich werde dann an der Drechselbank vorgeführt wie ein Tanzbär? Da geht doch die Seele des Handwerks verloren.
And I get paraded at the lathe like a dancing bear? That's how the craft loses its soul.
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A
Im Gegenteil: Je mehr die Leute von der Arbeit sehen, umso eher zahlen sie 180 Euro für einen Nussknacker.
On the contrary: the more people see of the work, the more willing they are to pay 180 euros for a nutcracker.
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B
Die Leute wollen doch Katzenvideos sehen, keine Holzspäne. Wer guckt sich schon zwanzig Minuten lang an, wie aus einem Rohling ein Kopf wird?
People want to watch cat videos, not wood shavings. Who's going to spend twenty minutes watching a blank turn into a head?
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A
Achtzigtausend Leute, um genau zu sein: So viele haben mein Video gesehen, in dem Papa einem Nussknacker die Augen aufmalt.
Eighty thousand people, to be exact: that's how many have watched my video of Dad painting the eyes on a nutcracker.
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B
Papa hat sich filmen lassen? Der lässt sich doch nicht mal an Heiligabend fotografieren.
Dad let you film him? He won't even let anyone take his picture on Christmas Eve.
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A
Seine Bedingung war: keine Musik, nur seine Hände und die frisch bemalte Figur. Mehr Seele geht doch nicht, oder?
His one condition was no music, just his hands and the freshly painted figure. It doesn't get more soulful than that, does it?
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