Day 114: Ten Hours on Paper
In her office at the University of Konstanz, Lasse Petersen (A), a student assistant, comes to see Professor Dorothea Reichert (B) about his contract.
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 Reichert, haben Sie kurz Zeit? Es geht um meinen Vertrag, und das ist mir ehrlich gesagt etwas unangenehm.
Professor Reichert, have you got a moment? It's about my contract, and to be honest it's a bit awkward for me.
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B
Setzen Sie sich, Herr Petersen. Ist mit Ihrem Vertrag etwas nicht in Ordnung?
Have a seat, Mr Petersen. Is something wrong with your contract?
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A
Er ist auf zehn Stunden pro Woche begrenzt, aber seit dem Projektstart im Oktober arbeite ich eher zwanzig.
It's limited to ten hours a week, but since the project started in October I've been working more like twenty.
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B
Zwanzig, also doppelt so viel? Und das erfahre ich erst jetzt, im Februar?
Twenty, so twice as much? And I'm only finding out now, in February?
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A
Die Interviews müssen doch bis März transkribiert sein, und das ist in zehn Stunden nicht zu schaffen. Ich wollte nicht als zu langsam gelten.
Well, the interviews have to be transcribed by March, and that can't be done in ten hours. I didn't want to come across as slow.
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B
Das sind seit Oktober jede Woche zehn unbezahlte Überstunden. Dafür finden wir eine Lösung, sei es mehr Geld, sei es weniger Arbeit.
That's ten hours of unpaid overtime every week since October. We'll find a solution for that, be it more money or less work.
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A
Weniger Arbeit hieße dann wohl, dass jemand anders die Transkription übernimmt?
I suppose less work would mean someone else taking over the transcribing?
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B
Das wäre schade, Sie machen das hervorragend. Ich verlängere Ihren Vertrag bis September und stocke die Stunden auf: Das Geld ist im Projekt ohnehin bewilligt.
That would be a shame, you're doing it brilliantly. I'll extend your contract until September and increase your hours: the money's already been approved in the project budget anyway.
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A
Danke, damit habe ich nicht gerechnet. Ab jetzt steht jede Stunde auf dem Stundenzettel, es sei denn, ich vergesse mal wieder die Zeit.
Thank you, I didn't expect that. From now on every hour goes on my timesheet, unless I lose track of time again.
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