Day 139: Wind Turbines on Our Hill
At breakfast in Fulda, Hubert (A) and his wife Gerda (B), an older couple, read in the local paper about plans for the hill they walk up every Sunday.
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
Gerda, stell dir vor: Auf unserem Hügel sollen fünf Windräder gebaut werden, direkt an dem Weg, den wir jeden Sonntag hochgehen.
Gerda, guess what: they want to put up five wind turbines on our hill, right by the path we walk up every Sunday.
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B
Hab ich gelesen. Nüchtern betrachtet, ist das der beste Standort weit und breit, da oben weht es ja immer.
I've read it. Looked at objectively, it's the best site for miles around, since it's always windy up there.
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A
Wir gehen wegen der Aussicht hoch, nicht wegen des Windes. Einmal gebaut, stehen diese Dinger zwanzig Jahre, samt Schotterpisten für die Schwertransporter.
We go up there for the view, not the wind. Once they're built, those things stay for twenty years, along with gravel tracks for the heavy lorries.
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B
In zwanzig Jahren sind wir über neunzig, Hubert. Unsere Enkel hingegen brauchen dann Strom, der nicht aus der Kohle kommt.
In twenty years we'll be over ninety, Hubert. Our grandchildren, on the other hand, will need electricity that doesn't come from coal.
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A
Mit den Enkeln kommst du immer, wenn dir die Argumente ausgehen. Außerdem soll man die Rotoren bei Westwind bis unten in der Stadt hören.
You always bring up the grandchildren when you run out of arguments. Besides, they say you can hear the rotors all the way down in town when the wind's from the west.
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B
Laut Zeitung wohnen die nächsten Anwohner gut anderthalb Kilometer entfernt. Am Donnerstag ist eine Versammlung im Bürgerhaus, da kannst du selbst fragen.
According to the paper, the nearest residents live a good kilometre and a half away. And there's a meeting at the community centre on Thursday, so you can ask yourself.
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A
Da gehe ich hin, und zwar mit einer Liste voller Einwände. Aber damit du's weißt: Falls abgestimmt wird, stimme ich dagegen.
I'll be there, and with a list of objections. But just so you know: if there's a vote, I'm voting against.
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B
Und ich dafür, da bekommst du Gegenwind von zu Hause. Aber wir gehen zusammen hin, und hinterher gibt's wie immer Kuchen am Domplatz.
And I'm voting for, so you'll be facing a headwind from home. But we're going together, and afterwards there'll be cake on the Domplatz as usual.
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A
Abgemacht. Und am Sonntag laufen wir wieder hoch, solange man da oben noch die Rhön sieht und keine Rotorblätter.
Deal. And on Sunday we're walking up there again, as long as you can still see the Rhön from the top and not rotor blades.
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