Day 16: Back From Toronto, First Day
On his first day at an engineering firm in Stuttgart, Tobias Brenner (B), just back from six years in Toronto, is welcomed by his new manager, Susanne Hartmann (A).
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
Willkommen im Team, Herr Brenner! Nach sechs Jahren Toronto ist Stuttgart sicher eine Umstellung.
Welcome to the team, Mr Brenner! After six years in Toronto, Stuttgart must take some getting used to.
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B
Schon, aber ich bin gern wieder da, zumal meine Eltern in Ulm auch nicht jünger werden.
It does, but I'm glad to be back, all the more so as my parents in Ulm aren't getting any younger.
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A
Und was vermissen Sie, soweit man das am ersten Tag schon sagen kann?
And what do you miss, as far as you can tell on your first day?
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B
Die Offenheit. In Toronto hat mich jeder in der Kaffeeküche angesprochen, wohingegen man hier höflich nickt.
The openness. In Toronto everyone would chat to me in the office kitchen, whereas here people nod politely.
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A
Das gibt sich. Als ich aus Singapur zurückkam, habe ich mich monatelang über dieses Nicken gewundert.
That wears off. When I came back from Singapore, all that nodding puzzled me for months.
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B
Sie waren in Singapur? Dann wissen Sie ja, wie fremd einem die eigene Heimat werden kann.
You were in Singapore? Then you know how foreign your own country can start to feel.
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A
Allerdings. Kommen Sie nachher mit in die Kantine, statt am Schreibtisch zu essen, sofern Sie Maultaschen mögen.
I certainly do. Come to the canteen with us later instead of eating at your desk, provided you like Maultaschen, Swabian filled pasta.
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