Day 2: Polishing the Stones Outside
In a café in Hamburg's Grindel quarter, Clara (A), a customer, asks Svenja (B), the barista, about the small brass plates set into the pavement by the door.
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, sind das Stolpersteine vor Ihrer Tür? Die Namen kann man ja kaum noch lesen.
Excuse me, are those Stolpersteine, 'stumbling stones', outside your door? You can hardly read the names any more.
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B
Ja, vier Stück, für eine Familie, die hier gewohnt hat, bis sie 1942 deportiert wurde.
Yes, four of them, for a family who lived here until they were deported in 1942.
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A
Ehrlich gesagt bin ich bestimmt schon hundertmal darübergelaufen, ohne die Namen überhaupt wahrzunehmen.
To be honest, I must have walked over them a hundred times without even noticing the names.
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B
So geht es den meisten. Das Messing läuft eben schnell an und muss regelmäßig geputzt werden.
Most people are the same. The brass tarnishes quickly, you see, and has to be polished regularly.
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A
Und wer kümmert sich darum, die Stadt?
And who looks after that, the city?
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B
Nein, Freiwillige aus dem Viertel, jedes Jahr vor dem 9. November, dem Jahrestag der Pogromnacht.
No, volunteers from the neighbourhood, every year before 9 November, the anniversary of the 1938 pogrom.
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A
Dann helfe ich dieses Jahr mit, wenn ich darf. Ich will nicht länger darüberlaufen, ohne hinzusehen.
Then I'll help this year, if I may. I don't want to keep walking over them without looking.
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