Day 23: The Swimming Pool Referendum
Visiting her mother Heike (A) in Husum, Laura (B) hears about the town's referendum on its old indoor swimming pool.
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
Nächsten Sonntag ist hier Bürgerentscheid, und die ganze Stadt redet nur noch übers Hallenbad.
There's a referendum here next Sunday, and the whole town's talking about nothing but the indoor pool.
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B
Das alte Bad am Hafen? Das ist doch seit Jahren geschlossen, die Türen sind sogar zugenagelt.
The old pool by the harbour? That's been closed for years, the doors are even nailed shut.
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A
Eben. Der Bürgermeister meint, eine Sanierung sei zu teuer, ein Neubau am Stadtrand komme billiger.
Exactly. The mayor says renovating it would be too expensive, and a new pool on the edge of town would work out cheaper.
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B
Klingt erst mal vernünftig. Und was halten die Gegner dagegen?
Sounds sensible enough. And what do the other side say to that?
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A
Die Bürgerinitiative sagt, ohne Auto komme dann kein Kind mehr zum Schwimmunterricht, und das Bad gehöre zur Stadt wie der Hafen.
The campaign group says no child will get to swimming lessons without a car any more, and that the pool is as much a part of the town as the harbour.
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B
Da muss ich nicht raten, wie du abstimmst: Du hast da drin jahrzehntelang deine Bahnen gezogen.
No need to guess how you're voting: you swam your lengths in there for decades.
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A
Falsch geraten, ich habe schon per Briefwahl für den Neubau gestimmt. Nostalgie heizt kein Becken.
Wrong: I've already voted for the new one by post. Nostalgia doesn't heat a pool.
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