Day 3: Counting Bees Next Door
In the shared courtyard of a Freiburg townhouse, Andrea Vogt (A), a biology lecturer, asks her neighbour Simone Kessler (B), a statistician, for a favour.
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 Kessler, hätten Sie etwas dagegen, wenn meine Studierenden in Ihrem Garten Wildbienen zählen?
Mrs Kessler, would you mind if my students counted wild bees in your garden?
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B
Nein, aber aus einem einzigen Garten lassen sich doch keine belastbaren Schlüsse ziehen.
No, but you can't draw any reliable conclusions from a single garden.
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A
Sie reden ja, als müssten Sie meinen Förderantrag begutachten. Es ist doch nur ein Seminarprojekt.
You're talking as if you had to review my grant application. It's only a seminar project.
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B
Trotzdem, ohne Vergleich sind die Daten wertlos. Man bräuchte mindestens einen zweiten Garten, der anders bepflanzt ist.
Even so, without a comparison the data are worthless. You'd need at least a second garden with different planting.
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A
Frau Brandt von gegenüber hat nur Rasen und Kirschlorbeer, das wäre doch der perfekte Vergleichsgarten.
Mrs Brandt across the way has nothing but lawn and cherry laurel, that would make the perfect control garden.
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B
Einverstanden, aber dann muss ein ganzes Jahr lang gezählt werden, jede Woche zur selben Uhrzeit.
Agreed, but then the counting has to go on for a whole year, every week at the same time of day.
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A
Sehen Sie, jetzt haben Sie die Studie ganz nebenbei selbst entworfen. Soll ich Sie als Mitautorin eintragen?
There you are, you've designed the study yourself without even trying. Shall I put you down as co-author?
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