Day 61: Cutting My Flood Story in Half
In the newsroom of a regional paper in Gera, Kilian Hesse (A), a junior reporter, shows his editor-in-chief, Eckhard Wendler (B), his article about a flood on the river Weiße Elster.
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
Herr Wendler, hätten Sie kurz Zeit für meinen Hochwasserartikel? Ich finde, der Einstieg ist mir richtig gut gelungen.
Mr Wendler, have you got a moment for my flood piece? I think the opening has turned out really well.
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B
Gelungen schon, Herr Hesse, aber Ihr erster Satz hat 58 Wörter, und das Hochwasser kommt erst ganz am Ende.
Turned out well, yes, Mr Hesse, but your first sentence is 58 words long, and the flood doesn't come in until the very end.
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A
Ich wollte erst die Stimmung einfangen: den grauen Morgen, die Sirenen, die Anwohner in Gummistiefeln.
I wanted to capture the atmosphere first: the grey morning, the sirens, the residents in wellies.
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B
Die lässt sich auch knapper einfangen. „Kurz nach sechs alarmiert, rückte die Feuerwehr an die Weiße Elster aus.“
That can be captured more briefly. 'Alerted shortly after six, the fire brigade set out for the Weiße Elster.'
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A
Klingt wie ein Polizeibericht. Und wo bleiben die vollgelaufenen Keller und das Zitat vom Oberbürgermeister?
That sounds like a police report. And where are the flooded cellars and the quote from the mayor?
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B
„In Untermhaus angekommen, trafen die Helfer auf vollgelaufene Keller und einen Oberbürgermeister, der selbst Sandsäcke schleppte.“ Fertig.
'Arriving in Untermhaus, the crews found flooded cellars and a mayor hauling sandbags himself.' Done.
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A
Das ist wirklich besser, zugegeben. Aber was wird aus den restlichen hundertzwanzig Zeilen?
It really is better, I admit. But what happens to the other hundred and twenty lines?
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B
Gedruckt wird der Artikel in halber Länge, daran ist nichts zu ändern. Die Gummistiefel heben Sie sich für die Bildunterschrift auf.
In print, the article runs at half length, and there's nothing to be done about that. Save the wellies for the photo caption.
Your progress is saved in this browser only, with no sign-up. The course page and the menu show where you left off. Well done! Next up: Day 62: Ignore the One-Star Review
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