Day 67: Dad Reads My Term Paper
In Hildesheim, Bennet (A), seventeen, asks his father Christoph (B) to read his school term paper on climate history before he hands it in.
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
Papa, kannst du mal über meine Facharbeit zur Klimageschichte schauen? Ich muss sie morgen abgeben.
Dad, could you have a look at my term paper on climate history? I've got to hand it in tomorrow.
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B
Klar, aber schon dein erster Satz ist ganz schön pathetisch: „Aus dem ewigen Eis gebohrt, erzählen die Proben die Geschichte unseres Klimas.“
Sure, but even your first sentence is pretty overblown: "Drilled from the eternal ice, the samples tell the story of our climate."
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A
Pathetisch? Frau Hartwig hat genau diesen Einstieg bei der Zwischenbesprechung ausdrücklich gelobt.
Overblown? Mrs Hartwig specifically praised that very opening at our progress meeting.
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B
Trotzdem: Je blumiger der Einstieg, desto weniger nimmt man dir die Wissenschaft dahinter ab. Proben erzählen nichts, Proben werden gemessen.
Even so: the more flowery the opening, the less people believe the science behind it. Samples don't tell stories, they get measured.
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A
Das ist ein Stilmittel, Papa. Außerdem ist der Satz gar nicht von mir, ich zitiere ihn nur.
It's a stylistic device, Dad. Besides, the sentence isn't even mine, I'm only quoting it.
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B
Dann muss die Quelle aber sauber angegeben sein, sonst gilt das als Plagiat. Von wem stammt er denn?
Then the source had better be properly cited, or it counts as plagiarism. So who's it from?
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A
Von dir. Wörtlich aus deiner Diplomarbeit übernommen, ist er in Fußnote eins samt Seitenzahl belegt.
From you. Taken word for word from your dissertation, it's referenced in footnote one, page number and all.
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B
Aus meiner Diplomarbeit? Na ja, je länger ich darüber nachdenke, desto besser gefällt mir der Satz eigentlich.
From my dissertation? Well, the longer I think about it, the more I actually like that sentence.
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