Day 72: A Train Ticket From 1989
At the Haus der Geschichte, the museum of contemporary history in Bonn, Jennifer (A) and her husband Manuel (B) wait for their daughter Enna (C), who has stopped at a display about 1989.
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
Enna, wir gehen jetzt ins Café, es sei denn, du willst vor dieser Vitrine übernachten.
Enna, we're going to the café now, unless you want to spend the night in front of this display case.
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B
Lass sie doch, da geht's um die DDR-Flüchtlinge in Ungarn. Ich wette, gleich fragt sie nach Oma.
Leave her be, it's about the East German refugees in Hungary. I bet she's about to ask about Grandma.
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C
Papa, hier steht, dass 1989 Tausende über Ungarn geflohen sind. War Oma eine davon?
Dad, it says here that thousands of people fled through Hungary in 1989. Was Grandma one of them?
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B
Ja, mit einundzwanzig. In Budapest angekommen, ist sie nicht wie angegeben zum Zelten an den Balaton, sondern zur westdeutschen Botschaft gefahren.
Yes, at twenty-one. Once she got to Budapest, instead of going camping at Lake Balaton as she'd claimed, she went to the West German embassy.
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C
Und ihre Eltern? Hat sie sich nicht mal von denen verabschiedet?
And her parents? Didn't she even say goodbye to them?
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A
Nicht richtig, das wäre für alle zu gefährlich gewesen. Oma erzählt, sie habe am Bahnsteig nur „Tschüss, bis in drei Wochen“ gesagt.
Not properly, that would have been too dangerous for everyone. According to Grandma, all she said on the platform was "Bye, see you in three weeks".
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B
Und ihre Fahrkarte hat sie bis heute aufgehoben: von Dresden nach Budapest und zurück, die Rückfahrt unbenutzt.
And she's kept her ticket to this day: Dresden to Budapest and back, with the return half unused.
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C
Unbenutzt? Dann fahren wir mit Oma nach Budapest, und sie benutzt endlich ihre Rückfahrkarte!
Unused? Then let's take Grandma to Budapest, and she can finally use her return ticket!
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