Day 97: Six Hundred Euros More for Heating
At their kitchen table in Rostock, Horst (A) and Gudrun (B), a retired couple, open the annual service charge statement for their flat, a few weeks before their autumn spa trip to Kolberg on the Polish Baltic coast.
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
Die Nebenkostenabrechnung ist da, Gudrun. „Infolge gestiegener Heizkosten ergibt sich eine Nachzahlung in Höhe von 600 Euro.“
The service charge statement has come, Gudrun. 'As a result of higher heating costs, there is a balance of 600 euros to pay.'
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B
Sechshundert Euro? Dann sagen wir Kolberg ab, angesichts unserer Rente ist das einfach nicht mehr drin.
Six hundred euros? Then we'll cancel Kolberg: with our pension, we just can't stretch to it any more.
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A
Kommt nicht infrage, auf die Kur freust du dich schon seit Ostern. Lass uns lieber den Zweitwagen verkaufen.
Out of the question, you've been looking forward to the spa trip since Easter. Let's sell the second car instead.
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B
Deinen Golf? Den hegst und pflegst du doch wie ein drittes Kind, und wie kommst du dann zum Angeln?
Your Golf? You pamper it like a third child, and how will you get to your fishing then?
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A
Genau betrachtet, steht er fast nur in der Garage und kostet Versicherung, Steuer und TÜV. Nach Warnemünde fährt auch die S-Bahn.
When you look at it closely, it mostly just sits in the garage costing us insurance, tax and the MOT. And the S-Bahn goes to Warnemünde too.
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B
Na schön, dann verzichtest du eben auf deinen Golf. Aber beschwer dich nicht, wenn die S-Bahn im Winter mal wieder ausfällt.
All right, then you'll just have to do without your Golf. But don't complain when the S-Bahn is cancelled again in winter.
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A
Abgemacht. Was vom Verkauf nach der Nachzahlung übrig bleibt, verprassen wir dann in Kolberg.
Deal. Whatever's left from the sale once we've paid the bill, we'll blow in Kolberg.
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B
Dort angekommen, drehe ich als Erstes die Heizung im Hotelzimmer voll auf. Die ist nämlich im Preis inbegriffen.
Once we're there, the first thing I'll do is turn the heating in the hotel room right up. It's included in the price, you see.
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