and welcome to your (hopefully) favorite German blog. And today it’s more of a podcast because it’s time for a bit of listening comprehension again. Yeeeeaaaay.
Today’s story is about a fish served with a side of wisdom… and fried potatoes.
So let’s waste no time and train our hearing with some herring :).
The language is nothing too crazy… hold on, let me rephrase that… considering it’s German the language is nothing too crazy but there are a few specific words and phrasings that I think might be useful in advance… so here they are:
der Hering – the herring (type of fish, super common dish in the north of Germany) der Deich – the dike/levee (hill-like thingy that keeps the ocean at bay) dösig – drowsy
awake but not really awake das Nickerchen – the nap
(there’s no version without “-chen”, so no “das Nicker”… the origin is the German verb “nicken” which means “to nod”) der Mittagsschlaf – the midday nap (also called das Mittagsschläfchen) sich aufs Ohr legen – lie down for a nap (lit.: lie down on the ear. quite common) der Taler – the thaler (old currency, origin of the word “dollar”) staunen – feel and/or show amazement/gape
(in stories often used as a speech tag like “said” or “shouted”) die Petersilie – the parsley (together with Schnittlauch the most common herb in Germany and part of Kräuterquark… which tells you nothing but you should try it! It’s awesome)
Vier Ostfriesen, Jan Ohm, Hinnerk, Ole und Malte waren früh zusammen mit dem Boot rausgefahren, um zu fischen. Aber es war kein guter Tag. Nur ein kleiner Hering ging ihnen bis Mittag ins Netz. Jetzt war die Frage, wer von ihnen den Fisch mit nach Hause nehmen und mit Zwiebeln und Bratkartoffeln essen durfte. Der alte, kluge Jan Ohm hatte eine Idee. “Wir legen uns alle hin und machen ein Nickerchen. Wer im Traum am reichsten ist, der kriegt den Fisch.” Es war sehr heiß und alle waren ein bisschen dösig. Ein Mittagsschläfchen klang also nach einer guten Idee. Und so waren alle einverstanden. Sie suchten sich ein schattiges Plätzchen hinterm Deich und legten sich aufs Ohr. Als sie ein paar Stunden später aufwachten, rief Ole fröhlich: “Juchuu… Ich habe geownnen. Ich habe geträumt, ich hätte ein Million Taler.” Aber Hinnerk sagte: “Nicht schlecht, aber ich habe geträumt, dass ich der allerreichste Mensch auf der Welt bin.” “Oh,” staunte Ole, “hmmm…dann kriegst du den Hering.” Doch da sagte Malte: “Nicht so schnell. Ich habe geträumt, dass mir die ganze Erde gehört. Mit allem, was drauf ist.” “Oh,” staunte Hinnerk, “das ist reicher. Dann ist der Hering für dich.” Doch da sagte Jan: “Hey, ihr habt mich vergessen.” “Was hast du denn geträumt? Wie kannst du denn noch reicher sein als Malte.”, fragten die anderen. “Ich habe gar nichts geträumt. Ich habe eigentlich gar nicht geschlafen. Ich bin mit dem Hering nach Hause gegangen und habe ihn mit meiner Frau gegessen. Dann bin ich wieder hergekommen und habe mich hingelegt.” Die anderen waren zunächst wahnsinnig wütend. Aber als sie sahen, dass Jan ihnen allen eine große Portion Bratkartoffeln mit Zwiebeln und Petersilie mitgebracht hatte, legte sich ihr Ärger schnell. Und während sie aßen, dachten sie darüber nach, was sie vom alten Jan Ohm diesmal gelernt hatten… nicht die Träumer bekommen die fetten Bissen. Es sind die hellwachen Leute.
Is this really the normal speed at which you speak? I think people will get a rude awakening if they ever go to Germany as in my experience, nobody speaks this slowly – certainly not in Southern Germany ;-)
I think for me it was maybe 90% of my talking speed… but I am a very slow talker. I stress and lengthen sooo much compared to others :). I think in normal everyday talk I’m less artciulate though… like… I mumble much more. Maybe I should do a “ordering stuff at the bakery”-kind of version.
Oh by the way… Berliners can talk very very quickly too. Especially teenagers. And actors. Their talk are like short burst of machine gun like German with looooooong weiiiiiird pauses. I honestly have issues sometimes understanding German actors when they bark their lines. One reason I dislike German cinema… beacause nobody talks like people usually talk.
I enjoyed listening to it because it seems to me like ‘real’ German instead of actors. I live in Australia so rarely get a chance to hear ‘real German’.
Ah, yes I have, but thank you for the recommendation anyway. The Internet is fantastic for accessing spoken language and language learning in general. It was so hard to learn a language before the Internet. We had one foreign language bookshop in each state capital city, that was it. And Australia is a big country (the size of Europe). I used to live in a town which was 240 miles away from Sydney.
Yeah the internet definitely makes it much easier to educate oneself. I really realized that when I wrote my masters thesis. There was a very high standard to meet and I quoted 120 sources many of which had been printed somewhere (that was a requirement) but 90% were available online (I think my professor doesn’t know). And at some point I was like “Gee…. just imagine if I had to actually search these in real life. Like… seek out the library that has it, travel there or have them send it, read it, copy it”… what a night mare :D
Exactly the same thing do the governments of many countries around the world. They imagine the legislation, but themselfs take the fish to their wifes. Das einzige in dieser Erzählung das ich nicht verstehe ist warum nennt man den Jan, “der alte, kluge Jan”, er ist doch hinterlistig. Ich dachte die Deutsche haben nicht solche Erzählungen. Aber was den Podcast angeht, es ist eine tolle Idee. Sehr tolle Idee.
Haha… ja, er ist ein bisschen hinterlistig :). Aber er hat den anderen ja was leckeres mitgebracht, und sie haben was gelernt. Der Fisch war sozusagen Honorar. Aber na klar… ist schon ein bisschen arschmäßig, wie man so sagt :)
But when people read stories for recording they tend to speak more slowly, so it is clearer and easier to follow, just think of how slow deejays are on the radio.
You’re right! Plus, there does seem to be a distinct difference between North and South. I notice this every time I visit my sister, who lives in the Northwest – I always feel like saying to people “Come on guys, get on with it!!”. Definitely better for people trying to learn German, though, for sure (even though the South is much nicer ;-) )
Nice post.
BTW, did you record this earlier to have it post in mid-August? I ask because I thought most Germans took the month of August off for rest and relaxation (at least they used to). :)
Ha… no, I actually recorded this at midnight on Wednesday after a long day of work :). My boss is on vacation this week and I have to fill in so it’s pretty busy for me. Generally, the vacation time completely depends on the state you’re in. . They don’t want the whole country to go on vacation at the same time because AWFUL traffic jam on the streets and AWFUL people jam on the beach and people jam in the mountains and so on. So the vacations are kind of shifted from state to state. I thin NRW for instance started very early (June) and school started beginning of August pretty much while Berlin kids enjoyed their first week of summer vacation. Christmas holidays are shared, of course, but as for the rest each state does as it pleases. Some might get two weeks in fall, others just one. And it varies from year to year, too.
Italy is a different story though… there it’s really like the whole country goes on vacation in August. You can tell here in Berlin, there are SO MANY Italians here now :)
That’s true – the Italians celebrate “Ferragosto” on the 15th of August (something to do with Maria…) and everybody is on holiday! By the way, if anyone is interested, one of the best movies I have ever seen is an Italian movie called “Pranzo a Ferragosto” (Lunch at Ferragosto) and it’s Italian culture at its best (the mammista culture, the fact that ROme is deserted at Ferragosto, etc. etc.). I know this is a blog about German(y), but I would highly recommend this movie to everyone – it’s just fabulous :-)
These listening post are really a great idea! Thank you! It is a perfect way to improve your listening skills. As for me, the beginner living in Berlin, it is essential to understand what German say to me :)
Because there is a transcript and you speak clearly with moderate pace I did myself some kind of a dictation. I listened to the story and noted down what I had heard. Then I checked it against the transcript. It’s funny sometimes to see what you heard and what was meant :) Maybe it would be a good idea to create this type of dictations for the beginners?
Dictation… do you mean like I read simple beginners texts? That’s a great idea, the only problem is content. I can’t just take stuff from text books because copyright. I’ll think about the idea though.
Gruss von Berlin nach Berlin :)
Das ist echte Kunst! Ich habe deine Stimme, deine Ausführung und die Geschichte genossen. Es gibt ein neues und tiefsinniges Wort für mich “hellwach” in der Geschichte. Es ist so vernünftig, dass du uns erinnert hat, imeer hellwach zu sein, statt uns aufs Ohr zu legen. Danke vielmals!
Danke sehr! So dummer Fehler habe ich gemacht . Ich weiß sicherlich, dass ‘du hast’, aber wenn ich schreibe, ‘s’ fehlt. Warum passiert das, habe ich keine Ahnung.
Ich genoß die Hering Geschichte. Die normale Stimme habe ich in Allgemeinen verstehen, aber die langsame Fassung ermöglichte mich alle in dem Kopf zu übersetzen. Leider für ungewohnten Sätze habe ich immer noch das bewusst tun.
Ich bedanken dir herzig.
Whoops, I hate to say but there isn’t. I’m really confused why I would a link there but I can’t find a document on my server. And this is a fairly old post and I did it with my old computer, so I’m afraid that line by line has disappeared :(.
Super sorry!!!
Hello everyone,
Thank you! Utterly charming!!!!!
Sehr gut … danke!
Die langsamere Version hilft wirklich mit Aussprache.
Wunderbar!
Is this really the normal speed at which you speak? I think people will get a rude awakening if they ever go to Germany as in my experience, nobody speaks this slowly – certainly not in Southern Germany ;-)
I think for me it was maybe 90% of my talking speed… but I am a very slow talker. I stress and lengthen sooo much compared to others :). I think in normal everyday talk I’m less artciulate though… like… I mumble much more. Maybe I should do a “ordering stuff at the bakery”-kind of version.
Oh by the way… Berliners can talk very very quickly too. Especially teenagers. And actors. Their talk are like short burst of machine gun like German with looooooong weiiiiiird pauses. I honestly have issues sometimes understanding German actors when they bark their lines. One reason I dislike German cinema… beacause nobody talks like people usually talk.
I enjoyed listening to it because it seems to me like ‘real’ German instead of actors. I live in Australia so rarely get a chance to hear ‘real German’.
Do you know the “Easy German” youtube channel? You might like that :)
Ah, yes I have, but thank you for the recommendation anyway. The Internet is fantastic for accessing spoken language and language learning in general. It was so hard to learn a language before the Internet. We had one foreign language bookshop in each state capital city, that was it. And Australia is a big country (the size of Europe). I used to live in a town which was 240 miles away from Sydney.
Yeah the internet definitely makes it much easier to educate oneself. I really realized that when I wrote my masters thesis. There was a very high standard to meet and I quoted 120 sources many of which had been printed somewhere (that was a requirement) but 90% were available online (I think my professor doesn’t know). And at some point I was like “Gee…. just imagine if I had to actually search these in real life. Like… seek out the library that has it, travel there or have them send it, read it, copy it”… what a night mare :D
Exactly the same thing do the governments of many countries around the world. They imagine the legislation, but themselfs take the fish to their wifes. Das einzige in dieser Erzählung das ich nicht verstehe ist warum nennt man den Jan, “der alte, kluge Jan”, er ist doch hinterlistig. Ich dachte die Deutsche haben nicht solche Erzählungen. Aber was den Podcast angeht, es ist eine tolle Idee. Sehr tolle Idee.
Haha… ja, er ist ein bisschen hinterlistig :). Aber er hat den anderen ja was leckeres mitgebracht, und sie haben was gelernt. Der Fisch war sozusagen Honorar. Aber na klar… ist schon ein bisschen arschmäßig, wie man so sagt :)
But when people read stories for recording they tend to speak more slowly, so it is clearer and easier to follow, just think of how slow deejays are on the radio.
You’re right! Plus, there does seem to be a distinct difference between North and South. I notice this every time I visit my sister, who lives in the Northwest – I always feel like saying to people “Come on guys, get on with it!!”. Definitely better for people trying to learn German, though, for sure (even though the South is much nicer ;-) )
Awww! Sehr schön! Danke sehr!
Nice post.
BTW, did you record this earlier to have it post in mid-August? I ask because I thought most Germans took the month of August off for rest and relaxation (at least they used to). :)
Ha… no, I actually recorded this at midnight on Wednesday after a long day of work :). My boss is on vacation this week and I have to fill in so it’s pretty busy for me. Generally, the vacation time completely depends on the state you’re in. . They don’t want the whole country to go on vacation at the same time because AWFUL traffic jam on the streets and AWFUL people jam on the beach and people jam in the mountains and so on. So the vacations are kind of shifted from state to state. I thin NRW for instance started very early (June) and school started beginning of August pretty much while Berlin kids enjoyed their first week of summer vacation. Christmas holidays are shared, of course, but as for the rest each state does as it pleases. Some might get two weeks in fall, others just one. And it varies from year to year, too.
Italy is a different story though… there it’s really like the whole country goes on vacation in August. You can tell here in Berlin, there are SO MANY Italians here now :)
That’s true – the Italians celebrate “Ferragosto” on the 15th of August (something to do with Maria…) and everybody is on holiday! By the way, if anyone is interested, one of the best movies I have ever seen is an Italian movie called “Pranzo a Ferragosto” (Lunch at Ferragosto) and it’s Italian culture at its best (the mammista culture, the fact that ROme is deserted at Ferragosto, etc. etc.). I know this is a blog about German(y), but I would highly recommend this movie to everyone – it’s just fabulous :-)
Cool, danke für den Tip. Ich guck mal ob ich das irgendwo finde :)
These listening post are really a great idea! Thank you! It is a perfect way to improve your listening skills. As for me, the beginner living in Berlin, it is essential to understand what German say to me :)
Because there is a transcript and you speak clearly with moderate pace I did myself some kind of a dictation. I listened to the story and noted down what I had heard. Then I checked it against the transcript. It’s funny sometimes to see what you heard and what was meant :) Maybe it would be a good idea to create this type of dictations for the beginners?
Great idea, Kwiaci.
Dictation… do you mean like I read simple beginners texts? That’s a great idea, the only problem is content. I can’t just take stuff from text books because copyright. I’ll think about the idea though.
Gruss von Berlin nach Berlin :)
Das ist echte Kunst! Ich habe deine Stimme, deine Ausführung und die Geschichte genossen. Es gibt ein neues und tiefsinniges Wort für mich “hellwach” in der Geschichte. Es ist so vernünftig, dass du uns erinnert hat, imeer hellwach zu sein, statt uns aufs Ohr zu legen. Danke vielmals!
Sorry, nicht imeer, sondern immer hellwach zu sein.
Naja, ab und zu sollte man schon auch mal schlafen ;-)
Ja, stimmt. :-) Du hast recht, der Körper braucht zu schlafen, aber, während er schläft, ist der Geist wach. Nicht wahr?
Idealerweise erholt sich der Geist waehrend des Schlafes – klappt aber nicht immer ;-)
Oft ist er irgendwo anders, in einer abgedrehten Parallelwelt :)
Wow… “schon auch mal”… you sure know your German particles :)
Danke für das liebe Feedback :). Ein kleiner Fehler:
– …, dass du uns erinnert hat…. “hat” sollte “hast” sein
Danke sehr! So dummer Fehler habe ich gemacht . Ich weiß sicherlich, dass ‘du hast’, aber wenn ich schreibe, ‘s’ fehlt. Warum passiert das, habe ich keine Ahnung.
Und nochmal ein paar kleine Korrekturen:
– Ich weiß sicherlich… “natürlich” ist viel viel idiomatischer
– … wenn ich schreibe, ‘s’ fehlt… should be: fehlt ‘s’. The wenn-part is a when box, then comes the verb (fehlt) and then the subject (‘s’).
– Warum passiert das, habe ich keine Ahnung.
Should be
– Warum passiert das? [pause] Ich habe keine Ahnung (two main clauses)
– Warum das passiert, weiß ich nicht. (warum part is a minor sentence)
It would also be technically correct to say
– Warum das passiert, habe ich keine Ahnung.
But putting the phrase “keine Ahnung haben” second isn’t really idiomatic… no logic.. it just doesn’t sound good.
– Ich habe keine Ahnung, warum das passiert.
This is fine, but swapping doesn’t work :)
Danke vielmals für Korrekturen und Erklärung. Es ist eine sehr informative, interessante und hilfreiche Lektion für mich.
Oh stimmt, du hattest mal gesagt, dass du aus Bayern kommst :)… hatte ich vergessen.
Du kommst aus Bayern und nennst dich doch “German”? Wow…
Ich nenn’ mich nicht nur so; oder hab ich da was nicht mitbekommen, seit ich im Ausland lebe ;-) ?
Togeeeeeether foreeeeeever. I think North and South complement each other well :D
Agreed, even though the South is MUCH nicer, of course :-)
manchmal frage ich mich ob du deine bilder dir selbst machst… ich meine die bilder von den posts…
Nee, ich kann leider nicht zeichnen :). Ich suche mir welche, und dann mache ich oft mit Photoshop ein paar Sachen weg und die Texte dazu.
Ich genoß die Hering Geschichte. Die normale Stimme habe ich in Allgemeinen verstehen, aber die langsame Fassung ermöglichte mich alle in dem Kopf zu übersetzen. Leider für ungewohnten Sätze habe ich immer noch das bewusst tun.
Ich bedanken dir herzig.
Korrigieren: Ich bedanke dir.
Freut mich, dass dir die Geschichte gefallen hat. Ein paar Korrekturen:
– Ich genoss die Geschichte.
This is not idiomatic German. You’d say “Mir hat die Geschichte gefallen”
– Die normale Stimme habe… vestanden (not verstehen)
– Die langsame Fassung ermöglichte mir (not mich… you’re receiving something) alles (not alle, alle is plural) im Kopf zu übersetzen
– … habe ich immer noch das bewusst tun.
I think this is pretty literally the English “I have to do something”… that doesn’t work in German. You need to use “müssen”
– Ich bedanke dir herzig.
“bedanken” works as follows:
– Ich bedanke mich bei dir für…
The more simple, and less technical sounding verb is “danken”
– Ich danke dir
And last but not least… “herzig” should be “herzlich”. hope that helps :)
Sounds great! There wasn’t a link where it said I could get a line by line translation. Do you have one?
Whoops, I hate to say but there isn’t. I’m really confused why I would a link there but I can’t find a document on my server. And this is a fairly old post and I did it with my old computer, so I’m afraid that line by line has disappeared :(.
Super sorry!!!