Lesson Transcript

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Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute German Season 1, Lesson 16 -
Asking for directions. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to
ask and understand basic directions in German.

Body

Eric: Here's the way to ask 'How do I get to the station?' in

German.

Albert: [Normal] Wie komme ich zum Bahnhof?

Eric: First is a word meaning 'how'

Albert: [Normal] wie [Slow] wie

Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to come'

Albert: [Normal] komme [Slow] komme

Eric: Next comes the word meaning 'I'

Albert: [Normal] ich [Slow] ich

Eric: Following is the word meaning 'to the'

Albert: [Normal] zum [Slow] zum

Eric: And lastly, we have the word meaning 'Train station'

Albert: [Normal] Bahnhof [Slow] Bahnhof

Eric: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the question
meaning 'How do I get to the station?'

Albert: [Slow] Wie komme ich zum Bahnhof? [Normal] Wie

komme ich zum Bahnhof?

Eric: Now, imagine that you're speaking to a stranger. Here's

how you would say, 'Go straight.'

Albert: [Normal] Gehen Sie geradeaus.

Eric: First is a word meaning 'to go, to walk'

Albert: [Normal] Gehen [Slow] Gehen

Eric: Next comes the word meaning 'you (formal)'

Albert: [Normal] Sie [Slow] Sie

Eric: And last is the word meaning 'straight ahead'

Albert: [Normal] geradeaus [Slow] geradeaus

Eric: Again, note the rising intonation. Listen again to the

phrase meaning 'Go straight.'

Albert: [Slow] Gehen Sie geradeaus. [Normal] Gehen Sie

geradeaus.

Eric: Here's a response meaning 'Turn right.'

Albert: [Normal] Rechts abbiegen.

Eric: First is a word meaning 'right,’ or ‘on the right'

Albert: [Normal] Rechts [Slow] Rechts

Eric: Followed by the word that means 'to turn (by car)'

Albert: [Normal] abbiegen [Slow] abbiegen

Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'Turn right.'

Albert: [Slow] Rechts abbiegen. [Normal] Rechts abbiegen.

Eric: Here's a response meaning 'Turn left.'

Albert: [Normal] Links abbiegen.

Eric: First comes a word meaning 'left, on the left'

Albert: [Normal] Links [Slow] Links

Eric: Followed by the word meaning 'to turn (by car)'

Albert: [Normal] abbiegen [Slow] abbiegen

Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'Turn left.'

Albert: [Slow] Links abbiegen. [Normal] Links abbiegen.

Cultural Insight

Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.

Albert: German streets, like other European streets, tend to be
long, narrow and curvy. When walking down a long street,
you may notice the name of that street changes. Street
names don’t always remain constant, so be careful when
asking about a location or address! When looking for
directions to a place, it is probably best to ask a local,
because they will be most familiar with the street system.

Outro
Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the
lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson!