Deutsch lernen mit einer klassischen Kurzgeschichte von Ilse Aichinger. In dieser Folge möchte ich dir helfen, eine Kurzgeschichte zu verstehen und zu genießen. Ich lese dir den Originaltext dieser Gesellschaftskritik vor, erkläre ihn und fasse das Geschehen zusammen. Entspann dich, hör aufmerksam zu und versuche, diese klassische Geschichte zu genießen. PDF verfügbar.

Das PDF gibt es hier: PDF

1. Join us, reach levels A1 + A2 and get hooked on learning German 2. Get ad-free episodes on Apple Podcasts 3. Buy us a cup of coffee via PayPal

Tell a happy end, correctly use words that are always confused by German learners & words with the same or similar spelling, but different meanings.

Party at Paul's place. Anna says she has almost finished her studies and will soon be a teacher at a primary school. Paul's family is super proud of him and his blog has gained so much traction that he was even able to boost the business of Tim's bicycle repair shop with it. Meili's German has gotten much better. She says she would be living in China now if it wasn't for Paul's help. Tim says he wouldn't have met Meili at the Oktoberfest without Paul inviting everybody. Tim and Meili announce that they are going to get engaged. Paul's friends come out with the uncomfortable truth about his taste: his wallpaper is very ugly. Laura says that Fritz is on trial. He's is no longer a policeman. Fritz's "neighbor" on Sylt, the policeman, told her that the best amateur detective in all of Germany must be Paul. Paul reveals the big news: A small publisher wants to bring out his blog as a book. That means he's now a successful writer with a contract. His book will be called "the betrayal". He's thinking about maybe even doing a podcast...

Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/100-dein-deutsch-ist-jetzt-viel-besser-confusing-german-words

1. Join us, reach levels A1 + A2 and get hooked on learning German 2. Get ad-free episodes on Apple Podcasts 3. Buy us a cup of coffee via PayPal

Music by JuliusH from Pixabay

Express feelings for one another & comparative: so normal wie möglich & irregular forms.

It's Saturday, the day of the party, and Paul is visiting his parents. They’re getting along better since Father is overcoming his addiction to gambling and mobile games. He now compensates with sports and chess. Laura calls. She reveals why she has been so strange lately: Fritz's "neighbor" on the island of Sylt doesn't even live there. He is a friend of Laura and also a cop. He was investigating Fritz for corruption. That's why she was so interested in the blog article about him. The investigation was still ongoing. And that's why Paul shouldn't report him. Everything should be as normal as possible so that he can be caught red-handed. Today he’s been arrested when he wanted to pay for something with the stolen money he took from the Großkauf thieves from lesson 6. So, Paul never ends up reporting Fritz to the police, but his career is over anyway. Paul writes in the group chat that he has a surprise to announce at the party. What surprise is he talking about?

Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/99-eine-echte-ueberraschung-comparative-and-superlative

1. Join us, reach levels A1 + A2 and get hooked on learning German 2. Get ad-free episodes on Apple Podcasts 3. Buy us a cup of coffee via PayPal

Congratulate someone, express pride, summarize a story & word formation: ‑lich & ‑isch.

Paul has the painting! During the war, the lady and her husband were secretly listening to forbidden news - right in front of the painting (and he proposed to her there). It was the memories of her husband that she didn't want to lose. So she didn’t want to give it away, even though she doesn’t quite like it. It was also in front of this painting that he told her he wants to surrender. That's why she was so sure. Pauls work and blog are going well. He's considering writing a book, given that many people voted for it. But it still bothers him that he doesn’t know why Laura took Fritz's side. Mom calls: She is proud of him. And of his father because he's finally doing a gambling/gaming addiction therapy. Paul and his friends plan to celebrate. They change the date for Laura since she is busy with somehing very important that came up. She makes a secret of what this important thing is. And she doesn't want to reveal it until Saturday... Laura was overly interested in the blog article about Fritz, didn’t want Paul to report him even though she dislikes him, and now it’s even a secret what she’s busy with on Friday. What’s with all the secrecy?

Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/98-was-im-haus-passiert-ist-word-formation-lich-and-isch

1. Join us, reach levels A1 + A2 and get hooked on learning German 2. Get ad-free episodes on Apple Podcasts 3. Buy us a cup of coffee via PayPal

Express disappointment, surprise, and compassion & comparison: modal verbs and their use.

Paul and the grandson talk secretly: the widow had actually wanted to throw the painting away at one point. But she just can't let go of the old story and memories. Both grandpas were in the Hitler Youth and in the SA together. They really were Nazis. Paul is shocked. Paul’s grandpa must have learned the truth about what the Nazis did when he was a prisoner of war. He probably abandoned his political convictions there. But the grandson says his own grandpa was in Russia. And it was there that he began to no longer believe in the cause. That is what his grandpa told his grandmother while he was on home leave. That was three months before the letter came. In that last letter from the government, it was stated that he heroically tried to incite the enemy to surrender by waving a white handkerchief - and died in the process. But she always knew that he really only wanted to surrender himself. Paul asks how she could be so sure, and what the story has to do with the painting, anyway. That’s when the widow, who had been listening in on their conversation, speaks up. Finally, she realizes that withholding the painting won't bring her husband back either. She wants to give Paul the painting and tell him the story. How come the widow was so sure that Grandpa's friend just wanted to surrender? And what does the story have to do with the painting?

Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/97-die-opa-uberraschung-modal-verbs-and-their-use

1. Join us, reach levels A1 + A2 and get hooked on learning German 2. Get ad-free episodes on Apple Podcasts 3. Buy us a cup of coffee via PayPal

Tell a sentimental story and express gratitude & word formation: -bar.

Paul seems to have told the widow the whole dramatic story about the book, Fritz, his friends, Laura and his family. And he softened her emotionally with it. So she agrees to give him the painting, even though it didn't look like it at first. But then she suddenly becomes sentimental. She says it was in front of this painting that her now deceased husband had asked her if she wanted to marry him - three months before the letter came. She cries and is no longer willing give the painting away. Paul and her grandson talk to her, but she argues that the painting is the only thing she still has from her husband. She burned the letter. Paul wants to know: What letter, anyways? What letter is the widow talking about - and why did she burn it? Will Paul have to disappoint his family and relatives, and return without the painting?

Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/96-ich-kann-es-ihnen-nicht-geben-word-formation-bar

1. Join us, reach levels A1 + A2 and get hooked on learning German 2. Get ad-free episodes on Apple Podcasts 3. Buy us a cup of coffee via PayPal

Understand weather information and talk about weather & weather word: es.

A violent storm develops. Lightnings strike nearby. While Paul is in the house of his grandfather's friend, Tim, Anna and Meili are still in the car. They are concerned about the thunderstorm. They listen to the weather report and watch Paul through the window of the house as he speaks to the old lady. Then they get a message from him: The people in the house do have the painting! The three friends in the car wonder how he can prove that it belonged to his grandpa. After all, anyone can say that... Will the widow really give him the painting just like that?

Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/95-ein-wetterbericht-weather-word-es

1. Join us, reach levels A1 + A2 and get hooked on learning German 2. Get ad-free episodes on Apple Podcasts 3. Buy us a cup of coffee via PayPal

Explain a concern in simple words & word formation: -los & the gap s.

Paul is standing in front of the house, rings the doorbell and waits. An old woman opens the door. She is the widow of Grandpa's friend! At first, she is a little cautious and cannot really relate to what Paul wants because her husband has long been dead. But he gives her grandson the book, who then reads the old address and the birthday of her deceased husband out loud. When she hears this, she becomes nostalgic and asks Paul into the house. He takes out his phone and shows her a few snapshots he took of Grandpa’s old black and white photographs. The grandson seems to recognize the painting in one of the fotographs. He says it is perhaps one of those paintings that have been dusting in the basement for years. Then he goes to take a look. Is the painting really in the basement?

Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/94-glauben-sie-sie-haben-das-bild-noch-german-gap-s

1. Join us, reach levels A1 + A2 and get hooked on learning German 2. Get ad-free episodes on Apple Podcasts 3. Buy us a cup of coffee via PayPal