German Stories - Learn German with Stories | Deutsch lernen mit Geschichten
Learn German with the only German learning podcast that picks you up at your level, leads you to your goal in small steps, and has an ongoing story that makes you hungry for more. Find out more at german-stories.com!
Episodes
101: Das Fenstertheater von Ilse Aichinger
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 f…
100: Dein Deutsch ist jetzt viel besser! | Your German is much better now!
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 tea…
99: Eine echte Ãœberraschung! | A real surprise!
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 gamblin…
98: Was im Haus passiert ist | What has happened in the house
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 propo…
97: Die Opa-Ãœberraschung | The grandpa surprise
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…
96: Ich kann es Ihnen nicht geben! | I can’t give it to you!
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 agre…
95: Ein Wetterbericht | A weather report
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 concern…
94: Glauben Sie, Sie haben das Bild noch? | Do you think you still have the painting?
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 cautiou…
93: Viel Glück! | Good luck!
Guide someone in the car where to turn and stop & Ordinal numbers (erste, zweite, dritte, …). Tim, Meili, Anna and Paul are driving to the address to look for the painting. Paul says Laura didn't want to talk about her weird behavior lately…
92: Die neue Adresse | The new address
Clothing and family vocabulary & two-way prepositions: unter. Paul is shopping clothes with Anna and Meili, because the weather is supposed to get bad and he lost his rain jacket on Sylt. His parents call: Father found out the new address w…
91: Du brauchst eine Therapie! | You need a therapy!
Admit a problem and accept help & two-way prepositions: über. Paul and his father walk through the city after the betting office incident. He admits he has a gambling addiction and agrees to undergo therapy. „Don't tell mom or your girlfrie…
90: Was machst du denn hier? | What are you doing here?
Play down a problem, demand what you deserve & two-way prepositions: in. Paul's dad plays down his gambling problem and goes to a betting office. And again, he has an argument because he had bet on a sports team's loss - but the bookmaker d…
89: Papas Problem | Daddy’s problem
Explain a gambling problem, plan an intervention & two-way prepositions: an. Laura calls Paul while she is working on the site of a highway accident. She feared he would tell everyone his father is addicted. That’s why she called immediatel…
88: Vater lügt | Father is lying
Deny facts and make excuses & two-way prepositions: auf. This Podcast episode is sponsored by italki. Promo Code: GERMANSTORY Web link: https://go.italki.com/germanstorypd App link: https://go.italki.com/germanstorypdapp Paul wants to kn…
87: Die Seite, die fehlt | The page that is missing
Describe a city adventure, tell a story & two-way prepositions: zwischen. In Paul’s latest blog article, he had an adventure with a subway ticket inspector on his way back from Grandpa's apartment. At home, he realized that the page he foun…
86: Das gibt’s ja gar nicht! | No way!
Furniture and apartment vocabulary extension & two-way prepositions: vor. Paul helps his parents to clear Grandpa's apartment. While he and his mom are busy, his dad is secretly looking for Grandpa's smartphone. He finds it but mom sees thi…
85: Ich sollte eine Anzeige gegen Fritz machen! | I should make a legal complaint against Fritz!
Complain, ask for advice, give advice and express a plan & subjunctive II with sollte. Paul is depressed and regrets that he couldn't be there for Grandpa in the end. His work is also not going well since he is out of ideas. When Laura hear…
84: Heinz kommt nie mehr zurück! | Heinz never comes back again!
Reproach, stroll down memory lane & subjunctive II with würde. Paul is back in Munich, riding his bike to Grandpa's apartment. He has the book, but without the important page. His parents are already there. They're clearing all the rooms be…
83: Das große Wiedersehen - Teil 3 | The big reunion - part 3
Accusations, reasons, excuses & subjunctive II with hätte. At the party, Fritz hid the book under his sweater and took it away. That actually saved it from falling off the balcony, he says. When Paul upset everybody there was no chance to g…
82: Das große Wiedersehen - Teil 2 | The big reunion - part 2
Get upset about someone, blow off steam, make excuses & order of dative and accusative in a sentence when both objects are personal pronouns. Paul confronts Fritz, who does not apologize, but justifies his behavior instead: His new girl is …
81: Das große Wiedersehen - Teil 1 | The big reunion - part 1
Travel vocabuary, neighborhood rules & order of dative and accusative in a sentence when one object is a personal pronoun. Paul thinks about his situation: he doesn't get any unemployment benefits anymore because he’s now able to make a liv…
80: So finde ich ihn nie! | I'll never find him like that!
Hotel room amenities and their convenience & order of dative and accusative in a sentence when both objects are nouns. It's getting late and bad weather is coming. Paul's rain jacket was in the backpack which he lost. He sees a clothes shop…
79: Mein Rucksack ist weg! | My backpack is gone!
Baggage and paperwork vocabulary & dative reflexive verbs and sentence structure: mir etwas anziehen, mir etwas kaufen, mir etwas leihen. Paul arrives at the train station in Westerland on the island of Sylt. He loses his backpack and unsuc…
78: Paul muss es Laura sagen | Paul has to tell Laura
Understand online comments & question words and pronouns in the accusative and dative: wem, wen, welcher, welchen, keinen, keinem, jemanden, jemandem, .... Working online has become a good income source for Paul. He reads some blog comments…
77: Ich fahre zu unserem Freund | I’m taking a ride to our friend
Briefly describe a place, tourism vocabulary & possessive pronouns in the accusative and dative: unserem/-r/-n, eurem/-r/-n. All of a sudden Paul doesn't want to waste any more time. He quickly looks up information about the German island o…
76: Pauls Schlüssel | Paul's key
Demand something, complain, and apologize & possessive pronouns in the accusative and dative: ihrem/-r/-n, Ihrem/-r/-n. While waiting for the movie to start and looking on the internet for the best surf spots, Tim suddenly wants to see Paul…
75: Um was geht es eigentlich im Film? | What is the film actually about?
Understand a movie description & possessive pronouns in the accusative and dative: seinem/-r/-n, ihrem/-r/-n. Meili, Anna, Tim and Paul are waiting in the cinema for the film to start and they’re reading the movie description. Paul tells th…
74: Pauls Blog wird im Internet bekannt | Paul's blog becomes well-known on the Internet
Complain about pain, congratulate, and spur someone on & possessive pronouns in the accusative and dative: meinem/-r/-n, deinem/-r/-n. During a break while playing paintball, Meili, Anna, Tim, and Paul chat. Paul excitedly shares his first …
73: Warum hat Paul das Buch wirklich bekommen? | Why did Paul really get the book?
Write a story, ask questions, explain a reason & dative verbs: antworten, danken, sagen, fehlen, gefallen, gehören, glauben, helfen, passen. Paul is at home, creating online profiles for freelancer apps. He’s been writing his new blog for 2…
72: Das Bild | The painting
Explain hardships of the past & personal pronouns in the dative: euch, ihnen / Ihnen. Paul boosts Grandpa's spirits with coffee and updates him on his search for the book. But because he gets many rejections for his job applications, he fee…
71: Mann, was machst du denn? | Man, what are you doing?
Talk about the weather, hobbies and technology & personal pronouns in the dative: ihr, uns. Paul and Grandpa play chess together. Tim hears from a friend that Fritz is probably kitesurfing because his BMW can't carry a large windsurfing boa…
70: Sie geben dir keine Arbeit | They don't give you a job
Vocab for games, application documents & personal pronouns in the dative: mir, dir, ihm. Paul is bowling with his parents and talks about his career plans. His lie that he knew what job he wanted all along goes undetected. Tim writes that h…
69: Paul will Autor werden | Paul wants to become an author
Make a decision based on simple job descriptions & sum-up: all dative and accusative prepositions and their contractions. Paul discovers for himself that he wants to be an author. So today he plans to write 20 applications and tell his moth…
68: Horror-Crash auf Oktoberfest! | Horror crash at Oktoberfest!
Understand an article in a tabloid newspaper & fusion of prepositions and articles: am, beim, im, vom, zum, zur, ins. Paul checks the Whatsapp group to learn about Fritz. He thinks Meili might find something on Fritz' Facebook. He reads on …
67: Welchen Job will er machen? | What job does he want to do?
Career planning, interest-based words & question word: welch-. Paul thinks about which job he wants and finds help in the job book he got from Anna. It was her present for Pauls birthday which she had angrily slammed on the table at the buf…
66: Der Freund, den Paul sucht | The friend that Paul is looking for
Talk about social problem areas and career choices, tip the waitress & subordinate clause with accusative (der Mann, den ich sehe). Paul is out with Laura when she tells him that Fritz always dreamed of owning a holiday home by the beach, m…
65: Opa hat ihn nie wieder gesehen... | Grandpa never saw him again...
Compare things, talk about the past & comparative and superlative. Paul sets up the date with Laura. Grandpa is still going on about former times. He starts talking about books that were banned in the GDR, former East Germany. That's when h…
Announcement, NOT an episode
How to get informed about when a new German Stories lesson will come out: Email: german-stories.com/email-signup-page Facebook: facebook.com/LearnGermanWithStories
64: Opa wollte weg aus der DDR | Grandpa wanted to leave the GDR
Explain economics and politics in very simple words & temporal prepositions: ab; von ... bis; zwischen. Everyone thinks that the sticker on Fritz's garage door opener is in the shape of a lake. Therefore, Paul looks for it on the internet. …
63: Das Oktoberfest | The Oktoberfest
Tell a story about the past, make conclusions & temporal prepositions: vor, nach, seit. Paul's mom feels guilty because he got fired and so she transferred € 500 to his account. He pretends to know what kind of job he wants and says he'll t…