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RE: We might be moving to Germany!
June 1, 2017 at 2:13 am
When I first moved to Germany I started making lists of words that I heard but didn't know but came up enough times that I thought that I should know. When I was watching TV for the first I quickly ended up with a page of A4 covered in words that I had looked up and I thought that it would take ages for me to learn it. But very soon I was at a stage when I look back on that list and realise that it was all very basic German.
This was particularly useful to German bureaucracy which unfortunately you will have to deal with as soon as you move to Germany.. Just accept from the outset that it will take a long time to read each letter and understand what it is saying. But on the plus side, they use a lot of the same words each time, often strung together to make long frightening words. Reading official German is a very important skill but you will quickly start to recognise a lot of the words that they use if you persevere with what seems very daunting at first.
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RE: We might be moving to Germany!
June 1, 2017 at 2:25 am
(This post was last modified: June 1, 2017 at 2:26 am by Aroura.)
(June 1, 2017 at 2:13 am)Mathilda Wrote: When I first moved to Germany I started making lists of words that I heard but didn't know but came up enough times that I thought that I should know. When I was watching TV for the first I quickly ended up with a page of A4 covered in words that I had looked up and I thought that it would take ages for me to learn it. But very soon I was at a stage when I look back on that list and realise that it was all very basic German.
This was particularly useful to German bureaucracy which unfortunately you will have to deal with as soon as you move to Germany.. Just accept from the outset that it will take a long time to read each letter and understand what it is saying. But on the plus side, they use a lot of the same words each time, often strung together to make long frightening words. Reading official German is a very important skill but you will quickly start to recognise a lot of the words that they use if you persevere with what seems very daunting at first.
Funny you mention the official documents, we just finished filling out the tenant document to send to the new landlord. They really do string together a lot of words to make giant, scary words. We had to use google translate and also guess a lot even after translation. I'm going to try and find a better translator app for my phone, for doing this sort of thing when out of the house. Have you ever used a translation app to help you?
p.s. Great idea about writing down words you hear but don't know, to look up later. I have an unused journal here, it will be perfect for that. Thank you for all the helpful advice!
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RE: We might be moving to Germany!
June 1, 2017 at 3:55 am
(This post was last modified: June 1, 2017 at 3:55 am by Alex K.)
I don't understand the fucking official documents. I could be selling my grandmother into slavery on my tax returns for all I know.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: We might be moving to Germany!
June 1, 2017 at 10:28 am
(May 31, 2017 at 9:25 pm)Nymphadora Wrote: Google translating this is not always correct. My daughter got some of it right, but this is too advanced for her.
In English it comes out as "Derka! Derka! Derka! Muhammad jihad!"
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RE: We might be moving to Germany!
June 1, 2017 at 11:30 am
(This post was last modified: June 1, 2017 at 11:31 am by Alex K.)
The grammar isn't always correct, but I understood everything. Ich habe eine Frau, und wir wohnen in Heidelberg! Übung war schon richtig, das Wort "Ubung" gibt es nicht...
(May 31, 2017 at 8:51 pm)Aroura Wrote: (May 31, 2017 at 5:43 pm)Alex K Wrote: Das sieht ganz toll aus! Wie viele Quadratmeter sind das denn? Ich glaube wir müssen euch mal besuchen kommen! 
Danke!
Icke kenne nicht wie viele Quadrameter es ist. Wir haben nur die photos vom arbeitgeber. Sie geben uns weitere Informationen später. Wo sind sie in Deutschland?
Wir würden gerne besuchen. Haben sie eine Frau?
Entschuldige meine Grammatik. I'm trying to do this on my own, without a translator. I've feel like I've got an ok vocabulary for just using movies and duolingo, but crappy grasp of the grammar, still! lol And all my sentences are short and choppy, lol.
Danken für die Übung.
(Is it Ubung? I feel like I have the wrong word, here.) 
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: We might be moving to Germany!
June 1, 2017 at 11:47 am
oh... do you remember how to drive a car with a manual transmission?
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RE: We might be moving to Germany!
June 1, 2017 at 3:07 pm
(June 1, 2017 at 11:47 am)pocaracas Wrote: oh... do you remember how to drive a car with a manual transmission?
Both Yanks and Germans manage to drive on the wrong side of the road, so there's that.
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RE: We might be moving to Germany!
June 1, 2017 at 4:16 pm
(June 1, 2017 at 3:55 am)Alex K Wrote: I don't understand the fucking official documents. I could be selling my grandmother into slavery on my tax returns for all I know.
When I got made redundant from my last job in Germany I had to fill in a form for when I signed on to get benefits. It all went OK, slowly but OK, until I got to the last question at end of the two page form. It confused me so I asked a colleague who can even cope with Swiss German. It confused him as well. So he looked up the online help for the form which was 80 pages long!
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RE: We might be moving to Germany!
June 2, 2017 at 2:41 am
(June 1, 2017 at 11:47 am)pocaracas Wrote: oh... do you remember how to drive a car with a manual transmission?
No cars for us. We plan to walk, bike, or use mass transit only. Trying to decide if we will buy a bike to share, or rent them. Not sure how that will work, yet.
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RE: We might be moving to Germany!
June 2, 2017 at 3:02 am
(June 2, 2017 at 2:41 am)Aroura Wrote: (June 1, 2017 at 11:47 am)pocaracas Wrote: oh... do you remember how to drive a car with a manual transmission?
No cars for us. We plan to walk, bike, or use mass transit only. Trying to decide if we will buy a bike to share, or rent them. Not sure how that will work, yet.
My advice, buy used bikes.
Renting them only makes sense for short periods of time.
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