German Stories - Learn German with Stories (and more)

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 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
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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 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
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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 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
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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. A thunderstorm is approaching. He hopes something exciting will happen today so that he can write a good story in his blog. But it doesn’t look that way beacuse the area is quite unpopulated. His blog is getting more and more fans now. And his work as a writer is going well again. When they reach a house, the sat nav says they have arrived. Anna, Meili and Tim stay in the car because the people in the house probably won't let four strangers in. Paul is about to find out if the family of Grandpa's friend lives there and if they have the painting at all. Will the people in the house even listen to him, not to mention let him into their house? Why is Laura making such a secret of why she was so interested in the blog article? And why doesn’t she want Paul to report Fritz even though she dislikes him?
Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/93-viel-glueck-ordinal-numbers-erste-zweite-dritte
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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 where they might find the painting! Everyone is happy that Paul will be looking for the painting - and his parents already told his relatives about it. This makes him feel pressured. Anna and Meili want come with him. Tim also agrees to help. But Laura cannot come. Paul still doesn't know why she takes Fritz's side now. He plans to ask her at the next opportunity. Will they find the family of Grandpa's friend at the new address? Will the painting be there? Why was Laura so interested in the blog article about Fritz the other day? And why shouldn't he report him to the police even though she dislikes him?
Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/92-die-neue-adresse-two-way-prepositions-unter
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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 girlfriend about this“, he says, „and don't write it in your blog or in your book!“ „What book,“ Paul asks, and is suprised to hear that 1,500 people already voted online because they want to buy his story as a book. Maybe he will write a book after all. He can finally ask his Dad which app Grandpa wanted to use to find the new address of the people who lived in the hiding place with Grandpa’s painting. He says it's a company, not an app. But finding the address is not cheap. So he wants to take care of it himself. Will the company be able to find the new address where the painting could be found? Where is it?
Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/91-du-brauchst-eine-therapie-two-way-prepositions-uber
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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 doesn't give him anything since it was a disqualification. That doesn't count as a loss. But he doesn’t want to accept that. Just as he is thrown out of the betting office and about to escalate the situation further, he is suddenly shocked when Paul interrupts him. His son now „officially“ knows about his gambling problem. Will he lose face in front of Paul? Are they going to argue?
Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/90-was-machst-du-denn-hier-two-way-prepositions-in
The best way to learn German: Don't beat yourself up with too many new words
When writing a learning story it's easy to get carried away by an idea for a dialog. But that can result in an episode having way too many new words. That would be demotivating for you, the learner.Therefore we counted every word and went through endless writing and re-writing sessions for every episode to make sure that didn't happen to our story. If you want know why we spent over 1 1/2 years of work before we even published our first lesson, got to german-stories.com/the-best-way-to-learn-german

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 immediately. She says she recognized Paul's dad from her early days in the police force. He is apparently not only addicted to mobile phone games but also to gambling. He has had several heated arguments and therefore he had been banned from all betting offices in town. But now a new betting office has opened. He hasn’t yet been banned from entering there. She agrees to get Paul the address. He asks why she was so interested in what he wrote about Fritz in his blog post the other day. But at that moment, a police siren goes off. Laura has to hang up, and quickly get back to work. What will he do if he gets the new betting office’s adress? Why was Laura so overly interested in his blog post about Fritz? Why doesn’t she want Paul to report him to the police even though she dislikes him?
Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/89-papas-problem-two-way-prepositions-an
Learning German with training wheels
The characters in our story DON'T speak at a regular speed, just like native speakers among themselves. Why?They speak natural German. But we put in countless hours of work to direct every voice actor so that he or she speaks a bit slower and more clearly, adapted to the language level. You can always speed up the audio in the app. We believe this is the better way. Just as we believe that at the beginning, training wheels teach a child to ride a bike better than bruises from falls do. If you want know why we spent over 1 1/2 years of work before we even published our first lesson, go to german-stories.com/the-best-way-to-learn-german

88: Vater lügt | Father is lying

Deny facts and make excuses & two-way prepositions: auf.
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Paul wants to know how Father helped Grandpa with his smartphone. With which app can you find out the new address where the painting might be? He calls him and asks, but his dad denies that he is banned from using a smartphone. He says he just doesn't like these new phones, that’s why he has an old Nokia phone. He also denies that he helped at all. He says he has no idea about technology - Grandpa just had it all wrong in his memory because he was old and forgetful. Of course Paul doesn't believe him. When he showed him his job applications he appeared to be a tech enthusiast who knows his stuff. He thinks he is just too proud to admit his mobile game addiction. He asks in the Whatsapp group for tips. Before he gives out any details, Laura quickly calls him, even though she is right in the middle of dealing with a highway accident because she’s a policewoman. She says she has to tell him something... What could be that important?
Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/88-vater-luegt-two-way-prepositions-auf
Easy German drills and exercises
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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 found fits the book. It is the lost page with the missing part of the old address! That's the place where Grandpa's friend and the painting used to be! The page probably fell out again at some point after Grandpa glued it in. In the blog comments, Paul's readers say they want to buy his story as a book, but he's not interested in writing one. He gets a message from Laura: She doesn't like Fritz at all, and Paul should know that. He aks, if that’s so, why does she take Fritz's side? And then he thinks about the painting again: He has the old address of the hiding place now. But how can he find the new address? Grandpa said Paul’s father had helped him with his smartphone despite being banned from using one. So Dad probably knows which app Grandpa wanted to use to find out the new address - but will he admit that? Perhaps not, given that Paul isn’t even supposed to know that he helped him. But he thinks he should at least try and dials his number. Will Paul’s dad help him and thus admit having used a smartphone despite being banned from using one? Why does Laura take Fritz's side even though she doesn't like him at all?
Transcript, lesson and extras: german-stories.com/87-die-seite-die-fehlt-two-way-prepositions-zwischen
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