German Stories - Learn German with Stories | Deutsch lernen mit Geschichten

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 Ru...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 fin...

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 ga...

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...

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 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...

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...

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 this. She angrily takes it away from him because dad is banned from using smartphones. He is addicted to mobile games and could become the way he used to be. She definitely doesn't want that again! Father gets mad and says those days are over. But where has he been going every night for the last four days, if that’s...

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 hears that he uploaded his Sylt adventure today, she is a little too interested in the new blog post, especially since she already knows the whole story. His blog is now super popular, but that doesn't cheer him up: Grandpa would have loved to look for the painting. But now he and the...

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 because he has died. That is why Paul’s mother was so strange on the phone when he was on Sylt. The call wasn't dropped due to bad reception - she hung up because she was crying. When Grandpa's condition got worse and she heard that Paul was on Sylt, she knew he couldn't come back that sam...

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 give it back secretly. And the option to admit that he was the one who had the book without losing his face was gone, too. So he handed the book over to the caretaker who's doing the lost-and-found for Paul's apartment building. But that was already 3 weeks ago. That's why he's so shocked that Paul d...

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 Paul’s ex girlfriend, and he thought Paul would mind. So he didn't tell him. He blocked his facebook posts for all of his friends because it was supposed to be a surprise that he caught the Großkauf thieves, got the promotion, the vacation, and the holiday home. But he forgot that Meili is also on facebook and...

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 living as a freelancer. Fortunately, his laptop and cell phone survived yesterday's rain thanks to a plastic bag. He has already checked out of the hotel room. And he has been looking for Fritz for five hours today - with no success. He realizes that he has to give up the search. Unfortunately he will have to disappoint Gr...

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, but it closed 5 minutes ago. He has been looking for Fritz for two hours today. Now the e-scooter battery is almost empty. Paul sees another red BMW, but is disappointed again - it's not Fritz's car. He's hungry and still doesn't have a hotel room. He gets a message from Laura: She wanted to call...

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 unsuccessfully tries to get help in the lost-and-found office. He is desperate because the garage opener is in it, and he needs it to find Fritz's garage. He wants to give up, but then it occurs to him: Without his garage opener, Fritz has to park outside. In that case, Paul would be able to see his red BMW parked...

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 during the train ride to Sylt: Among other things, people write that at first Paul only took advantage of Laura as a source of information. He answers her message and says he doesn't have time for a date. She wants to know why but he doesn't tell her. He really likes her, and he thinks he will lose her if he tells...

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 of Sylt, then rushes to get the train to there. Apparently, this is his understanding of „taking action“. On the phone, he gets some tips from Anna: He should try finding Fritz's garage by using the garage opener. Fritz's house is surely close to the garage. And he has a red BMW - there are certainly not many...

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's key ring. Fritz’s garage door opener is attached to it. They see on the website that the sticker on it is a symbol which represents the North Sea island of Sylt. It’s hard to say if Fritz is really on Sylt. Right when Paul intends to turn off his phone, Grandpa calls. Despite the anno...

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 them that he is getting more and more online jobs now. It also turns out that his blog is becoming even more popular. He and his friends gather in front of his cell phone as they urge him to finish his new blog post so that they can read it first. He writes down a few un...

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 freelance gig. The blog about Fritz has gained traction, with fans speculating wildly about his alleged connections to the underworld - this is what Grandpa couldn't believe earlier. Paul is amazed by the blog's popularity. They discuss plans to see a movie later. Inspired by Tim's kitesurfing video, Paul thinks that Fritz might be surfing on an island. However...

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 days. Grandpa calls him and explains that he never found the painting because the address of the hiding place that was written in the book was no longer correct after the war. Also, everything looked different due to the reconstruction of Germany. He then glued the page back into the book, which was not valuable at that time. You can...

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 feels hopeless. Grandpa empathizes with him and suggests that he should start writing, even without a formal writing job. So Paul decides to work on freelancer websites and to create a blog featuring the story about Fritz. Grandpa finally reveals the story behind the book: it holds the secret to a forbidden painting that belonged to his father...

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 board. Tim wants to share a video of the best kitesurfing spots with Paul. Paul feels down because he keeps getting rejected after applying for jobs. Grandpa surprises Paul by revealing he's good with technology and has a smartphone. Paul sees Grandpa's note on his fridge reminding him about the book, but he takes it down to hide the...

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 he doesn't have any news about Fritz either, but he believes lakes don't have real beaches. So Paul has to look for Fritz on Germany's coasts. But they are too long to search. Tim offers to ask a friend about the best surfing spots there. Paul is surprised because the first answer he gets on his...

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 mother about it. But the chances to become an author are slim, because he doesn't have a degree in German Studies and there are many authors already. In the Whatsapp group, he finds out that Anna and Meili don't have any news about Fritz. And Tim has no cell phone reception. Will Tim have any updates about Fritz when...

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 a news app about an accident at the Oktoberfest. A lot of police are needed there. Laura explains that that's the reason why she has no time during the next few days. Fortunately, she's not ghosting him again. His mom invites him for coffee to discuss his "career plans," so he decides to figure them out first...

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 buffet in Berlin. He wants to do "something with writing, texts and words". He starts enthusiastically, but quickly gives up because he thinks you can't make any money with that. Then he writes Laura. She briefly answers that she won’t have time for him in the near future. Paul wants to wait until she wr...

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, maybe on the North Sea or Baltic Sea. Laura asks about Paul's job. Since he's jobless, he lies, saying he's a librarian but looking for something new. Laura is disappointed because Paul doesn't have a clear job goal. So now Paul really wants to find a job. He puts the big puzzle together: Fritz must be...

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 he remembers THE book. Paul lies again: he says the book is at home. He had lied to his mother about his job choice before, and now he feels that he got caught up in a web of lies with no way out. Will he find a way out of his web of lies, or end up...

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

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. But he cannot find such a lake in all of Germany. He thinks there is little hope because Fritz is certainly abroad. Laura writes: She saw Paul's Oktoberfest photos on Whatsapp and she also wants to go there with him. Grandpa talks about his time in the GDR. At first, Paul is fascinated by the GDR, but then...

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 tell her next time. So he is spared from having to tell his friends that they have to pay themselves, even though he said „it’s my treat“. He meets them at the Oktoberfest. It turns out that Fritz had a girlfriend the whole time. On the trip to Berlin he has always been on the phone an...

Emphasize the negative aspects of a person, make a friendly suggestion & Substituite forms for the imperative: Nicht so viel trinken! / Lass uns das nehmen!

Paul writes his mother that he wants to borrow 500 € from her. He lies and says it’s for new clothes for a job interview - not for treating his friends to the Oktoberfest directly after a shopping frenzy. And he pretends to know what kind of job he wants. Tim thanks Paul for helping him meet Meili at the Oktoberfest. Paul meets Laura for the first time. She's nice, they flirt, and she says...

Make suggestions and give commands & Imperative with Sie: kommen Sie / suggestion with wir: gehen wir.

Paul is buying new clothes to be prepared in case he is invited to a job interview. He doesn't have a lot of money, so he doesn't want to buy much. But he gets too excited and ends up on a shopping frenzy. Meili is happy because her problems are gone. That makes Tim and Anna happy, too. Paul takes the opportunity to invite all of them to the Oktoberfest. But due to his shopping frenzy, his bank account is now in...

Ask for a favor, express uncertainty, evade questions & imperative with ihr: geht / seid.

Paul's parents are in the dance club. They talk to their friend, the head of the university and ask him to help Meili. He says he might be able to help her. Meanwhile, Paul texts Laura: He writes he doesn't like Fritz either. But then he playfully bypasses her inquiries about this topic by getting a date with her. He avoids having to tell her anything about his problem with Fritz. Can the head of the university help Meili with her missed deadline?

Give commands and instructions & imperative with du: sei / iss / sag / antworte / öffne / fahr / geh.

Paul writes Anna to ask her for some clothing store recommendations and learns about Meili's problems. Then he visits his parents for coffee and cake. Now they are very friendly to him because they have a guilty conscience: Paul has lost his job which is partly their fault. And Laura writes him that she is Fritz's ex-girlfriend. Paul thinks that's good because then she'll have information about him. But she surely thinks that Paul has a problem with it. So his plan to g...