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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.

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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...

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...

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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...

Joke about a singing performance, talk about TV and university & dative and prepositions: zu der Frau / zum Glück / von der Hose / vom Mann.

Anna and Meili are watching a talent show. Anna needs to break it to Meili that she missed a deadline at the university. She obviously had no clue and is devastated. It means that she can no longer take courses and she won't get a visa anymore. Maybe she has to pack up and go back to China without finishing her studies. Paul's message from the last episode arrives at the worst possible m...

Analyze your social circle, express solutions for problems & dative and prepositions: mit dem Garagenöffner / nach dem Fußballspiel and n-declension in the dative.

Anna and Tim aren't mad at Paul anymore. But Meili still is. And Fritz is gone. Paul has to get Meili to forgive him. Only then can he invite all of his friends to the Oktoberfest, restore the old friendship and help Tim go on a date with her. Paul is unemployed, and he doesn't have good clothes for a job interview. So he asks Meili about clothing shops. Laura has been acting ve...

Talk about football (soccer), make arrangements & dative and prepositions: aus der Ecke / bei dem Foul.

Paul and Tim were at a football (soccer) game - Paul had invited him and paid for the tickets. As a thank you, Tim calls Fritz's landlord and pretends to be Fritz: He wants to get him to arrange for the garage door to be repaired, so that Paul can sniff around inside. But it turns out that the door and the opener are both new and cannot be broken at all. That means, Fritz has another garage and the opener must...

Internet related words & dative with plural and indefinite articles: einem Mann / keiner Frau.

Paul is sitting in bed with his laptop, researching surf spots in Germany. Unfortunately, there are far too many of them. He needs more information before he can go on with his search. He finds Laura's e-mail in the spam folder: She saw him yesterday and thinks he has a wife and a child. That’s because he helped his neighbor carry her shopping bags. Paul stays calm and gives her his Whatsapp number. She explains that she deleted her profile because the Finder ap...

Address related words for sending letters & the dative case (dem, der, dem).

Paul is near his apartment and opens Fritz's letter. It's two weeks old and it has the cell phone number of Fritz's landlord. Paul wants to call him and have the garage door repaired in Fritz's name. That way, he'll be able to open it afterwards, and sniff around inside. His problem: He doesn't sound like Fritz. He meets his neighbor and helps her carry her shopping bags. On his cell phone, he receives a push notification for an e-mail that his former online date...

Use cool words like a teenager & temporal prepositions: im, am, um.

Paul is at Fritz's apartment. He finds a letter from his landlord and a garage door opener with a broken sticker. He recognizes that it belongs to Fritz. The opener works, but the garage door won't open. The door may be broken. Suddenly strangers from Fritz's apartment talk to him through the window: They’re renting his apartment temporarily. Fritz has gone surfing. But they don't know where. Where is Fritz? Where are the surf spots in the area? What’s up with the garage door open...

Tell a story, talk about an accident & perfect tense with separable and reflexive verbs.

Anna has to empty her basement by herself. Her landlord puts pressure on her, but doesn't help. She drops a box because her shoulder hurts again. That's when Paul arrives. She reluctantly accepts his help. He gives her painkillers, and together they retell their bike accident story where she injured her shoulder. Later, she even shares an idea with him: He should go to Fritz's apartment and sniff around there. Previously, Paul hadn’t been sure why he should go there since Fritz is...

Describe your situation in the past & perfect tense: wir sind gewesen / gelandet.

Paul is still with Grandpa while Meili is sending a link from Fritz's Facebook page. Fritz was promoted because he caught the Großkauf thieves. That must be the reason why he is now the new head of the theft department. Anna writes that she has to empty her basement. She has a deadline, but a friend who wanted to help her just didn't show up. Even though nobody else can step in she still refuses Paul's help. Grandpa talks about „landing“ his plane in a for...