This is Teil 3 (part 3) of the story of Max, a German student. Be sure to read part 1 and part 2 first! Last week, Max got a call from his Brieffreund Oliver by surprise. After a short conversation, Max rushed to get a shower to then leave for his appointment with the eye doctor.
Kapitel 3
Das warme Wasser strömt aus dem Duschkopf. Duschgel, abwaschen, abtrocknen. So schnell hatte Max noch nie geduscht! Es waren gefühlte zwei Minuten. Er sprintet in sein Zimmer, und reißt den Kleiderschrank auf. Was soll er denn anziehen?
Egal, hauptsache schnell. Auf seinem Bürosessel liegen eine Jeans und ein rotes T-shirt die er gestern getragen hat. Das reicht! Er zieht die Jeans an, schließt den Gürtel, und zieht das T-shirt über den Kopf. Und los!
Max rennt raus, und spürt die eisige Luft auf seiner Haut. Sein Atem kondensiert sich, und bildet kleine Atemwolken. Er hat vergessen, seine Jacke anzuziehen! Er geht schnell wieder rein, um seine warme Lederjacke zu holen, die er immer im Winter anzieht.
Er stürmt aus dem Haus, und sprintet zur Bushaltestelle. Kalte Luft weht ihn ins Gesicht. Da muss er jetzt aber durch. Er rennt um die Ecke, und kann jetzt die Bushaltestelle sehen. Er weiß gar nicht, wann der Bus kommt. Bald, so glaubt er, und hoffentlich noch rechtzeitig für seinen Termin beim Augenarzt. Das ist ja das wichtigste!
Die letzten paar Meter geht er. Er atmet schnell, und spührt wie kalt seine Hände sind. Zum Glück hat er Handschuhe in den Taschen seiner Lederjacke. Es ist seine Lieblingsjacke. Max schaut auf den Fahrplan an der Bushaltestelle. Es ist immer noch ziemlich dunkel in der Morgendämmerung, aber das Sonnenlicht reicht, um den Fahrplan lesen zu können.
Der bus kommt in drei Minuten, um acht Uhr sechsunddreißig. Bis zur Augenarztpraxis sind es um die zwanzig Minuten. Das schafft er.
Max genießt die paar Minuten, um sich zu erholen vom Morgenstress. Es ist ein schöner Morgen, und am Horizont sieht Max wie die Sonne in ihrer roten Pracht den neuen Tag anbricht.
THE TRANSLATION
Chapter 3
The warm water runs out of the showerhead. Shower gel, wash off, dry off. Max had never showered this quick! It was a perceived two minutes. He sprints into his room, and yanks his wardrobe open. What should he wear?
Whatever, the main thing is fast. A jeans and a red t-shirt are lying on his office chair, which he wore yesterday. That’s good enough! He dons the jeans, closes the belt, and pulls the t-shirt over his head. Let’s go!
Max runs out, and feels the icy air on his skin. His breath condenses, and forms small breath plumes. He forgot to put on his jacket! He runs inside again to get his warm leather jacket, that he always wears during the winter.
He rushes outside the house, and sprints to the bus stop. Cold air blows into his face. He has to go through this now, though. He runs around the corner, and can see the bus stop now. He does not even know, when the bus is coming. Soon, so he believes, and hopefully in time for his appointment with the eye doctor. That is most important, after all!
He walks the last couple of meters. He is breathing quickly, and feels how cold his hands are. Fortunately, he has gloves in the pockets of his leather jacket. It is his favorite jacket. Max consults the schedule at the bus stop. It is still quite dark in the dawn, but the sunlight is enough to be able to read the schedule.
The bus comes in three minutes, at eight thirty-six AM. It is twenty minutes to the eye doctor’s office. He will make it.
Max enjoys those few minutes, to recover of the morning stress. It actually is a beautiful morning, and at the horizon Max sees how the sun, with its red glory, dawns the new day.
SOME WORDS TO KEEP IN MIND
das Wasser – water
duschen – to shower
Kleiderschrank – wardrobe
vergessen – to forget
die Haut – skin
der Atem – breath
das Gesicht – face
die Bushaltestelle – bus stop
bald – soon
die Morgendämmerung – dawn
der Horizont – horizon
I hope you enjoyed part 3! Read on to part 4! Any questions, comments? Let me know!
Yours,
Sten
Comments:
Zach V:
Thank you so much for doing this. It is so helpful–the vocab is not too complex but still contained in the context so that I can read it with context-clues when I don’t know particular words. Best way to learn languages.
Prost!
Michael:
,,Das reicht!” in zweiten Absatz. Zuerst habe ich gedacht, dass es lautet: ,,Das riecht” und meint, dass das T-shirt stinkt! Fuer mich, ist “,,reicht” ein neues Wort.
Sten:
@Michael Haha! Ja, super! Wie Sie in der englischen Uebersetzung lesen koennen, heisst das Verb “reichen” in Englisch “to be enough”
Brightstar:
Sten,
I found your blog by chance and what a gem it is. My favorite section is the Geschichte.
I find the current story perfect to assist my German learning. New vocabulary is introduced at the right pace and the translation helps to explain the use of words. Even the photo adds value to the text.
I copy your story onto my workbook and add my own notes so actually your text becomes a reference to me.
As am new to this blog I want to ask you if there are more similar stories. I definitely would like to access them.
Thank you so much for your help.
Regards
Brightstar
Sten:
@Brightstar Hi Brightstar,
thank you for your kind words! Similar stories not, unfortunately, but stay tuned on the blog – a new part of the story will be released every Friday. A series that I initiated on the blog before, but due to moving and not having access to my microphone at the moment I paused, is the Language Listening Lesson, or LLL. It is a story in German, which is spoken too, so there is a listening comprehension exercise.
Good luck learning German. If there is a topic you would like to see discussed, please let me know,
kind regards,
Sten
Eddie S:
Vielen dank for die Geschichte. Auf Englisch sagt mann “optician”, nicht “eye doctor”. Ich verstehe “eye doctor”, aber es klingt komisch!
Sten:
@Eddie S Gut zu wissen! Ich habe es gesucht, und habe Übersetzungen wie “oculist” gefunden. Da dachte ich, “eye doctor” ist ein besserer Begriff, da er leichter zu verstehen ist. Optician ist aber gut! Ich wusste nicht, dass man diesen Begriff auch im Englischen benutzt! Danke für den Tipp!
Suzanne:
In American english I use eye doctor all the time to refer to the trained person who is going to examine my eyes & test my vision.
John:
Sten.
Many thanks for your stories in the German language. I did achieve an “O” Level certificate in German, many many years ago, and I was thrilled that I could understand all but one or two words!
Just a point about the ‘eye doctor’. Most of us here in Britain use ‘Optician’, and hardly ever ‘eye doctor’. Maybe if one is having treatment at a hospital, one is more likely to use the words ‘eye doctor’ to differentiate between the many doctors at the hospital.
Keep iup the good work, and thanks again!
John
Sten:
@John Hi John,
Thank you for your kind words! Great to hear the posts help you.
Yes, I used eye doctor for a reason. There is also the person working at a shop selling glasses, which in Germany is an “Optiker”, which can be easily confused with ” Optician”, if it is not the same person.
I also wanted to emphasize that he is a doctor for eyes. I came across terms like “oculist”, but that would make things only complicated, I thought.
Thanks for your input!
Sten
Anji:
The UK and most other English speaking areas would say ‘a pair of jeans’ never ‘a jeans’ which is incorrect grammatically and sounds ‘silly’ to British native speakers. I have never heard anyone say ‘eye doctor’ either, we have various words to indicate whether you need an examination or treatment for your eyes, optician, optometrist, oculist, opthalmist, etc. But, on reflection ‘eye doctor’ saves confusion when reading/translating back into English. Otherwise, this little ‘story’ is brilliant for learners of German from British English. My understanding of German has greatly improved through using Transparent and other language websites. In my experience, busuu and Transparent are the best two currently. I visit both sites on a daily basis.