Small Talk (in Slow German) | Easy German Live

Germans can’t do small talk? Watch Cari and Manuel prove you wrong — live and in slow German! 🔤 Subtitles available (press “cc”).
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Let’s start with the Easy German live stream. Hello Manuel! Hello, Cari! How are you doing? I’m doing great because I’m live on YouTube and speak very slow German today. – We speak slowly today. We are live. There will be subtitles soon. If you watch this video later,

You can click “CC” in the corner… What’s later? – Later. Now we’re live and there are lots of comments. “Hello from Mannheim,” writes Mia. “Hello from Hungary, Budapest.” “Hello, Manuel and Cari.” There are lots and lots of comments from all over the world. Nice that you are here.

We are live on YouTube and live on Facebook. That means you can write us a comment. Do people also have to write slowly, Manuel? You have to write very slowly. We’re excited to be live today. We try to speak slowly. You can chat with us, but you can also watch this video later

Because we have a super interesting topic today, Manuel. Today we’re talking about small talk. In German we call it “small talk”. “Small Speak”. – No, you don’t say that. We use a lot of English words, including small talk. But Germans are supposedly very bad at small talk.

We want to test that today. Our idea is to simply call a few friends and show you what typical small talk on the phone sounds like. This is my cell phone. This cell phone is connected to our machine, connected to our machine, with this beautiful cable

. And so now we can call people and hear them here on YouTube and Facebook. And then we will use typical vocabulary. We can introduce a vocabulary, Manuel, that is “Well?”. That means… We talked about it for a long time in the podcast recently. – Yes.

“N/a?” is a bit like “So?” maybe in English. – Like that? N/a? But it also means something like… – No, not “like that”. Excuse me. “Sup.” A bit like this: “Sup? What’s up? Sup? Well?” It means something like this: “Hello, how are you?” All together somehow.

Correct. Who should I call first, Manuel? – Do you want to call Janusz? There are already many questions as to whether Janusz will be there today. No problem. We’ll call Janusz now and I’ll try saying “Well?” and see how he reacts. This is also a test for you.

So you can start your call soon. Do you hear anything yet? – Yes. Hello! – N/a? Janusz, like on the radio, you have to turn off the radio first. Janusz is watching us right now. – Yes. – N/a? – N/a?

How are you? – Very good, how are you? – I am fine. – What are you doing right now? I cooked myself a little something to eat and I’m currently munching on it in front of the monitor. And on the monitor you can see both of you sitting comfortably in the studio.

And Cari has already made herself a cocktail, which made me smile a bit . – Wait, that’s a glass of water, Janusz. – Yes, yes, yes, you. I don’t believe you. – A very tasty glass of water is here on my table. – Yes. – And you?

But I’m happy because after this conversation I’ll get ready and drive to you. Tonight we want to hang out with some people, hang out together. And I think I’ll have a beer there too. Janusz says we want to hang out with random people.

Our plan for tonight, Manuel, is… – A team meeting with our team. Correct. – Any people. – Oh, that makes me even happier. So, we have a small company. Easy German is now a team. And we have a team meeting. We order pizza and drink a beer.

But Janusz says we’re hanging out with random people. “Hanging out”, Manuel, what does that mean? – That means I wanted to put a smile on your face with this saying. “Hanging out” is a bit of teenage language. When I was 13, I used to hang out with my friends a lot .

We sat around and didn’t do anything. Hang out, okay. “Hang out” is simply “to hang out” in English? Yes, I recently found a video where you can see Manuel hanging out with his friends. And he’s singing a song and, funnily enough, you sang, “G minor… A major… F major…”

Okay, stop, stop. Don’t spread personal stories. – Janusz, I like your laugh. It goes like this… That’s right. Good. – Very nice. – Back to small talk. And otherwise? Yes, and otherwise I’ll get ready now and come to you. And I’m happy. – Understood.

Great, see you soon, Janusz. – I will represent our wide audience at this party. – Nice, Janusz. It was very nice talking to you. See you soon in the Easy German Studio, with some water. – Yay! See you soon. Ciao. – See you soon. Ciao.

Manuel, you just used a saying: “And what else?” Yes, you can say that if you… – Show that. Yes, so that you can write it down too, I would like to show it. “And otherwise?” That…when do you say that? – You can say “What else?” or “What else?”.

And that means: “Tell me something else about your life. I don’t have a specific question. I just want you to tell me something else now.” “And otherwise?” means: “And what else is your life like at the moment?”

This can be shortened to: “And what else? What else is new?” – It can mean anything. It can also mean: “What else? What’s happening? What’s going on?” Yes, that’s a good saying. When you’re talking to someone, your neighbor can be in the stairwell and you don’t know

What to say, just say… – What else? And if someone says that to you and you don’t have a real answer to it, you don’t really want to say anything more and you’re maybe not in a great mood, but just okay, then you can answer: “I have to.”

“Must yes” means: “You have to live. It’s… you have to get up, go to work. Must yes.” This is intended to signal: “I have nothing more to tell you. It is what it is.” Good, Manuel. Now let’s do a new test.

I’m calling my good old friend Klaus. Let’s see what’s going on there. Ah, the bell rings. Still rings. Good morning! – Good morning! – Good morning! N/a? Well, what’s going on with you? – What’s going on with us, Manuel? – It’s all ok. – And with you? Yes, yes, yes.

You were just watching on YouTube, Klaus. Yes, that’s right. We are currently watching YouTube. – That’s a coincidence. – And Enno is with me. Enno is with me and he has a question for you. – Okay. – Enno, fire away. Quiz question: What is really in the glass?

You caught her. It’s melted ice cream. – It’s water, Enno. It’s water. Enno doesn’t believe that. – Well, Enno, then you have to come to our studio and smell the glass. But it’s better not to try it. Enno, what do you think? Do you have any idea?

What could be in there? – To be honest, I don’t know what it’s called, but Dad probably just said it could be… gin and tonic? Right, very good. You have won your own quiz, Klaus and Enno. – Yes, nice. Klaus, what do you think of the photo we selected of you?

I have to take a quick look, I’m a bit obsessed with the TV… It’s a bit strange. – Funny, exactly. But it suits me quite well, I have to say. – This is Klaus in real life. Klaus, where are you right now?

I am at home now. – And where is that? – And… street? – Munster. And we just had dinner. – Ate dinner. How is the weather with you? Not so nice. A bit cold, a bit wet, a bit windy. Here also. It’s the same here.

And now it’s dark too. – Ahh. And otherwise? Yes, otherwise everything is fine, nothing special, yes. And how is the family? Good. – Yes good too. It’s just a shame that we’ll soon be writing two papers in a row. – Ahh.

Enno is at school and has to write class work. – That’s annoying. Do you still know that? – Totally. – Do you remember that, Manuel? – I didn’t like classwork. What is a class assignment? A test. – A test. Enno, you are writing class work. Good luck. Thank you. – Yes, good.

Then we have now discussed all the questions, right? – Yes. – Yes. – Have a nice evening. Yes, I wish you that too and have fun with the pizza later. What are you doing today? We watch YouTube for a bit and then go to bed.

Yes, that’s a really typical evening with Klaus and Enno, isn’t it? Correct. – Do you always do that? Watch YouTube and go to bed? – We do this a lot, except we don’t watch YouTube, we watch something else. – Okay. There isn’t a live stream from Easy German every evening.

Correct. Sometimes you have to look at something else. Take care, you two. – Yes, thank you for the nice conversation. See you soon. – See you soon. – Bye. – Bye. – Ciao. Man, Manuel, those were two typical conversations, right? Total. These were typical small talk conversations.

Normally we would speak faster, but… – And say even less. The conversation was authentic. You, we have a lot of comments. Shall we take a look at the comments? In any case. – Wow, so many.

Yes, that’s a bit like small talk. What are our hobbies? Do you have a hobby, Cari? – Yes. Playing computer games. – Ah yes. And otherwise? Mix cocktails. – Okay. Marcia wants to know: “Why are Germans such bad small talkers?” And is that even true?

Yes, this is live proof that we are bad at small talk. We need real phrases so that we can even keep ourselves busy. How is the weather today? A lot of people talk about that, right? I would also say the weather is the number one small talk topic.

And I remember once talking to Dana from Wanted Adventure, who then said that it’s something typically German that people ask: “Yes, what’s the weather like where you are? What’s the weather like?” And you wouldn’t necessarily ask something like that in other countries because it’s actually not interesting.

Exactly, whenever you talk to someone who doesn’t live in the same city, when you’re on the phone, you always want to know: “What’s the weather like where you are?” – But why? This is just a weather report. We now wanted to know what the weather is like in Münster, where Klaus lives?

I’m really interested in what the weather is like in Münster. Shall we call someone again and ask what the weather is like? Yes. Are there any more phrases we need to learn? Yes. – “How is the weather where you are?” we just had. “How is the weather with you?” Where are you now?”

True, we had that too. You want to know that too. Are you at home? Are you at the supermarket? Are you perhaps on a walk? I’ll call Isi because she’s in another country. – Okay. – The doorbell is already ringing. Let’s see if she answers.

No Answer. Oh, that’s stupid. – A pity. – Then we’ll try again. Otherwise, call someone else. – Then I’ll call again. I’ll call again. There. Hello? Hello? – Hello! – Hello! Where are you now? I am in England. – In England. You notice that. The internet is bad.

Can’t you hear me well? – You are very far away. – Hello. – Wait a minute. – Yes, we hear you, Isi. Where are you now? In England? One moment. – You have to speak slowly. Are you there? – The internet is very bad. – Very, very bad, yes.

Shall we try again via FaceTime? Yes. – I’ll call you again, Isi. Normal call, please. – Normal call, okay. – Okay, I’ll try it. I only have three lines, but we’ll try that. Does it actually cost money if I call Isi now with a normal call… – Yes.

It costs money, but Easy German should be worth it to you. Easy German is worth it to me. OK. I’m calling. Yes, the doorbell rings. You can already hear the line to England. Crackle. – Hello? – That’s better, right? – A little bit. That’s fine, Isi. Where are you now? In England?

In Brighton, in England, yes. – How is the weather with you? Bad. – Ahh. – Bad. – Like us. The line is also bad. Oh man, I’m sorry. – How are you doing? It’s going ok. I just laid down in the park because of the weather.

Laid down in the park? Just lie on the meadow? An accident? Did you slip? – Yes. I very… very… yes, I slipped. Mitch described it to me what it looked like. I did a balancing act. Isi did an involuntary balancing act in the park. Isi, you had an accident, I’m sorry.

I’ll drink some water to you. That’s very kind. I also say it has to. It must. – It must. – Yes, I have to. – Yes, I have to. – And otherwise? Otherwise, here I am just snoring Nola as I watch her eat her dinner. Nola is your dog. – And…

Nola is my dog. And Mitch prepares dinner for us. Mitch is your man. – So a typical evening. A typical evening in England. There is food, there is bad weather and accidents in the park. Yes. It’s nice, is not it? – And what are you doing today?

I’ll go straight to the couch. The pain is slowly starting to get worse. – Wow. Yes. – Wow. – I just wanted to hear how you’re doing. – Oh, Manuel drinks beer. I think I’m with you afterwards, but Manuel is drinking beer, I can see that. – It’s non-alcoholic beer.

Okay – zero percent. – Are you also watching YouTube right now? Yes, I watch YouTube too. Thanks for the information, Manuel. That was important to know. Yes, okay. Then I would say… – It’s getting too boring. Hang up. – See you soon.

Then… it was very nice with you, Isi. I just wanted to hear how you’re doing. That’s nice. Thank you very much. – Get well soon. Get well soon. – Thanks. – After the accident. – Have fun. – Bye! – Bye!

The Yes? – The topic of health is also another typical small talk topic. Of course we always ask: “How are you?” And the Germans don’t always just say: “Thank you, good”, but if you’re not feeling well at the moment, maybe you have a cold, a cold, the flu, then you say that.

“No, not so well at the moment, me have a cold.” – Yes, exactly. So in Germany you have to be prepared that if you ask someone: “How are you?”, the person usually answers honestly. This is part of our small talk. And the way the conversation ends is typical, right?

At some point you asked the typical questions and then you said: “Yeah, okay, I just wanted to hear how you’re doing.” – Exactly. That’s the farewell, almost, that you say: “Yes, I wanted that… I just wanted… I didn’t want to be a bother, I just wanted to hear how you were doing.”

Do you sometimes just call your friends to see how they are doing? Far too rare. It’s actually very good if you just call people. And this question that you ask at the end is also typical, when you no longer know what to ask, then you ask: “What are you

Still doing today?” Then you want to know… Actually, these small talk questions are pretty invasive. – Invasive? So, privacy, why… right? “What are you doing today” is actually completely private. But you can also tell everything and nothing. – Yes, sure. – No? So you can say completely unimportant

Things. “What are you doing today?” “Nothing special,” you can also answer. – Cari, do you find it difficult to speak slowly? No, I trained long and well. “The Germans sometimes say ‘so la la’.” That’s correct. If you say, “How are you?” and you don’t want to say “good,”

But you don’t want to say “bad,” you can say “so-so.” That means medium. But when you say that, the other person also asks, “What’s wrong,” right? Yes, then you would ask: “Oh, just so-so, why so-so?” How are you doing? Why? Yes. – “And are the Germans often honest?” asks Floyd.

Yes. We are very direct and honest. And we may make small talk, but we tell the truth. You say that so seriously, but it’s really funny because I often have this thing with Jeremy where… I say something or no, he asks me a question, he just says something totally random

And he says: “Yes, nice weather today.” And I say: “Huh? No. The weather isn’t that good after all.” – Yes. And I analyze that immediately and take it very seriously. So we also make random small talk, but we think a lot about what we say.

Absolutely. – I’ll call Erik and see if that’s the case with him too. What do you think? Certainly. – How could I call Erik? – Erik is a German teacher or didactician. Is he particularly good at small talk? – Perhaps he is particularly German in this respect

. We’ll see. – I’ll test it. It rings. Hello? – Hello? – Hello, Cari. – Hello Erik. N/a? – Yes what’s up? – I just wanted to hear how you’re doing. I’m fine, yes. I can’t complain, but you’re distracting me from work a bit, I think. – What are you doing right now?

I’m sitting in front of my computer at home and I’m reading the comments we’re getting for our live stream. Oh, you’re on YouTube now too? Yes, I’ll be there live too. And what are the comments? Do we have any good comments?

Or do you have to delete a lot, like always? We delete a lot. No, there isn’t that much to delete today. There are a lot of positive comments. People like the theme, I think. – That is nice. – And otherwise?

Yeah. Yes, what should I say? Everything is as usual. – What have you been doing today? Today I worked all day, so, nothing special. That is interesting. And yes, what do you have planned today? So I actually want to come to the party later and hang out with people like that, right?

And why “actually”? Yes, I’m a little sick too, I think. I’m getting a little sick, so I’ll have to think about it again. No, Erik, we ordered pizza for you. – Yes I know. – Come to the office quickly.

I do what I can. – Yes, okay. And how is the weather where you are? It’s dark, well, I can’t tell you exactly without going outside. – Is it raining? I’d have to go out there to take a look. – Have you been outside today, Erik? I haven’t been outside yet today, no.

Home office all day. – Then it’s high time you got on your bike and came to us. Yes, I mean that too. – Great, yes. Glad we spoke. Then I wish you a nice day. – Yes, thanks. I wish you the same. – No?

See you then. – Bye! – See you then. – Ciao! Cari, what strikes me in this situation is the dynamic of you asking a lot and the other person answering. Normally you would often hear, for example, from the other person: “And with you?”

So you ask, “How are you?” The other person says, “So-so,” “bad,” whatever. And then the other person would probably say, “And you? And you like that?” – Correct. “And with you?” – Yes, I didn’t ask anything or wasn’t asked anything.

Klaus didn’t want to know how I was doing. – Nope. – And neither is Isi. – Nope. Maybe my last call person. – Candidate. – I’m calling Pauline now. Yes. – And I would like to say a typical sentence to her again, namely: “What’s going on?”

“What’s up?” – When do you use this, Manuel? – That’s also a bit of youth language. What you’re trying to say is, “What’s happening, what are you doing?” Damn, I don’t even have Pauline’s phone number. – Ohh! Pauline, if you’re watching…

Wait, can I call her on Slack? – You can probably do it, yes. – Or send me your phone number. This is how well prepared this is. – We have such a good connection, so well prepared. I’ll have a huddle with Pauline. OK. – Maybe that will work.

Do you hear the sound? – I hear the sound, yes. – Okay. Oh! Hello? – Hi, Cari. – Well, Pauline? What’s up? Not much. Why are you calling me on Slack? – She doesn’t have your number. I haven’t saved your number. – Then you’ll have to ask me for my number later.

Okay, do you want to say this on YouTube now? – Say your number. No, not now. Let’s do it privately later. – Let’s do it privately later. Yes, Pauline, how was your day? Quite good. Nothing special. That’s a typical answer too, right? Nothing special. – Everything is the same.

And what are you doing… – With you? – With me? Yes. – Yes, I was in the office, I was working. I recorded a podcast with Manuel , here in the studio. And then I prepared for this livestream for three hours. – With water.

Thank you, Manuel. That’s how it was. And… – I call that very exemplary. – Great, right? And what are you doing right now? I just got off work and, yeah, I’m actually waiting for our team meeting this evening, so I’m just resting a bit.

You’re just resting. That’s good too, right? – Yes, nice. – Yes. Manuel, are you finishing work now? I’m about to get off work too. There is also a very good sketch by a German comedian, Loriot, and the woman asks the man: “What are you doing?” And the man says: “I’m not doing anything.”

And that’s a bit like you say, Pauline. I rest. We don’t know what that means. You sit on the chair or on the couch. You are relaxing. – Actually, I’m standing right now. I don’t know why, but often when I’m on the phone I stand and walk across the room.

I do that too. – You can think better there. Yes, if you have to answer important questions like: How was your day? What are you doing right now? Yes, Pauline. It was really nice that we spoke to each other again. Via phone. – Yes, I thought so too.

Then we have to exchange phone numbers. We do. Sounds good. – Yes, it was nice to hear from you. Yes Perfect. Then I wish you a nice evening and see you then. See you then. Ciao. – Ciao. Manuel, we have had many interesting conversations now.

Do you think these were typical German conversations? – I already found it. Yes. – There are a lot of conversations like that, especially in your own family, where you maybe call your mother every week or something and don’t have that much to tell each other, maybe because not that much has happened,

Then there are conversations like that. Who are you calling now? – I went out again. – Ah, get out of the huddle. – Correct. Yes, I think that was a great livestream for today, Manuel. – I found it too.

Should we do this more often? Then tell us that. – Are there any more questions from the community? You, there are so many questions, we won’t be able to answer them all. I still find this comment interesting. “The Germans often say ‘well’.” – All right. – All right. – See you soon.

That’s right, right? – All right. – But we can invite you, if you would like to make small talk with us more often, then become a member of Easy German. Then you can have small talk with us every day, for example in our Easy German Discord Community. Below is the link, easygerman.org/membership.

It costs five euros a month, Manuel. Then you get exercises for our videos, you get transcripts for all the videos and you can write with us every day. We even have a channel in our Discord group, a channel called “Small Talk”. You can go there now and practice everything you just learned

. – And that would also be my call to all current Easy German members. Now go to our Discord channel “Small Talk” and write the answers or write a few questions, like this: What are you doing right now?

Yes, and above all, be sure to write down what the weather is like where you are. How is the weather where you are right now? – Yes. So one person has to ask and the others can answer. – That’s how we do it.

It’s nice that you were there. – See you soon! – See you soon! Nice weather for you. No, we’re not saying that, right?