Learning German: A Conversation About Smartphones

Okay, so Berlin is… intense. The noise, the crowds, the sheer amount of people trying to sell you something – it’s a lot to get used to. I moved here six months ago, and while I’m really starting to love it, there are still days when I feel completely overwhelmed. One thing that’s actually helping me feel a bit more connected, and also, let’s be honest, a little less lost, is trying to actually talk to people.

My First German Encounter

Yesterday, I was grabbing a coffee near Kottbusser Tor – you know, the one with the weird street art? – and I bumped into Alice. She’s a student from Spain, studying journalism. We started chatting, and it was a bit of a mess, as you might expect.

Hallo! Hast du schon mal ein Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge gesehen? (Hi, have you ever seen a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge?)

Ja, ich habe eins. Mein Vater hat ein 32 GB Modell. (Yes, I have one. My father has a 32GB model.)

Echt? Was gefällt dir daran? (Really? What do you like about it?)

Ich finde die Edge-Displays total cool, aber ich weiß nicht, ob ich das wirklich brauche. (I think the edge displays are totally cool, but I don’t know if I really need them.)

Ja, das ist was Besonderes. (Yes, that’s something special.) Aber ich finde es auch praktisch, dass es so viel Speicher hat. (But I also find it practical that it has so much storage.)

Ich habe es zum Fotografieren benutzt. Ich fotografiere auch gerne, aber ich habe ein anderes Smartphone. Ich finde die Kamera auf dem S6 Edge aber interessant. (I’ve used it for taking photos. I like to take photos too, but I have another smartphone. But I find the camera on the S6 Edge interesting.) Vielleicht sollte ich mal Amazon anschauen, wie es dort aussieht. (Maybe I should check Amazon to see how it looks there.) Hast du diesen Link schon gesehen? (Have you seen this link already?)

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Ja, ich habe mir gerade den Link angesehen. (Yes, I just looked at the link.) Die Preise sind schon ziemlich hoch, oder? (The prices are already pretty high, aren’t they?) Ja, das stimmt. (Yes, that’s true.) Aber wenn es gut ist… (But if it’s good…) Wir könnten es vergleichen, vielleicht gibt es ein besseres Angebot. (We could compare it, maybe there’s a better deal.) Gute Idee! (Good idea!)

Useful Phrases and Vocabulary

Let’s break down some of the phrases we used:

• Echt? (Really?) – This is a super common exclamation in German, used to express surprise or disbelief.
• Was gefällt dir daran? (What do you like about it?) – A basic question to show interest.
• Ich weiß nicht… (I don’t know…) – A useful phrase to admit you don’t understand or aren’t sure.
• Das ist was Besonderes. (That’s something special.) – A way of saying something is valuable or unique.
• Ich habe es zum Fotografieren benutzt. (I used it for taking photos.) – Simple sentence structure – Subject + Infinitive + Purpose.

My Next Steps

I’m going to try and do a bit more research online. Alice mentioned Amazon, and it’s a good starting point. I’ll also try to learn a few more phrases related to electronics – like “Wie viel kostet das?” (How much does that cost?) – just in case I see something I like. Learning German is slow going, but every little bit helps, right? “Gut gemacht!” (Well done!) to myself.

• Zum Weiterlesen: (For Further Reading) – If you want to learn more about specific products or prices, you can always search online using Google.de. Just remember to use the “.de” at the end – it’s Germany’s version of Google!