German

Meet Oma at Berlin airport, ask how the flight was and hear how it went, with wie war der Flug and ich habe nicht geschlafen.

Introduce your grandmother to a neighbour and hear two women be kind about you, with ich habe viel von Ihnen gehoert and Sie haben ihn gut erzogen.

Lay out the trip with Lukas and Oma at the kitchen table, in order, with zuerst, dann and danach, and say you go by train.

On the train south, hear Oma tell what her father told her, in the simple past a story uses, with erzaehlte, sagte, hiess and wusste.

Check in at the village inn and hear from the innkeeper that many left this place once, with es gab, the storyteller's there was.

Be welcomed at the town hall by the village mayor and hear that the village has an archive, with seit and the present for what still holds.

Sit down with the village archivist over the church register and say a year the German way, with achtzehnhunderteinundsechzig.

Find the ancestor's name in the church register with Oma and hear what he was and did before he left, with bevor er ging.

Walk the village street with the mayor and hear why so many left in the eighteen eighties, with damals, es gab Hunger and nachdem with the past perfect.

Stand with the innkeeper and Oma where the family house once stood and hear what became of it, with das Haus stand hier and es wurde abgerissen.

Stand with Oma at the old village fountain where her grandfather played and say how you had pictured a place, with ich habe es mir anders vorgestellt.

Hear the archivist read a letter Johann wrote on the ship in 1883 and follow a story told in the simple past, with waehrend for while.

Be served the Black Forest gateau at the inn and hear how a grandmother made it, with the te past of regular verbs, machte.

Hear from the village mayor that there is still family in the village and be asked whether you want to meet them, with Sie for you and sie for them.

Learn at the inn that the innkeeper himself is a distant cousin and count the years since the family parted, with seit for since.

Sit with Oma on the bench outside the inn and hear why she never knew the village, with the story past of strong verbs, sprach and wusste.

Ride the train north with Oma and look back on the week in the village, with nachdem and the past perfect for what had happened first.

Ask Frau Weber to tell about November 1989 and hear her set the scene, with the story past war and sassen.

Hear Frau Weber tell what the man on television said that night and how nobody believed it, with ploetzlich sagte for the turn of a story.

Follow Frau Weber and her husband on foot to the Bornholmer Strasse that night and hear what they saw, with the story past in the plural, gingen, sahen, standen.

Hear Frau Weber tell the moment the gate opened in November 1989 and tell what people did, with weinten, lachten, machten.

Hear Frau Weber tell the rest of her night in West Berlin and tell what happened, with the story past of strong verbs, liefen, gab, kamen.

Ask the caretaker where he was the night the Wall opened and hear that he slept through it, with wusste and dachte, the story past of wissen and denken.

Hear Lukas ask his grandmother why she never told her story and talk about a thing without naming it again, with davon and darueber.

Hear Oma and Frau Weber compare the same night from Milwaukee and Berlin and say when one thing happened as another did, with als die Mauer fiel.

Walk with Oma and Lukas where the Wall once ran and say what had happened before, with hatte gesehen, the past before the past.

Spend Oma's last evening with her and say what you are glad of and what you promise, with dass ich gekommen bin, both verbs at the end.

Say goodbye to Oma at the gate and take her orders for the summer, with the du commands pass auf dich auf, komm, vergiss es nicht, ruf mich an.

Tell Nina the whole trip with Oma in order and keep a story moving, with zuerst, dann and am Ende.

Hear the village mayor call about the letter Max wrote and say why you did something, with um zu danken, um plus zu and the verb.