8 Redewendungen + SHADOWING (Deutsch B2, C1)

Welcome back to our channel In today's video Laura and I discuss eig Idioms we hear and use all the time in the German language We’ll show you how they work what they mean in which situations they are used and there is also a brief explanatio Shadowing exercise This means you can also be active and immediately use this idiom Try it out and speak Exactly Don't forget there's a PDF available again for this video The You'll find the link below in the description where you can review everything in detail Check it and then we'll begin Our first idiom is "something goes like a charm " Everything is going smoothly This phrase is used when something works perfectly So Maybe even better than you imagined since it just works seamlessly It's all going perfectly Exactly And it's often used in context for example when a Moving A move is a huge undertaking You have to organize a lot and you might stress out beforehand Worries Oh no I hope everything works out And if everything goes according to plan then you say It's all going smoothly just like clockwork—or even during a job interview You prepare in advance so many thoughts running through my head like what am I going to say And maybe the job interview is even in German Oh no I hope I can pull this off And then you'll get excellent feedback at the end Talk and say great it went off perfectly Now we move on to the first shadowing task If you're not familiar with shadowing this concept this technique yet I'll explain it to you briefly Basically it's about imitating a speaker So mitation You are to imitate a sentence you will hear shortly and speak it exactly the same way as the speaker says This helps you become more fluent think less and of course you're simultaneously improving your pronunciation as well I'd say let's give this a try just with our first mini-dialogue I ask Theresa a question and then you imitate what she says Theresa said How was your move Great everything went perfectly smooth Great everything went off perfectly Now it's your turn How was your move Let's get down to business Let's get to the point This idiom is used when finally making a decision wants to meet So one wants to wrap something up One might have been thinking about it for ages Thought about or perhaps discussed already and now it's being said like this and now we must proceed with this Project finish this idea whatever it takes We must decide now We must get things done o make heads or tails of it For instance maybe on a trip when you've already had an idea for quite some time wherever one would like to travel but hasn't planned or booked anything yet one can say okay the but now let's get down to business Let's book the hotel right away Shall we Seriously Yes come on let's get things done Yes come on let's get straight to the point Your turn Are we really doing this The next one Idiomatically speaking that really gets under my skin That really gets under my skin You'd say it like that when you're truly furious or utterly annoyed either about something that isn't working out right ow one imagines it or perhaps when one is angry at someone Would you say Oh come on Erwin really gets under my skin Yeah exactly—especially for instance when a person who is somehow always late and then you say wow seriously already Ten minutes late again That really gets under my skin Now this conversation is starting up once more So the New colleague who keeps interrupting us Yeah right He really gets under my skin He ew colleague who keeps interrupting us One quick aside on the topic of shadowing This Shadowing exercises are perfect if you want to speak German fluently especially when you're focused on You want to speak German without overthinking—these exercises are perfect for that We've prepared them specifically for this purpose we've already created a full playlist filled with many of these shadowing videos and we're working on it and in our German courses using this method And yes our participants are excited because it just works effortlessly The method simply works And it It's actually quite fun you have to admit That's true that's true So yes do come by and take a look sometime and now it continues Next up is the expression "playing with your cards on the table " Playing with your cards on the table Playing cards When you play with your cards face up it means you're being completely honest and open you directly express what you think For instance I'm thinking of something perhaps also a heated argument between two people and you can sense something's off Then one says man okay we're sitting down at the table now and playing with our cards face up so everyone just says outrig playing with cards on the table being transparent about what bothers him or her what doesn't fit so to speak means communicating openly and transparently In reality this applies to all topics where one simply needs to be clear honest and perhaps even direct I was just thinking about a bank when one suddenly came to mind maybe for instance needs a loan or something then you can't hide anything but you just need to say what's going on Then you say we need to approach this openly now Playing cards So Laura we've already been talking for an hour What do you really want Okay I'm laying all my cards on the table now I want to resign Okay I'm being completely open from now on Cards on the table I want to quit Okay I'm laying my cards on the table now So Laura we've already been talking for an hour What do you really want Phrase number five It means bringing everything under one roof That's what people usually say when trying to organize many things or perhaps manage them all at once and creating For instance when managing the household work and children perhaps hobbies too One must organize everything in some way and bring it all together under one roof And bring it all together Exactly so it's especially suited for people who are simply very many obligations and perhaps little time And these people who manage it well I can manage it I can say yes I’ve got everything under control For example Teresa You play sports you work you take care of your dog Wow Yes but it's not easy To bring everything together Yes but it's not easy to bring everything together Teresa you play sports you work you take care of your dog Wow Onward we go with the Paint the devil on the wall If you paint the devil on the wall the are very pessimistic You worry a lot often about things that don't even need worrying So you you always immediately think of the worst that could happen I was just thinking first of a Check it out maybe if you just don't feel right about it and then head home and say oh no Teresa I definitely got zero points The exam was absolutely terrible Wha Would you say that Yes now let's not paint the devil on the wall A point or two perhaps you'll already have it Oh God Laura what if I actually fail the exam What Now calm down don't go conjuring up trouble Just stay calm don't bring up the devil Devil to the wall Now calm down don't bring the devil to the wall Oh God Laura what is it what if I really didn't pass the exam The next idiom is on number be safe Play it safe So someone who plays it safe is the kind of person who needs No risk She doesn't want any risk She wants to be certain everything works perfectly And then one might double-check a thing or two to eliminate every possible risk Avoid it Exactly—someone just doesn’t want anything to go wrong under any circumstances So for example before a major trip or before making significant decisions As you said one checks better to do it twice over just to make absolutely sure nothing goes wrong Teresa why did you Actually set three different alarms Well I just want to be extra sure I just want to be careful Well I want to be careful Teresa why did you Did you actually set three different alarms And the last idiom is "lose track" Lose track If you lose the thread you forget what you were actually trying to say wanted Also maybe you just forget it altogether because you no longer remember how to tell the story you started or what you were actually trying to say Or maybe you were distracted or You were interrupted Your story is definitely paused right now It won't continue Yes maybe again during an exam As you said when you're nervous you just don't know Not anymore—what have I already said and where does it go from here Or if one were to tell any story ells of having somehow simply forgotten where one was then one might say oh no Now I've lost track By the way this idiom is usually used in the perfect tense used I lost track Always stuck in the past Ah Laura I wanted to tell you And don't even start telling me Wait a second Did you lose track Those were our eight idioms Don't forget to check the video description below Here's the link to the PDF where you can read everything at your leisure You'll also find it there e link to our German courses So feel free to take a look there as well and we'll see you again in one of the next videos