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Moved to Germany; why are the cashiers so fast? Please help.

Huncho_Houdini

Huncho_Houdini

Member
Dec 31, 2017
7,083
Every time I'm at Aldi or Lidl or some shit I'm fearing the end of the cashier line because these people are literally on a mission to throw my groceries down the checkout counter at light speed. Also why is everything labeled "bio"?

Also, I'm American and speak American, but trying to learn German, currently via duolingo and will sign up for a beginners course. Any other recommendations to reach speaking level ASAP?

Will be here for a while, am excited, the bread and beer are great. People stare a lot. What else should I know?



P.S. What the fuck is this Die/Der/Das/Den/Dick shit?
 
Johnny Blaze

Johnny Blaze

Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
4,155
DE
Huncho_Houdini said:
P.S. What the fuck is this Die/Der/Das/Den/Dick shit?
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Die Bart, die!

Bio is organic. Get good with the groceries. You open your backpack/bag/whatever when they start scanning and start packing. Don't waste no time. (somewhat serious but nobody will give you a bad look if you take it slow)

But for the love of god just always pay with a debit/credit card and don't become one of those "I HAVE THE EXACT AMOUNT JUST WAIT TILL I DIG DEEP INTO MY WALLET AND GRAB ALL THOSE 1 CENT COINS" germans.
 
TransEuropaExpress

TransEuropaExpress

Member
Dec 6, 2017
10,982
US
Huncho_Houdini said:
P.S. What the fuck is this Die/Der/Das/Den/Dick shit?
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As a German I answer as such:

loriot-unbekannte-seite-ortmann-102~_v-img__16__9__l_-1dc0e8f74459dd04c91a0d45af4972b9069f1135.jpg


To your actual question: because everyone in Germany has fifty billion hours of training for any given job and cashiers most likely have university degrees in that fucking job even
 
Poppy

Poppy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,265
richmond, va
i legitimately needed fucking help from a kindly stranger when i shopped at a japanese supermarket because their bag situation required moving to a different area

man travelling can make you feel like a dumb child

good luck in deutschland
 
Xando

Xando

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,235
Once you pack all your things into a bag while the cashier is not done you automatically gain german citizenship OP.
 
Tzarscream

Tzarscream

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
2,945
Huncho_Houdini said:
I'm American and speak American,
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Is "American" basically English but every word is shouted 10x as loud as everybody else so you can hear the conversation you're having 150 meters away?

Regarding Aldi and Lidl, this is classic Aldi and Lidl, they don't fuck around with the packing so my tip for you is to prepare your bag beforehand and as soon as they start scanning be prepared to put each item in your bag ASAP, you need to treat it like a quick time event. Hopefully if you've done it right you've bagged all your items just as they ask you to pay.
 
RC0101

RC0101

Member
Oct 27, 2017
999
That sounds fantastic. I hate when the cashier has to comment on everything that I buy.
 
SweetVermouth

SweetVermouth

Banned
Mar 5, 2018
4,272
It's capitalism and the people working at Aldi and Lidl are pushed hard, they are treated like amazon workers. 15 bucks per hour but you get your ass kicked if you are not moving.
 
ss1

ss1

Member
Oct 27, 2017
805
I forgot to mention. Some EDEKAs have self-checkout machines as well. But I've only seen two different stores have them.
 
ItchyTasty

ItchyTasty

Member
Feb 3, 2019
5,907
I studied a little german in school as a child and dear god the der, die, das was so hard sometimes. German has some tough grammatical rules imo.
 
Velocity:Design:Comfort

Velocity:Design:Comfort

Banned
Nov 23, 2017
4,302
Tzarscream said:
Is "American" basically English but every word is shouted 10x as loud as everybody else so you can hear the conversation you're having 150 meters away?

Regarding Aldi and Lidl, this is classic Aldi and Lidl, they don't fuck around with the packing so my tip for you is to prepare your bag beforehand and as soon as they start scanning be prepared to put each item in your bag ASAP, you need to treat it like a quick time event. Hopefully if you've done it right you've bagged all your items just as they ask you to pay.
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why dont people get its different? Its not complex. Not only is the morphology totally different for most consonants, the vocabulary is way different than British English.


OP, why did you move to a country without knowing literally any of its language? You didnt have any time to prepare?
 
Wolfapo

Wolfapo

Member
Dec 27, 2017
536
Tzarscream said:
Is "American" basically English but every word is shouted 10x as loud as everybody else so you can hear the conversation you're having 150 meters away?

Regarding Aldi and Lidl, this is classic Aldi and Lidl, they don't fuck around with the packing so my tip for you is to prepare your bag beforehand and as soon as they start scanning be prepared to put each item in your bag ASAP, you need to treat it like a quick time event. Hopefully if you've done it right you've bagged all your items just as they ask you to pay.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Also learn to place your items in perfect packing order on the belt. This makes it easier and faster!
 
Johnny Blaze

Johnny Blaze

Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
4,155
DE
Velocity:Design:Comfort said:
why dont people get its different? Its not complex. Not only is the morphology totally different for most consonants, the vocabulary is way different than British English.


OP, why did you move to a country without knowing literally any of its language? You didnt have any time to prepare?
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Depending where he moved, you can get along with speaking mostly english and use basic german when necessary.
 
Jisgsaw

Jisgsaw

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,343
Tzarscream said:
Regarding Aldi and Lidl, this is classic Aldi and Lidl, they don't fuck around with the packing so my tip for you is to prepare your bag beforehand and as soon as they start scanning be prepared to put each item in your bag ASAP, you need to treat it like a quick time event.
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Also important: put the heavier stuff first on the belt before the cashier, so that they get scanned first and you can put them directly in your bag, on the bottom.
 
Broken Hope

Broken Hope

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,316
You're not supposed to bag at the checkout that's why there is a shelf near the window.

They have to scan 1000 items an hour or they get in trouble.

Also in ALDI/Lidl all workers do all roles within the store.
 
Xiao Hu

Xiao Hu

Chicken Chaser
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
1,497
That's why you have to put your groceries on the conveyor belt in a strategic way. Treat it as if you're playing a game of tetris. Also, get a NFC enabled bank card so you can pay faster.
 
Ignatz Mouse

Ignatz Mouse

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,741
I took German in high school and never became fluent, but the der/die/das part was the eaasiest thing to understand (even if I misgendered things a lot).

Now let's talk about word order and all the verbs at the end of a sentence... THAT'S hard.
 
Bobson Dugnutt

Bobson Dugnutt

Self Requested Ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,052
It's an aldi and Lidl thing tbf, theyre like that in other countries too.

Might see you there if/when the uk goes tits up. so thankful I can get a German passport.
 
Geoff

Geoff

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,115
Velocity:Design:Comfort said:
why dont people get its different? Its not complex. Not only is the morphology totally different for most consonants, the vocabulary is way different than British English.


OP, why did you move to a country without knowing literally any of its language? You didnt have any time to prepare?
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At best it's a dialect. It's not a distinct language. There are English regional dialects that are further removed from proper English than many versions of American English.
 
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