TGIF: Berlitz ad – Improve your language September 26, 2008
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, German culture.trackback
It’s hard to top the I Love Lucy clip, but I’m going to try. This commercial is an oldie but a goodie.
For those of you who don’t speak German, the senior officer is explaining the Coast Guard equipment to the newbie. What he is saying isn’t really that important, but it’s basically “This is my sector. This is the Coast Guard’s most important piece of equipment. This device. This device.” Then something unintelligible like life-saving/survival radar or something about survival – it’s hard to tell and neither choice makes much sense grammatically. The senior officer leaves him alone at his new post and hilarity ensues in English. Enjoy!
For those of you who are interested in the German:
“Das hier ist mein Sektor. Das hier ist das wichtigste Gerät des Küstenwächters. Das Gerät und das Gerät. Überlebensradar.” [but it could be Überlebensretter – it’s difficult to hear]
Musings from an overworked translator 
Hi Jill, We are sinking 😉 that this is very funny. You saved our day! By the way, it’s Überlebensradar. Cheers, Heike
Hi Heike! Glad to see some of my oldest and dearest friends reading this! Welcome to the site!