Decode
City text
Announcements, signs, and counters.
Street survival
BVG announcements
Stops, doors, delays on the U-Bahn and S-Bahn.
- Next stationKnow when to get ready for your stop.
- Doors closingThe warning before the train moves.
- Delay / disruptionWhen the board turns yellow.
- Change hereTransfer call so you don't miss your line.
- Line cancelledAusfall means find a bus or walk.
- Please boardDoors open. Board before zurückbleiben.
- Line & directionBoard the right Richtung.
Station signs
Exits, directions, platforms, and transfers.
Café counter
Ordering, takeaway, and paying.
Shops & hours
Open, closed, Späti hours, quick buys.
Ticket machines
Automats, day passes, and broken screens.
Ticket control
What to do when you hear „Kontrolle“.
Bureaucracy
Bürgeramt: waiting, numbers, slow German.
Small talk
First conversations with people you meet.
B1 extras
Kontrolle deep dive
Fine notices and calm ticket checks.
Bürgeramt pack
Anmeldung, Termin, waiting room.
Perfekt in the wild
Yesterday stories and long disruptions.
Plans & notices
Futur and building notices.
Polite B1
Counter Konjunktiv II and opinions.
Story past
Präteritum narration and work mail.
Intensive
Street signs
Einbahnstraße, no entry, Fußgängerzone, Auskunft.
Restaurant & Imbiss
Ordering food, water, and the bill.
Ask for information
Station desk and platform questions.