Two simple German translation questions.

Factual Questions
1

  1. I was watching a YouTube video on the S Bahn in Berlin. What is the word “Fifa” that seems to be announced every 30 seconds?

  2. Is “Wien” pronounced the same as Vienna? As a non German speaker, I always mentally substitute a V for the W and think of it as “Vien”

2

It is pronounced with a “v” sound as in English, and rhymes with English “seen.”

3
  1. Do you have a link? “Fifa” isn’t a German word, but I might be able to give you an idea if I heard it.
  2. “Wien” is pronounced “veen” ([vi:n] in IPA).
4

Link would help here.

It’s pronounced like an English speaker would pronounce “Veen.” There is no English “w” sound in German (that I know of.)

5

link to very long video of the S Bahn with the “Fifa” announcement.

6

Where is it? :confused:

7

Could it be** this**? :dubious:

8

Sorry to toss a monkey wrench, but the word sounds more like “Zifa” (Zee-fah), but I’m not sure of the meaning or spelling.

9

The first instance is as the train pulls into a station around the 1:30 mark. I’ll agree Zifa is more likely, I’m sure I was thinking Fifa because of Germany’s World Cup win.

10

I says “Sifa”, short for Sicherheitsfahrschaltung, or Dead-man’s vigilance device. It tells the driver to push a button or a pedal to show that he is still paying attention.

I speak German but I did not know the word either. The explanation is from osx in the YouTube comments.

11

Hey, here’s another one from our old friend Wiki: Sifa

12

Thanks a lot. I was watching YouTube on my TV so didn’t think to look at comments. I initially thought it might be a German equivalent of Mind The Gap.

13

Schreiben Sie das in Ihr Gedächtnis! :slight_smile:

14

Write that (down) in my [your] memory?*

It’s been a long, long time since I took German.

*(Is that close?)

15

Yes–after rendering the sentence in German, my Berlin book added in English "and don’t forget it! "