In our recent newsletters about giving directions and driving, one verb that hasn't come up yet is wenden. This verb and its reflexive form sich wenden an have different meanings and a multitude of possible translations. 

The verb abbiegen means "to turn," for example when you are in a car and have to turn left. But when it comes to turning the car around completely, you would often use the verb wenden. It signifies a turnaround, reversal, or shift.

Filmpferde müssen viel können: steigen, sich verbeugen, blitzschnell wenden oder todesmutig vor ein Motorrad galoppieren.

Film horses have to be able to do lots of things: rear up, bow down, turn lightning fast or gallop undaunted by death in front of a motorcycle.

Captions 1-2, Für Tierfreunde: Pferde beim Film

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It also comes in handy when you talk about turning something over, like flipping a pancake or, in this case, a sausage: 

Ein anderes Highlight in Walter Günthers Werkstatt: ein Grillrost, der die Würstchen automatisch wendet.

Another highlight in Walter Günther's workshop: a grill that automatically turns sausages.

Captions 24-25, Erfinder: Nie erfundene Erfindungen

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This may have already occurred to you, but the noun die Wende is indeed related. It is used to talk about the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and subsequent changes after 1989. 

Warum nennt man die Zeit im Herbst neunzehnhundertneunundachtzig in der DDR die Wende?

Why do you call the time in the fall of nineteen hundred eighty-nine in the GDR "the turnaround" ?

Captions 10-11, Bundesrepublik: Deutschland Einbürgerungstest

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The noun can generally be used to describe a "turn of events," like in this caption: 

Während die Männer ihren Doppelsieg feiern, nimmt das Damenrennen eine dramatische Wende!

While the men are celebrating their double win, the lady's race takes a dramatic turn!

Captions 58-59, Knallharte Sportler: Ironman in Frankfurt

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Now let's look at sich wenden an, which has a more figurative meaning of "turning to" someone:

Autofahrer, die am Unfallmeldedienst teilnehmen wollen, können sich dafür an ihren Autoversicherer wenden.

Drivers who want to participate in the accident reporting service can contact their auto insurance company to do so.

Captions 45-56, Sicherheit im Straßenverkehr: Versicherer entwickeln automatischen Notruf für alle Autos

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Du kannst dich natürlich auch direkt an mich wenden.

You can also, of course, reach out to me directly.

Caption 60, Großstadtrevier: Von Monstern und Mördern

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Further Learning
Look at the placement and integration of sich wenden an in sentences on Yabla German and try to construct your own sentences. 

This week's lesson is dedicated to basic German business vocabulary. From news reports about the economy (die Wirtschaft) to videos that take place in office settings, there's quite a lot to be found on Yabla German. In this lesson, we have highlighted all business and workplace vocabulary.

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First of all, there are a number of words for "the business" or "the company":

Wir haben einen Vertrag mit der Firma.

We have a contract with the company.

Caption 36, Mülltrennung: in Heidelberg

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Er ist Geschäftsführer des Unternehmens.

He is the director of the company.

Caption 32, Sicherheit im Straßenverkehr: Versicherer entwickeln automatischen Notruf für alle Autos

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Um dies sicherzustellen, habe der Konzern die Frequenz der Belieferungen erhöht.

To ensure this, the group has increased the frequency of deliveries.

Caption 13, Coronavirus: Trotz Hamsterkäufen keine Versorgungsprobleme

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The word for business in general is das Geschäft. Above, you see the word der Geschäftsführer, which would be the director or CEO of a company. The word for "co-worker" is der Arbeitskollege or die Arbeitskollegin, or simply der Kollege or die Kollegin, which is how the employees (der Mitarbeiter or die Mitarbeiterin) at a company would describe each other. They would likely refer to the person they report to as der Chef or die Chefin, which (Achtung!) in German is not someone who works in a kitchen. 

Genau, ihre Kollegin, Frau Larsen, hat mir alles gezeigt, die ganzen Büros, und mir die Mitarbeiter vorgestellt.

Exactly, your colleague Ms. Larsen showed me everything, all the offices, and introduced me to the employees.

Captions 9-10, Das Lügenbüro: Die Bewerbung

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„Während ich an meinen Rechnungen saß, kam meine Chefin und hat mir noch mehr Aufgaben zugeteilt.“

"While I was sitting with my bills, my boss came and assigned me further tasks."

Captions 41-42, Eva erklärt: temporale Konnektoren

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In a company, "the department" is die Abteilung. Take a look:

Hier in der Personalabteilung ist eine Halbtagsstelle frei geworden.

A part-time job has become free here in the human resources department.

Caption 40, Berufsleben: Probleme mit Mitarbeitern

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Sie suchen nach jemandem für ihre Marketingabteilung.

They're looking for someone for their marketing department.

Caption 8, Berufsleben: das Vorstellungsgespräch

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In terms of finances and profits, here are some good words to know:

Meine Berechnungen für den zu erwartenden Absatz liegen Ihnen vor.

My calculations for the expected sales are lying in front of you.

Caption 55, Mama arbeitet wieder Kapitel 2: Kompromisse zu finden ist nicht einfach

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Siebenundvierzig Millionen Euro Umsatz hat die Messe in diesem Jahr gemacht.

The trade show made forty-seven million euros in gross revenue this year.

Caption 33, Agrarmesse Grüne Woche in Berlin

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Im letzten Jahr wurde ein Rekordergebnis von einundzwanzig-Komma-acht Millionen Euro Gewinn erzielt.

Last year a record result of twenty-one point eight million euros profit was achieved.

Captions 37-38, Fluglinien Niki Air

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Further Learning
On Yabla German, watch our Berufsleben series to listen to conversations taking place in an office setting.

The adjectives erforderlich and förderlich appear and sound very similar, but have very different meanings. I have found myself constantly having to check these words in a dictionary when writing business emails in German, so writing this lesson is hopefully going to help me learn the differences between the two as well!

The first of the two adjectives, erforderlich, is usually used to reinforce the serious necessity of a statement, and can be translated variously as "necessary," "required," "essential," "requisite," "needed," and "consequential."

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Die Partner sollten dieses Angebot annehmen und die Chance nutzen,

The partners should accept this offer and use the opportunity,

denn es ist dringend erforderlich.

as it is urgently necessary.

Captions 63-64, Angela Merkel - Gemeinsame Pressekonferenz mit Barack Obama

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Nur bei einem Notruf erfolgt eine Datenübermittlung,

Only in the case of an emergency call is a transfer of data carried out

und dann werden auch nur die Daten übermittelt,

and then also only the data are transferred

die für die Erbringung der Hilfeleistung unbedingt erforderlich sind.

that are absolutely essential for the provision of assistance after the accident.

Captions 36-38, Sicherheit im Straßenverkehr - Versicherer entwickeln automatischen Notruf für alle Autos

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As you may have noticed, the texts above are respectively from a government official and a statistician, and thus the sentences are quite complicated. In fact, both erforderlich and förderlich are more often used in written German and far less in spoken German. Here are some examples of förderlich from written German sources: 

Dabei konnte ich ihm zu meiner großen Freude förderlich sein.
To my great joy I could be of use to him in that matter.
From Heinrich Mann's novel Der Untertan, in the 1921 translation by Ernest Boyd under the title "The Patrioteer."

Wenn die Boote gleich reihenweise ausfallen, ist das nicht gerade förderlich.
It's not exactly beneficial if the boats drop out in rows. 
From a 2006 article in the newspaper Die Welt. 

Jedenfalls reicht aber die Stabilität so weit, dass sie genügt, ein förderliches Ideal einer Wissenschaft zu begründen.
In any case, however, the stability extends so far that it is sufficient to establish a beneficial ideal of science.
From Ernst Mach's article "Erkenntnis und Irrtum" in Philosophie von Platon bis Nietzsche, Berlin 1905.

The adjective förderlich can be variously translated as "beneficial," "of use," "advantageous," and "conducive."

It's easiest for me to remember the difference between the two in that erforderlich is usually associated with a demanding tone and thus more serious, so I remember: the longer word is more serious. On the other hand, förderlich is usually used in a positive and thus lighter context, so  I remember: the less serious word is the shorter of the two.

Further Learning
Write some sample sentences in English mixing the various translations of the two words above, then test your knowledge by translating the sentences into German and see if you translated erforderlich and förderlich correctly.