This might be a really stupid question
As maybe the answer should be obvious to me and I just zoned out about this aspect during the film, but when Emmi was explaining the situation with Ali to the landlord (when she says that they're going to get married), how was it that Ali had no idea what she had said? It's not as if Ali understands no German.
Was the idea there maybe that there are different dialects of German and Emmi was conversing with the landlord in a dialect that Ali did not understand? (I do not remember that there are different dialects from my German classes in school, but it wouldn't be surprising that I do not remember that, or didn't pay attention, or wasn't told, etc.)
I know we're shown words that Ali isn't familiar with, but the way that scene was done, to me, seemed to suggest that Ali had no idea about anything Emmi had said to the landlord. I was wondering if I didn't zone out and not realize that she wasn't even speaking to the landlord in German, but that seems unlikely given the characters and their backgrounds.
http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies