Learn some phrases for asking about Polish words
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella: Hello everyone and welcome back to PolishPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 24, Surviving in Poland. I’m Gabriella. |
| Joanna: And I’m Joanna. |
| Gabriella: In this lesson you'll learn useful phrases for asking about Polish words. |
| Joanna: This conversation takes place at the post office. |
| Gabriella: It’s between Alex and a sales clerk. |
| Joanna: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll be using formal Polish. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Alex: Dzień dobry. Poproszę znaczek na list. |
| Clerk: Zwykły czy priorytet? |
| Alex: Przepraszam, nie rozumiem |
| Clerk: List zwykły czy priorytet-szybki? |
| Alex: Aaa! Proszę szybki. |
| Clerk: 3 złote. |
| Alex: Dziękuję. Do widzenia. |
| Gabriella: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Alex: Dzień dobry. Poproszę znaczek na list. |
| Clerk: Zwykły czy priorytet? |
| Alex: Przepraszam, nie rozumiem |
| Clerk: List zwykły czy priorytet-szybki? |
| Alex: Aaa! Proszę szybki. |
| Clerk: 3 złote. |
| Alex: Dziękuję. Do widzenia. |
| Gabriella: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Alex: Dzień dobry. Poproszę znaczek na list. |
| Alex: Good morning. A stamp for a letter, please. |
| Clerk: Zwykły czy priorytet? |
| Clerk: Normal or prioritaire? |
| Alex: Przepraszam, nie rozumiem |
| Alex: I'm sorry, I don't understand. |
| Clerk: List zwykły czy priorytet-szybki? |
| Clerk: Normal letter or prioritaire - fast? |
| Alex: Aaa! Proszę szybki. |
| Alex: Aaah! Fast, please. |
| Clerk: 3 złote. |
| Clerk: 3 zloty. |
| Alex: Dziękuję. Do widzenia. |
| Alex: Thank you. Goodbye. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gabriella: In the dialogue Alex went to the post office. How do you say “post office” in Polish? |
| Joanna: It’s ‘poczta’ |
| Gabriella: Will we see that word above the entrance to every post office? |
| Joanna: Yes, and also it’s possible to see another one, which is ‘urząd pocztowy’ |
| Gabriella: But both of them have the same meaning. |
| Joanna: That’s true. Also, very often post offices, especially the main one in the city, will be located in an old building, which makes some of them an interesting place to visit. |
| Gabriella: Are there many post offices around the city? |
| Joanna: Of course it depends on the size of the city - in smaller towns there can only be one office. Also when you want to send a letter, it’s best to bring it to the office, instead of dropping it in the mailbox, because then you can be sure it will be sent soon. |
| Gabriella: That’s some useful information! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Gabriella: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is... |
| Joanna: Znaczek [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: stamp |
| Joanna: Znaczek [slowly - broken down by syllable] Znaczek [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Joanna: List [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: letter |
| Joanna: List [slowly - broken down by syllable] List [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Joanna: Rozumieć [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to understand |
| Joanna: Rozumieć [slowly - broken down by syllable] Rozumieć [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Joanna: Dziękować [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to thank |
| Joanna: Dziękować [slowly - broken down by syllable] Dziękować [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Joanna: Nie [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: no, not |
| Joanna: Nie [slowly - broken down by syllable] Nie [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Joanna: Dobry [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: good |
| Joanna: Dobry [slowly - broken down by syllable] Dobry [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Joanna: Zwykły [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: normal, regular |
| Joanna: Zwykły [slowly - broken down by syllable] Zwykły [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: And last... |
| Joanna: Złoty [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: zloty (Polish currency) |
| Joanna: Złoty [slowly - broken down by syllable] Złoty [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gabriella: Let's take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Joanna, what’s the first word? |
| Joanna: ‘list’ |
| Gabriella: “letter” |
| Joanna: in Poland, there are a few kinds of letters, and it’s necessary to know the names and differences if you want to send something from Poland |
| Gabriella: Now, let’s go through them one by one |
| Joanna: ‘zwykły list’ |
| Gabriella: meaning “regular letter” |
| Joanna: It’s usually sent within Poland |
| Gabriella: then we have air mail |
| Joanna: in Polish we call that one ‘list priorytetowy’ or simply ‘priorytet’ |
| Gabriella: As you may have guessed, this means “priority mail” |
| Joanna: the last kind is ‘list polecony’ |
| Gabriella: “registered mail” |
| Joanna: to send that one, you will need to fill in additional paperwork, and of course the cost is higher |
| Gabriella: but that way you can be sure that it won’t get lost and reaches the recipient quite quickly. So what’s the next word? |
| Joanna: ‘rozumieć’ |
| Gabriella: “to understand” |
| Joanna: there are quite a few colloquial words that are used instead of the verb ‘rozumieć’ |
| Gabriella: I’m sure our listeners are dying to hear them ! |
| Joanna: Okay, well, we often use them to confirm if the other person knows or understands what we want to say. Then we can say ‘kumasz?’ |
| Gabriella: This is the Polish for “do you understand?” or “do you get it” |
| Joanna: You could also say ‘czaisz?’ or ‘kapujesz?’ |
| Gabriella: Okay, now let’s move on the the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you will learn useful phrases to ask about Polish words |
| Joanna: In other words, we will teach you how to survive in Poland, when you’re not a fluent Polish speaker yet! |
| Gabriella: Sounds like a really important lesson! |
| Joanna: C’mon! All of them are important! |
| Gabriella: Okay, Okay! What shall we start with then? |
| Joanna: With the situation when you don’t understand something. |
| Gabriella: Alex found himself in this kind of situation. |
| Joanna: Yes, then he said - ‘Przepraszam, nie rozumiem’ |
| Gabriella: in English “I’m sorry, I don’t understand” |
| Joanna: Here we have two new verbs. First is ‘przepraszam’, the first person singular form of ‘przepraszać’ |
| Gabriella: meaning “I’m sorry” |
| Joanna: The other verb was ‘rozumiem’, the first person singular of the verb ‘rozumieć’ |
| Gabriella: meaning “understand” |
| Joanna: Now, please repeat after me - ‘przepraszam, nie rozumiem’ |
| Gabriella: (pause) “I’m sorry, I don’t understand” |
| Joanna: After saying this, you can expect someone to repeat or explain what they have just said. |
| Gabriella: What if we just didn’t hear something clearly? What can we say? |
| Joanna: We can ask the person to repeat it, right? The verb needed here is ‘powtarzać’ |
| Gabriella: meaning “to repeat” |
| Joanna: One of the ways to say that is - ‘Proszę powtórzyć’ |
| Gabriella: In English “Repeat please” |
| Joanna: Or something more like a question - ‘Możesz powtórzyć?’ |
| Gabriella: “Can you repeat it?” |
| Joanna: Let’s try together - ‘Proszę powtórzyć’ (pause)... and another one - ‘Możesz powtórzyć?’(pause) |
| Gabriella: Okay. What if we want someone to write something down for us. |
| Joanna: The simplest way to ask someone that is - ‘Proszę napisać’ |
| Gabriella: “Write it down, please” |
| Joanna: But it’s very direct, so a more polite option is - ‘Możesz to napisać?’ |
| Gabriella: “Can you write it down?” |
| Joanna: Then if you find yourself talking to someone who speaks really fast, you can ask them to slow down a bit |
| Gabriella: Yes, that happens, especially when you’re still learning. |
| Joanna: Again the simplest way is - ‘Proszę mówić wolniej’ |
| Gabriella: “Please, speak slower” |
| Joanna: There are more ways to ask that, so please check the lesson notes. |
| Gabriella: For every situation, there are a few example sentences, ranging from the easiest to the more complex. |
| Joanna: Remember, when you don’t understand or you’re confused, don’t be afraid to say so and ask for help! |
| Gabriella: That’s good advice. |
Outro |
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| Gabriella: Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Joanna: Pa pa! |
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