Learn some Polish vocabulary and phrases you can use in a cafe
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Betsey:Hello everyone and welcome back to PolishPod101.com. This is Beginner series, season 1, lesson 19 - Let’s Have a Bite at a Polish Café. I’m Betsey. |
| Joanna:And I’m Joanna. |
| Betsey:In this lesson, you’ll learn some vocabulary and phrases you can use in a cafe or restaurant. |
| Joanna:The conversation takes place at a cafe. |
| Betsey:And it’s between Ewa and a waiter. |
| Joanna:They don’t know each other, so they’ll be using formal Polish. |
| Betsey:Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Kelner:Dzień dobry. |
| Ewa:Dzień dobry. |
| Kelner:Co dla pani? |
| Ewa:Proszę kawę z mlekiem i szarlotkę. |
| Kelner:Czy coś jeszcze? |
| Ewa:Nie, dziękuję. |
| Ewa:Proszę rachunek, |
| Kelner:Oczywiście. |
| Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Kelner:Dzień dobry. |
| Ewa:Dzień dobry. |
| Kelner:Co dla pani? |
| Ewa:Proszę kawę z mlekiem i szarlotkę. |
| Kelner:Czy coś jeszcze? |
| Ewa:Nie, dziękuję. |
| Ewa:Proszę rachunek, |
| Kelner:Oczywiście. |
| Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Kelner:Dzień dobry. |
| Betsey:Good morning. |
| Ewa:Dzień dobry. |
| Betsey:Good morning. |
| Kelner:Co dla pani? |
| Betsey:What can I get you, ma'am? |
| Ewa:Proszę kawę z mlekiem i szarlotkę. |
| Betsey:Coffee with milk and apple pie, please. |
| Kelner:Czy coś jeszcze? |
| Betsey:Anything else? |
| Ewa:Nie, dziękuję. |
| Betsey:No, thank you. |
| Ewa:Proszę rachunek, |
| Betsey:Check, please. |
| Kelner:Oczywiście. |
| Betsey:Sure. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Betsey:Hey Joanna, since the topic of this lesson is restaurants, why not give us some tips for eating out in Poland? |
| Joanna:Great idea! First of all, in Polish restaurants, water is not served with a meal, so if you want some, you have to ask a waiter for it. And of course, you will be charged for that. |
| Betsey:Charged for water?? |
| Joanna:Yes, and the funny part is that sometimes a glass of beer costs the same! |
| Betsey:What do Poles usually drink with a meal? |
| Joanna:Usually juice, coke or some kind of alcohol - we never order water. |
| Betsey:What about payment methods? Is using debit or credit cards possible? |
| Joanna:In most places it’s ok, but before ordering something, I’d strongly advise asking whether it’s ok or not, just to avoid a problem later on. |
| Betsey:For more tips, please check the lesson notes, because it’s time to learn some new vocabulary now! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Betsey:Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| :The first word we shall see is Joanna:proszę [natural native speed] |
| Betsey:please |
| Joanna:proszę [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Joanna:proszę [natural native speed] |
| :Next Joanna:pani [natural native speed] |
| Betsey:ma’am, ms. mrs |
| Joanna:pani [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Joanna:pani [natural native speed] |
| :Next Joanna:dziękować [natural native speed] |
| Betsey:to thank |
| Joanna:dziękować [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Joanna:dziękować [natural native speed] |
| :Next Joanna:z [natural native speed] |
| Betsey:with |
| Joanna:z [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Joanna:z [natural native speed] |
| :Next Joanna:dla [natural native speed] |
| Betsey:for |
| Joanna:dla [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Joanna:dla [natural native speed] |
| :Next Joanna:szarlotka [natural native speed] |
| Betsey:apple pie |
| Joanna:szarlotka [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Joanna:szarlotka [natural native speed] |
| :Next Joanna:coś [natural native speed] |
| Betsey:anything; something |
| Joanna:coś [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Joanna:coś [natural native speed] |
| :Next Joanna:jeszcze [natural native speed] |
| Betsey:else;still |
| Joanna:jeszcze [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Joanna:jeszcze [natural native speed] |
| :Next Joanna:rachunek [natural native speed] |
| Betsey:check, bill |
| Joanna:rachunek [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Joanna:rachunek [natural native speed] |
| :And last Joanna:oczywiście [natural native speed] |
| Betsey:of course, sure |
| Joanna:oczywiście [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Joanna:oczywiście [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Betsey:Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Joanna:The first word is ‘szarlotka’ |
| Betsey:“apple pie” |
| Joanna:This is the dessert Ewa ordered at the cafe. It’s usually served with vanilla ice-cream and whipped cream. In Polish, there’s one more word that means “apple pie”, ‘jabłecznik’ |
| Betsey:And there’s no difference? |
| Joanna:No difference in meaning, just that ‘szarlotka’ is a word that comes from French and ‘jabłecznik’ is a typical Polish word. |
| Betsey:Does the Polish word have anything to do with apples? |
| Joanna:Yes.The name of the cake derives from the noun ‘jabłko’ which means “apple”. So, whether you use ‘szarlotka’ or jabłecznik’, both are perfectly fine. |
| Betsey:Okay, what’s the next word? |
| Joanna:‘mleko’ |
| Betsey:“milk” |
| Joanna:In the dialogue, Ewa ordered a coffee with milk, which is a very common way of drinking coffee in Poland. |
| Betsey:What if we want to make an adjective? If something has a milk flavor, for example. |
| Joanna:Then we will get - ‘mleczny’, which is of course the masculine form. The feminine form is ‘mleczna’, and the neuter - ‘mleczne’ |
| Betsey:Listeners, how do you think we say “milk chocolate” in Polish? |
| Joanna:Good suggestion, since we’ve learned the word for chocolate already! So? Did you figure it out? |
| Betsey:“milk chocolate” in Polish is |
| Joanna:‘mleczna czekolada’ |
| Betsey:Good job! Now let’s move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Betsey:In this lesson you’re going to learn all the necessary vocabulary and phrases you’ll need whenever you go to a restaurant or cafe. |
| Joanna:First of all, after entering the place, just go to the table you like the best, sit down and wait for a waiter to bring the menu, unless it’s already on the table. |
| Betsey:So Poles never wait for the waiter by the entrance? |
| Joanna:Never. Unless it’s some super expensive restaurant, where such manners are required. |
| Betsey:Okay, so we choose the table, we go there by ourselves, we choose what we want to order...and what comes next? |
| Joanna:Then, after some time, a waiter should appear and ask you what you’d like to have. |
| Betsey:What will they ask you in Polish? |
| Joanna:There are a few options. Let’s start with the one we heard in the dialogue - ‘Co dla pani?’ |
| Betsey:“What can I get you, ma’am”? |
| Joanna:The question starts with the interrogative pronoun ‘co’ |
| Betsey:...which means “what”. |
| Joanna:Then we had the preposition ‘dla’ |
| Betsey:...which means “for”. |
| Joanna:And lastly the official form of addressing a lady - ‘pani’ |
| Betsey:which stands for the English “ma’am” |
| Joanna:Listeners, please repeat after me - ‘co dla pani?’ |
| Betsey:[pause] The literal translation of this question is “what for you, ma’am?” but if course we’ll stick to the English equivalent - “What can I get for you, ma’am?” |
| Joanna:Of course, if a customer is a man, the question will sound slightly different - ‘co dla pana?’ |
| Betsey:“What can I get for you, sir?” |
| Joanna:And if there are a few people at the table, the waiter will probably say - ‘co dla państwa?’ |
| Betsey:“What can I get you (plural)”. |
| Joanna:In Polish, if we address a group of people which consists of both women and men, we use the word ‘państwo’. |
| Betsey:Ok, that sounds pretty simple. Is there any other way the waiter might ask this question? |
| Joanna:Yes, one more. It’s ‘co podać?’ |
| Betsey:“What can I get you?” |
| Joanna:Ok, let’s move on. When the waiter asked Ewa ‘co dla pani?’, she said - ‘Proszę kawę z mlekiem i szarlotkę’ |
| Betsey:“Coffee with milk and apple pie, please” |
| Joanna:The response is composed of the first person singular form ‘proszę’ |
| Betsey:Meaning “please”... |
| Joanna:...and the items she wanted to order - ‘kawę z mlekiem’ |
| Betsey:“coffee with milk” |
| Joanna:...and ‘szarlotkę’ |
| Betsey:“apple pie”. |
| Joanna:The word ‘proszę’ requires the accusative case of the nouns it’s followed by. |
| Betsey:Listeners, if you don’t remember the accusative case very well, please review lesson 14. So, what should we say when we want to pay and leave? |
| Joanna:It’s very easy, because you can just say ‘Rachunek proszę’ |
| Betsey:...which means “check please” |
| Joanna:Then on your way out, it’s good manners to say ‘do widzenia’... |
| Betsey:...which simply means “Goodbye”. Okay, that about does it for this lesson. |
| Joanna:In the lesson notes, you’ll find a list of words that will be useful at cafes and restaurants. |
| Betsey:So be sure to check it out! |
| Betsey:Thanks for listening, everyone! We’ll see you next time! |
| Joanna:Do widzenia. |
Comments
HideHi everyone,
What's your favourite Polish tea or Polish dishes?
Cześć Kyle,
Thank you for posting.
That's right, When ordering something, will we always refer to the item/s in the accusative form.
When you ask about the price, you use nominative case.
Hope it helps.
Sincerely,
Hanna
Team PolishPod101.com
Cześć!
Bardzo lubię pierogi, pierogi jest móje ulubione danie.
When ordering something, will we always refer to the item/s in the accusative form? I am asking because that doesn't seem to be the case with asking for price? "Ile kosztują te pierogi?" for example.
Dzięki,
Do widzenia :)
Hello Blanca
Thank you for your message. Can you please send us a screenshot with a portion you are referring to to contactus@polishpod101.com ?
Best
Piotr
Team PolishPod101.com
PROSZE IS SAID TO BE STUDENT'S IN #2 on one of the quizzes
Hi tom,
Thank you for posting!
We would love to help you :smile:
Please, send us a message to - contactus@PolishPod101.com
Including the information about your device and your question.
Regards,
Laura
Team PolishPod101.com
Hello, I have new desktop computer with windows 8.1, how do I download or put into action the Polish programmers key board so I can comment in po polsku.........regards..Tom
Hi Tatiana
Może to były krówki, lub ptasie mleczko?
Pozdrawiam
Piotr
Team PolishPod101.com
Lubie Polska czekolade. Tez probowalabym w Polsce jakis pyszne slodycze, niestety, ne pomientam, co to bylo.