Learn how to ask for directions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to PolishPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 1 Lesson 11 - Getting Directions in Polish. Eric here. |
| Marzena: Cześć. I'm Marzena. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for directions in Polish. The conversation takes place at the immigration bureau. |
| Marzena: It's between Ann and a man from the information desk. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll use formal Polish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Ann: Dzień dobry. Gdzie można odebrać wizę? |
| Pan z informacji: Pracowniczą czy studencką? |
| Ann: Studencką. |
| Pan z informacji: W okienku numer 8 (osiem). Proszę, to jest pani numerek. |
| Ann: Dziękuję. A gdzie jest okienko numer 8 (osiem)? |
| Pan z informacji: Tam. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Ann: Dzień dobry. Gdzie można odebrać wizę? |
| Pan z informacji: Pracowniczą czy studencką? |
| Ann: Studencką. |
| Pan z informacji: W okienku numer 8 (osiem). Proszę, to jest pani numerek. |
| Ann: Dziękuję. A gdzie jest okienko numer 8 (osiem)? |
| Pan z informacji: Tam. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Ann: Good morning, where can I get my visa? |
| Man from Information: A Working or Student one? |
| Ann: Student visa. |
| Man from Information: At counter number eight. Here is your number. |
| Ann: Thank you. And where is counter number eight? |
| Man from Information: Over there. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Marzena, what’s the most important administrative office in Polish cities? |
| Marzena: It’s definitely the city hall, which in Polish is urząd miejski. |
| Eric: What are the main functions of city hall? |
| Marzena: It takes care of most matters related to living in the city. For example, it’s the place that issues IDs and passports or other documents necessary for going or moving abroad. Sometimes in the same building there's a registry office where things like marriage, divorce, and changing your name are taken care of. |
| Eric: So sometimes those offices aren’t located in the same building? |
| Marzena: That’s right. It depends on the city. In some cities all of these offices can be located in one building, or close to each other, but in other cases they may be scattered all over the city. |
| Eric: Good to know. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Marzena: gdzie [natural native speed] |
| Eric: where |
| Marzena: gdzie [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: gdzie [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Marzena: wiza [natural native speed] |
| Eric: visa |
| Marzena: wiza [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: wiza [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Marzena: czy [natural native speed] |
| Eric: or |
| Marzena: czy [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: czy [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Marzena: studencki [natural native speed] |
| Eric: student's |
| Marzena: studencki [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: studencki [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Marzena: w [natural native speed] |
| Eric: in |
| Marzena: w [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: w [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Marzena: okienko [natural native speed] |
| Eric: window (lit. little window) |
| Marzena: okienko [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: okienko [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Marzena: numerek [natural native speed] |
| Eric: number |
| Marzena: numerek [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: numerek [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Marzena: tam [natural native speed] |
| Eric: there |
| Marzena: tam [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: tam [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrases are.. |
| Marzena: wiza pracownicza and wiza studencka |
| Eric: which mean “working visa” and “student visa” respectively. |
| Marzena: Wiza is a feminine noun that comes from English. |
| Eric: The pronunciation is almost the same as the English “visa.” |
| Marzena: Right. Wiza. And the feminine adjective pracownicza is from the noun praca, which means “work.” Pracownicza means “working.” Once more, Wiza pracownicza. |
| Eric: “Working visa.” In our dialogue we also have another type of visa. |
| Marzena: Right. wiza studencka. Studencka is a feminine adjective and comes from the noun student, meaning “student” in English. wiza studencka. |
| Eric: “Student visa.” Marzena, can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say.. Jestem teraz na wizie studenckiej. |
| Eric: ..which means “I am now on a student visa.” Okay, what's the next word? |
| Marzena: okienko |
| Eric: which means “little window, counter.” |
| Marzena: Actually okienko is a very interesting word in Polish. |
| Eric: Its literal meaning is “little window,” and that's one of many meanings. The meaning used in the dialogue is a counter or small window in a wall, usually at places like post offices, banks, or for information desks at all kinds of offices or hospitals. |
| Marzena: Now the look of okienko is changing. |
| Eric: So it doesn't really look like a small window in a wall anymore, but the name has survived and you’ll often hear it at places I mentioned before. |
| Marzena: Another commonly used meaning is ”a break of one or more periods between classes'” - in other words, a “free period.” |
| Eric: Marzena, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say.. Proszę podejść do okienka numer 10. |
| Eric: .. which means “Come to window number 10, please.” |
| Marzena: Or Teraz mam okienko. |
| Eric: “Now I have a free period” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask for directions in Polish. The grammar pattern is very simple. You can just say…. |
| Marzena: Gdzie jest ... |
| Eric: and then name what you are looking for. Marzena, let's break down this phrase to see the meaning of each word. |
| Marzena: Sure. Gdzie means “where,” and jest means “is.” jest is the third person singular form of the verb być which means “to be.” |
| Eric: So, following this grammar pattern, how would you say “Where is the toilet?” in Polish? |
| Marzena: “Toilet” is toaleta, so we will have... Gdzie jest toaleta? |
| Eric: And what about “Where is my bag?” |
| Marzena: It is Gdzie jest moja torebka? Torebka means “bag,” and moja means “my” for feminine nouns. Gdzie jest moja torebka? |
| Eric: “Where is my bag?” How would you say “Where are my parents?” |
| Marzena: That’s Gdzie są moi rodzice? Rodzice is a plural noun. So we should also replace jest, which means “is” with są, which means “are” in Polish. |
| Eric: Great. Then how would you say “Where are the keys?” |
| Marzena: “Keys” are klucze. This is a plural noun. So we should use the verb są instead of jest. Altogether, it’s Gdzie są klucze? |
| Eric: “Where are the keys?” Another useful phrase for asking where you can find what you are looking for is “Where is the closest…..?” and then name the place you’re looking for. |
| Marzena: First say the word gdzie, which means “where.” Then add jest, which means “is.” Gdzie jest …. And after that, add the adjective najbliższy, which means “closest” for masculine nouns, najbliższa for feminine nouns, and najbliższe for neuter nouns. |
| Eric: Let’s use the word “pharmacy” which in Polish is… |
| Marzena: apteka. It’s a feminine noun. |
| Eric: In Polish, “Where is the closest pharmacy?” is… |
| Marzena: Gdzie jest najbliższa apteka? To ask for a different place, we can just replace the word apteka with any other word and the phrase works fine. |
| Eric: Let's imagine you need to withdraw some money from your bank account. ”Where is the closest ATM?” is... |
| Marzena: Gdzie jest najbliższy bankomat? Listeners, we used the adjective najbliższy, because bankomat is a masculine noun. |
| Eric: So, in the previous sentence we said… |
| Marzena: najbliższa apteka |
| Eric: whereas with ATM, it is... |
| Marzena: najbliższy bankomat |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Marzena: Cześć. |
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