Dialogue

Want to Understand & Master the Polish Dialogue 100%?

Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.
Already a Member?

Vocabulary (Review)

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Hello and welcome to Polish Survival Phrases brought to you by PolishPod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Poland. You will be surprised at how far a little Polish will go.
Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by PolishPod101.com and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.

Lesson focus
Exchanging money in Poland is very convenient. One can exchange money at airports or banks, or make a withdrawal from an ATM.
The rates applied when withdrawing money from an ATM are likely to be quite good. However, when using an ATM it is advisable to make one large withdrawal as both the local bank and your home bank may charge you certain fees.
So first things first, let's find a location that will exchange money.
First, let's review some previous phrases and patterns we've already covered.
In Polish, "Where is the closest ATM?" is Gdzie jest najbliższy bankomat?
Now to ask for a bank, we can just replace the word for ATM with the word for bank and the phrase works just fine. "Where is the closest bank?" is Gdzie jest najbliższy bank? The only thing that changes is the place you're looking for.
For times when there is neither a bank nor an ATM, you can ask, "Where can I exchange currency?"
In Polish, this is Gdzie mogę wymienić pieniądze? The first word gdzie means, "where."
Then we have mogę, which in English, is "can I."
The next word is wymienić, which stands for "to exchange."
Let's look at the next word. Pieniądze.
This word means, "money."
All together, we have: Gdzie mogę wymienić pieniądze? This literally means, "Where can I exchange money?"
Exchanging currency is pretty straightforward. One extremely useful phrase is "Smaller denominations, please." It's usually beneficial to have smaller bills on you for paying bus fares, taxi fares, and so on.
In Polish, "Smaller denominations, please" is Proszę mniejsze banknoty.
The first word proszę ("please") you already know very well.
Next we have mniejsze meaning, "smaller."
Finally, we have banknoty, which means "bills."
Finally, you can also use the phrase "Can you break this for me, sir?" to indicate you would like smaller bills. In Polish, "Can you break this for me, sir?" is Czy może mi pan to rozmienić? We start the phrase with czy może ("can you").
Then we have mi ("for me").
Next, we have pan ("sir" or "Mr."). Following this, we have to ("this").
Finally, we have rozmienić meaning, "to change" or "to break."
All together, we have: Czy może mi pan to rozmienić? "Can you break this for me, sir?"
Cultural Insights
In Poland, we have a so-called kantor, which is an exchange office.
They are located all around main cities. Either they can be separate small offices, or they can be a part of, for example, a tourist office, where you will find just a little desk. Look for a sign with Kantor on it and you found the place. Also, usually next to the kantor entrance, there will be a huge board displaying all the currencies offered by a particular kantor and their current rates.
This way you don't have to go in and ask what the current rates are. Different kantors offer different exchange rates for the same currencies so it might happen that your rate is either better or worse than in a different one. Kantors exchange cash only.
They have a lot of currencies on hand.
They are usually open from Monday to Saturday.
They are closed on Sundays.
If you would like to use the phrase we introduced today with kantor in it, it would be Gdzie jest najbliższy kantor? "Where is the closest exchange office?"

Outro
Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud.
You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so powodzenia, which means “good luck” in Polish.
"Where is the closest ATM?" - Gdzie jest najbliższy bankomat?
Gdzie jest najbliższy bankomat?
Gdzie jest najbliższy bankomat?
"Where can I exchange currency?" - Gdzie mogę wymienić pieniądze?
Gdzie mogę wymienić pieniądze?
Gdzie mogę wymienić pieniądze?
"Smaller denominations, please." - Proszę mniejsze banknoty.
Proszę mniejsze banknoty.
Proszę mniejsze banknoty.
"Can you break this for me, sir?" - Czy może mi pan to rozmienić?
Czy może mi pan to rozmienić?
Czy może mi pan to rozmienić?
All right, that's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by PolishPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.

Comments

Hide