Learn how to express your opinion
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hello everyone, and welcome back to PolishPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 12 - The Most Polish Symbol of All. I’m Brandon. |
| Marzena: And I’m Marzena. |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you'll learn how to express your opinion. |
| Marzena: This conversation takes place at city hall. |
| Brandon: It’s between Tom and Jane. |
| Marzena: The speakers are friends, so they’ll be using informal Polish. |
| Brandon: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Tom: Znasz ten znak? |
| Jane: Tak. To jest Orzeł Biały, symbol i godło Polski |
| Tom: Uważam, że wygląda świetnie! |
| Jane: Mi też sie podoba. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Tom: Znasz ten znak? |
| Jane: Tak. To jest Orzeł Biały, symbol i godło Polski |
| Tom: Uważam, że wygląda świetnie! |
| Jane: Mi też sie podoba. |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Tom: Znasz ten znak? |
| Brandon: Do you know this sign? |
| Jane: Tak. To jest Orzeł Biały, symbol i godło Polski |
| Brandon: Yes. It's a White Eagle, the symbol and coat of arms of Poland. |
| Tom: Uważam, że wygląda świetnie! |
| Brandon: I think it looks cool! |
| Jane: Mi też sie podoba. |
| Brandon: I also like it. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: In the dialogue we heard Tom and Jane mention the White Eagle, the symbol of Poland. Can you tell us more about that? |
| Marzena: Well, there’s a legend that explains why the eagle is Poland’s symbol. |
| Brandon: Go on. |
| Marzena: Once, there was a man called Lech. One day he saw an eagle in its nest spreading its wings while the sun set behind it. Lech was stunned by the beauty and majesty of what he saw. He decided to settle there. |
| Brandon: And that’s how the country of Poland was created. |
| Marzena: Exactly. Lech created Poland’s coat of arms based on the image of the eagle and the setting sun. |
| Brandon: And that’s how it is even today. |
| Marzena: Yes. We also named the first city Gniezdno – now called Gniezno – which is a name derived from the Polish word for “nest.” |
| Brandon: That’s a really interesting story! Hopefully we’ll hear more legends in this series. |
| Marzena: Listeners, you’ll have to listen to all the lessons for more! |
| Brandon: Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Marzena: znak [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: sign |
| Marzena: znak [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: znak [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: orzeł [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: eagle |
| Marzena: orzeł [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: orzeł [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: biały [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: white |
| Marzena: biały [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: biały [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: symbol [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: symbol, sign |
| Marzena: symbol [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: symbol [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: godło [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: coat of arms |
| Marzena: godło [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: godło [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: wyglądać [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to look |
| Marzena: wyglądać [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: wyglądać [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: podobać się [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to like |
| Marzena: podobać się [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: podobać się [natural native speed] |
| : And Last: |
| Marzena: znać [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to know, to be familiar with |
| Marzena: znać [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: znać [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Marzena, what’s our first word? |
| Marzena: Podobać się. |
| Brandon: “To like.” |
| Marzena: You can use this verb when there’s something or someone you like or you’re attracted to. You can also use it when something, for example an accessory or piece of clothing, matches your taste. |
| Brandon: So how can you say, “I like this girl?” |
| Marzena: That would be Podoba mi się ta dziewczyna. |
| Brandon: Okay. What’s the next word? |
| Marzena: Znać. |
| Brandon: This means “to be familiar with,” or “to know.” |
| Marzena: This verb can be used like: Znasz ten zespół? |
| Brandon: “Do you know this band?” |
| Marzena: As well as to express an ability to do something. For example, znam karate. |
| Brandon: “I know karate.” |
| Marzena: If you add się to znać you’ll get znać się which has a different meaning than the basic verb. |
| Brandon: What does the added pronoun mean? |
| Marzena: It means “myself” or “oneself,” but often, when it modifies the verb it has no meaning. |
| Brandon: I see. |
| Marzena: The first meaning of znać się is “to know each other,” like in the sentence, Znamy się z Tomkiem. |
| Brandon: Literally this is, “Thomas and I know each other.” |
| Marzena: The next meaning is “to know something very well” or “to be an expert in some field,” like in the sentence: Znam się na komputerach. |
| Brandon: “I’m good with computers,” or “I know a lot about computers.” |
| Marzena: For more examples, please refer to the lesson notes. |
| Brandon: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express your opinion. |
| Marzena: You can use quite a few verbs and phrases to do that. |
| Brandon: What’s the first verb? |
| Marzena: It’s myśleć... |
| Brandon: ...which means “to think.” |
| Marzena: It’s a rather colloquial verb, compared to the second one which we’ll discuss later. When we use it in a sentence, it’s always followed by że... |
| Brandon: ...which could be translated as “that” in English. |
| Marzena: For example, Myślę, że cię kocham. |
| Brandon: Meaning, “I think that I love you.” |
| Marzena: The verb myśleć follows the second conjugation pattern, so all the singular forms go as follows: myślę. |
| Brandon: “I think.” |
| Marzena: Myślisz. |
| Brandon: “You think.” |
| Marzena: Myśli. |
| Brandon: “He thinks.” |
| Marzena: For the plural forms, please refer to the lesson notes. |
| Brandon: What’s the next word you can use to express your opinion? |
| Marzena: It’s uważać. |
| Brandon: It means “to think,” and also “to consider” or “to find.” |
| Marzena: When you use it in this context, it’s usually followed by że, the same as mysleć. If we compare these two verbs, myśleć is used more often in a casual conversation, whereas uważać is used in written language and more formal settings. |
| Brandon: Is there anything else we should know? |
| Marzena: The verb uważać has one more extra meaning and it’s “to take care.” For example, Uważaj na siebie w czasie podróży. |
| Brandon: “Take care of yourself while travelling.” |
| Marzena: It follows the third conjugation pattern. Let’s go through the forms quickly - uważam. |
| Brandon: “I think.” |
| Marzena: Uważasz. |
| Brandon: “You think.” |
| Marzena: Uważa. |
| Brandon: “He thinks.” |
| Marzena: The next way to state your opinion is to use moim zdaniem... |
| Brandon: ...which can be translated as “in my opinion.” |
| Marzena: Of course, the forms will change depending on who the speaker is. |
| Brandon: Make sure to review these forms in the lesson notes. Marzena, can you give us an example of a sentence using this phrase? |
| Marzena: Of course. For example, Moim zdaniem ten obraz jest przepiękny. |
| Brandon: “In my opinion, this painting is gorgeous.” |
Outro |
| Brandon: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Marzena: Bye |
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