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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Gina: Hello everyone and welcome to PolishPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 5, An Alphabet Full of Polish Tongue Twisters. I’m Gina.
Joanna: And I’m Joanna.
Gina: In this lesson you'll learn all about the Polish alphabet.
Joanna: This conversation takes place in a restaurant.
Gina: It’s between Gosia and Alex.
Joanna: The speakers are around the same age, so they’ll be using informal Polish.
Gina: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Gosia: Jak ci idzie nauka?
Alex: Chyba dobrze.
Gosia: Jakieś problemy?
Alex: Tak. Wymowa. Litery 'ż' albo 'ź' są bardzo trudne.
Gosia: Nie martw się, dobrze ci idzie!
Gina: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Gosia: Jak ci idzie nauka?
Alex: Chyba dobrze.
Gosia: Jakieś problemy?
Alex: Tak. Wymowa. Litery 'ż' albo 'ź' są bardzo trudne.
Gosia: Nie martw się, dobrze ci idzie!
Gina: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Gosia: Jak ci idzie nauka?
Gosia: How is studying going?
Alex: Chyba dobrze.
Alex: Well, I think.
Gosia: Jakieś problemy?
Gosia: Any problems?
Alex: Tak. Wymowa. Litery 'ż' albo 'ź' są bardzo trudne.
Alex: Yes. Pronunciation. Letters 'ż' or 'ź' are very difficult
Gosia: Nie martw się, dobrze ci idzie!
Gosia: Don't worry, you're doing well!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Gina: So what’s the education system in Poland like? Do people learn foreign languages?
Joanna: We start learning our first foreign language, English, in kindergarten.
Gina: Wow! That’s so early!
Joanna: Yes, but at that stage it’s fun because you’re singing songs, playing games, and just learning basic words. In the first 3 years of elementary school that study is continued, but at a slightly higher level - by then there’s only one teacher for all the classes. During the last 3 years we improve all the skills, learn grammar..
Gina: And then you move on to junior high school when you start learning your 2nd foreign language, right?
Joanna: That’s right. From that moment on we study 2 foreign languages right up until the time we graduate.
Gina: Sounds tough. But knowing a couple of languages is great! Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Gina: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
The first word we shall see is...
Joanna: jak [natural native speed]
Gina: how
Joanna: jak [slowly - broken down by syllable] jak [natural native speed]
Gina: Next
Joanna: nauka [natural native speed]
Gina: studying
Joanna: nauka [slowly - broken down by syllable] nauka [natural native speed]
Gina: Next
Joanna: tak [natural native speed]
Gina: yes
Joanna: tak [slowly - broken down by syllable] tak [natural native speed]
Gina: Next
Joanna: wymowa [natural native speed]
Gina: pronunciation
Joanna: wymowa [slowly - broken down by syllable] wymowa [natural native speed]
Gina: Next
Joanna: trudny [natural native speed]
Gina: difficult
Joanna: trudny [slowly - broken down by syllable] trudny [natural native speed]
Gina: Next
Joanna: martwić się [natural native speed]
Gina: to worry
Joanna: martwić się [slowly - broken down by syllable] martwić się [natural native speed]
Gina: Next
Joanna: problem [natural native speed]
Gina: problem
Joanna: problem [slowly - broken down by syllable] problem [natural native speed]
Gina: And last,
Joanna: dobrze ci idzie [natural native speed]
Gina: You’re doing well.
Joanna: dobrze ci idzie [slowly - broken down by syllable] dobrze ci idzie [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Gina: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Joanna, what’s the first word?
Joanna: ‘wymowa’
Gina: “pronunciation”
Joanna: It’s a noun that derives from the verb ‘wymawiać’
Gina: Meaning “to pronounce”
Joanna: For example, you can say ‘polska wymowa jest trudna’
Gina: “Polish pronunciation is difficult”. But I hope our listeners don’t think so! What’s the next word?
Joanna: This one’s very easy to remember - ‘problem’
Gina: It’s just like the English “problem”
Joanna: Easy, isn’t it?
Gina: Yeah, this time!
Joanna: The meaning is also very similar to English, because it’s a difficult or troublesome situation, something we have to think through. There are a few commonly used types of sentence or phrases that use this word.
Gina: I’m sure our listeners will want to hear them.
Joanna: The first example would be ‘problem z głowy’
Gina: The literal translation is “problem off your head”. Hmm, what does it mean?
Joanna: You can use it when you have just solved some problem, or rid yourself of some trouble.
Gina: Can we get one more example?
Joanna: A very simple and useful one is - ‘mam problem’
Gina: “I have a problem”
Joanna: You usually use it when you want to talk about or discuss something that’s bothering you.
Gina: Okay, and what’s the last word?
Joanna: This time it’s a phrase - ‘dobrze ci idzie’
Gina: This literally means “it’s going well for you”, but we will stick to the English equivalent “you’re doing well”
Joanna: If you want to encourage someone even more, feel free to change the adverb ‘dobrze’ into ‘świetnie’, which will give you ‘świetnie ci idzie’
Gina: “you’re doing great”
Joanna: Let’s hope our listeners hear this while they’re studying Polish!
Gina: Definitely. Okay, now onto the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn about the Polish alphabet.
Joanna: It’s based on the Latin writing system, like many other languages in the world, but there are some sounds and characters that are typically Polish.
Gina: Some of them may be a little bit challenging when it comes to pronunciation, and the writing system also requires a lot of practice. Now Joanna, the listeners might be worried that some words are really hard to pronounce!
Joanna: It’s not that terrible! You will probably just have to use mouth muscles that you have never used before.
Gina: Okay! So let’s give your mouth a workout and go through the Polish alphabet.
Joanna: Great idea!
Gina: Listeners, Joanna will start with a Polish letter, then you’ll have a few seconds to repeat after her, and then I’ll give you the English equivalent, if there is one...and if there isn’t, then I’ll move on to the next letter. Let’s start!
Joanna: A
Gina: (pause) “a”
Joanna: Ą
Gina: (pause) this sound is unique to Polish
Joanna: B
Gina: (pause) “b”
Joanna: C
Gina: (pause) “c”
Joanna: Ć
Gina: (pause) next unique sound
Joanna: D
Gina: (pause) “d”
Joanna: E
Gina: (pause) “e”
Joanna: Ę
Gina: (pause) unique sound to Polish
Joanna: F
Gina: (pause) “f”
Joanna: G
Gina: (pause) “g”
Joanna: H
Gina: (pause) “h”
Joanna: I
Gina: (pause) “i”
Joanna: J
Gina: (pause) “j”
Joanna: K
Gina: (pause) “k”
Joanna: L
Gina: (pause) “l”
Joanna: Ł
Gina: (pause) that’s another unique Polish sound
Joanna: M
Gina: (pause) “m”
Joanna: N
Gina: (pause) “n”
Joanna: Ń (pause)
Gina - unique to Polish
Joanna: O
Gina: (pause) “o”
Joanna: Ó
Gina: (pause) unique sound
Joanna: P
Gina: (pause) “p”
Joanna: R
Gina: (pause) “r”
Joanna: S
Gina: (pause) “s”
Joanna: Ś
Gina: (pause) unique sound
Joanna: T
Gina: (pause) “t”
Joanna: U
Gina: (pause) “u”
Joanna: W
Gina: (pause) “w”
Joanna: Y
Gina: (pause) “y”
Joanna: Z
Gina: (pause) “z”
Joanna: Ź
Gina: (pause) unique Polish sound
Joanna: Ż - another unique Polish z.
Gina: Did you get all the sounds correct? Some seem pretty difficult to pronounce...
Joanna: That’s because in Polish we use quite a few diacritical marks, like dots, lines and slashes...which change the sound of the original letter.
Gina: Everyone, be sure to check the lesson notes because you’ll see all the Polish characters there.
Joanna: Something that makes the Polish language quite special among other Slavic languages, is that it has the nasal vowels Ą and Ę
Gina: I’m not even going to try to pronounce those!
Joanna: Okay, listeners, try to repeat after me...Ą [pause] and Ę [pause]
Gina: One of the other key characteristics of Polish, is that it has voiced and unvoiced sounds where most voiced sounds have a voiced representative. So they’re like pairs.
Joanna: Exactly. In that sense, they are easy to remember, a little bit like symmetry! In the lesson notes there’s a table that shows that really well, so be sure to check it out!
Gina: I’ve heard that Polish is kind of a whistling language too.
Joanna: That’s true, we have many sounds like - sz, rz, cz, ż dź.. and so on
Gina: That’s great pronunciation practice!

Outro

Gina: Ok, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time.
Gina: Bye!
Joanna: Papa.

Comments

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52 Comments
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PolishPod101.com
2014-02-03 18:30:00

Hello Listeners! Are you ready to practice the Polish Alphabet?

Mary
2024-08-08 19:48:00

I'm going deaf, and can't hear consonants in English clearly. I know the consonants would be difficult anyway, but I literally can't hear any difference between the two z sounds. (sorry, my phone does have the accents.) Could you describe what the mouth should be doing so I can try and produce the sound? Is one more like a ж and the other more sybillant? I'm really confused!

PolishPod101.com
2024-01-07 20:00:59

Cześć Sam,

Thank you for your question! While it's challenging to capture the exact sounds of a language through written English, here are some examples:

- Polish "o" would be more or less similar to the sound you can hear in "door", "floor", "snore".

- Polish "a" could be compared to the sound you can hear in "up", "cup", "jump".

Should you have any other questions, do let us know!

Miłego dnia :)

Pozdrowienia,

Łukasz

Team PolishPod101.com

sam
2023-12-29 23:10:38

Dzień dobry,

I would appreciate some further help with the 'o' and the 'a' :)

In American standard phonetics and IPA, the 'a' in father and the 'o' in not and 'on' are the same for most people. Living in Poland, I've heard (and speak) 'Polska' and 'oko' with more of how Americans would say 'oat'.

It seems that in Polish the difference is quite subtle, and maybe as an American it's hard for me to distinguish. Are there other English word sounds you would suggest to distinguish between the 'o' and the 'a' in po polsku?

PolishPod101.com
2023-02-02 17:25:49

Cześć Gabriel!

I am sure it is not that bad :) Are there any particular sounds you find most challenging?

Should you have any questions feel free to ask!

Miłego dnia :)

Pozdrowienia,

Łukasz

Team PolishPod101.com

Gabriel Zuñiga
2023-02-01 21:00:54

So bad pronunciation I have :(

PolishPod101.com
2022-12-21 16:57:07

Cześć Piotr!

Wow, there is much going on in the Polish alphabet, isn't there? :) Thank you for sharing that with us!

Miłego dnia :)

Pozdrowienia,

Łukasz

Team PolishPod101.com

Piotr
2022-12-20 20:14:45

A,Ą,B,C,Ć,D,E,É,F,G,H/CH,I,J,K,L,Ł,M,N,Ń,O,Ó,P,R,S,Ś,T,U,W,Y,Z,Ż/RZ,Ż,CZ,SZ,DZ,DŻ,DŻ

PolishPod101.com
2022-10-12 13:30:35

Hi Cain,

Thank you for studying with us.

It's not possible, but what you can do is: make a Flashcard containing the words you want to hear again and practice/lesson.

Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.👍

Cheers,

Lena

Team PolishPod101.com

Cain
2022-10-08 10:22:22

Hello, I would like to ask if it is possible to add a voice clip on how something is pronounced in the lesson notes when needed.

PolishPod101.com
2022-08-08 03:25:17

Hello Vangelis!

Your observations are correct. The pronunciation of "ę" depends on many things. It may vary depending on the speed of speech, awareness of the speaker etc. It may as well be that the language is evolving in the direction in which "ę" will be used in a very limited number of cases or it won't be used at all in the future, but I personally hope it will be in very distant future ;)

Pozdrowienia,

Łukasz

Team PolishPod101.com

Vangelis
2022-08-04 17:35:07

I have noticed that too. pollacks on everyday speaking they don't pronounce ę in "thank you" . Sometimes you can hear the first one but nearly never the second ę. So at best you will hear them say Dzięnkuje. They use to omit the pronunciation in other words too like Wodę for unknown reason to me. These are personal observations ofc and if i am wrong plz correct me.

PolishPod101.com
2022-07-25 17:51:00

Cześć Lee :)

Thank you for your comment! It's a very a very good observation!

One reason for that might be how fast people talk. It seems to be easier to say "dzienkuję" instead of "dziękuję" when speaking fast.

Both forms are understandable but "dziękuję" is the one which is orthographically and phonetically correct.

Pozdrowienia,

Łukasz

Team PolishPod101.com

Lee Stanwqay
2022-07-25 04:04:53

I have noticed that dziekuje is pronounced with a nasal 'e' by some polish speakers and as an 'e' in 'the', is there a reason for this?

PolishPod101.com
2022-03-20 02:05:53

Hi Shoc,

Thanks for posting.

A verb “study” in Polish is "uczyć się" (infinitive form).

ja uczę się

ty uczysz się

on / ona / ono uczy się

my uczymy się

wy uczycie się

oni / one uczą się

Hope that helps!

Best,

Hanna

Team PolishPod101.com

Shoc
2022-03-15 08:41:48

Cześć!

I learned Nauka as “studying”.

Is a verb “study” similar to nauka. How do you conjugate the verb “study”?

PolishPod101.com
2021-10-30 20:34:26

Cześć Betty,

Thank you so much for your positive feedback.

Enjoy learning Polish 😄

Best,

Hanna

Team PolishPod101.com

Betty
2021-10-26 02:44:22

Lubię cała lekcja.

PolishPod101.com
2021-08-03 22:16:22

Cześć JEAN-NOEL,

With our PremiumPLUS subscription, you can have your own personalized teacher to guide you along the path of your language journey. He/She will reply any questions you might have, give you constant feedback, provide you with exercises, and evaluate your pronunciation. For more informaion, please click on any of our promotional offer banners or visit our Help Center page.

Pozdrawiam,

Levente

Team PolishPod101.com

PolishPod101.com
2021-08-03 22:13:21

Cześć Kai,

Thank you so much for your heart! ❤️️❤️️

We are very happy that you like to study with us.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Pozdrawiam,

Levente

Team PolishPod101.com

Kai
2021-07-10 08:23:30

❤️️❤️️❤️️

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