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. |
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