Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to Polishpod101.com. This is Business Polish for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 17 - Asking For Time Off Work in Polish. Michael here.
Marzena: Cześć, I'm Marzena.
Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn about asking for a day off. The conversation takes place at the office.
Marzena: It's between Monika and a secretary.
Michael: The speakers are a supervisor and employee, therefore, they will speak formal Polish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Sekretarka: Pani Moniko, mam do pani taką sprawę.
Monika: Tak, słucham?
Sekretarka: Muszę iść do banku w przyszłym tygodniu i potrzebuję wolnego.
Monika: O jakim dniu mówimy?
Sekretarka: Najlepiej w czwartek.
Monika: Dobrze, rozumiem. Proszę tylko wysłać mail do działu kadr. Proszę im powiedzieć, że ja się zgodziłam.
Sekretarka: Dziękuję, tak zrobię.
Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Sekretarka: Pani Moniko, mam do pani taką sprawę.
Monika: Tak, słucham?
Sekretarka: Muszę iść do banku w przyszłym tygodniu i potrzebuję wolnego.
Monika: O jakim dniu mówimy?
Sekretarka: Najlepiej w czwartek.
Monika: Dobrze, rozumiem. Proszę tylko wysłać mail do działu kadr. Proszę im powiedzieć, że ja się zgodziłam.
Sekretarka: Dziękuję, tak zrobię.
Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
secretary: Ms. Monika, I have a favor to ask.
Monika: Yes, what?
secretary: I have to go to the bank next week, and I need a day off.
Monika: What day are we talking about?
secretary: Thursday would be the best.
Monika: Sure, I understand. Please send an email to the HR Department. And please tell them that I'm OK with it.
secretary: Thank you, I will do so.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Michael: Sometimes when you work in business, you do need to take time off.
Marzena: Yes, the working hours are not always the most convenient for things like banks.
Michael: Or seeing doctors, or dentists, etc.
Marzena: So, it’s not a surprise that the secretary needed a day off.
Michael: Thankfully, Monika was very understanding.
Marzena: Yes, that was lucky.
Michael: And if you’re a foreigner living in Poland, you might need more time off because of visa issues and things like that.
Marzena: Especially for non-EU foreigners.
Michael: Are there many foreigners in Poland?
Marzena: Yes, the numbers have been continuously growing over the last few years, especially in big cities like Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, or Poznan.
Michael: How do we say "work permit" in Polish?
Marzena: pozwolenie na pracę
Michael: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is...
Marzena: sprawa [natural native speed]
Michael: "case"
Marzena: sprawa [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: sprawa [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have...
Marzena: słuchać [natural native speed]
Michael: "to listen, hear"
Marzena: słuchać [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: słuchać [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have...
Marzena: bank [natural native speed]
Michael: "bank"
Marzena: bank [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: bank [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have...
Marzena: mówić [natural native speed]
Michael: "to speak"
Marzena: mówić [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: mówić [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have...
Marzena: dział [natural native speed]
Michael: "department"
Marzena: dział [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: dział [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have...
Marzena: kadry [natural native speed]
Michael: "staff"
Marzena: kadry [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: kadry [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have...
Marzena: zgodzić się [natural native speed]
Michael: "to agree"
Marzena: zgodzić się [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: zgodzić się [natural native speed]
Michael: And last...
Marzena: zrobić [natural native speed]
Michael: "to take, to do, to make"
Marzena: zrobić [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: zrobić [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Michael: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is...
Marzena: słucham
Michael: meaning "I'm listening."
Michael: This is a verb.
Marzena: Its infinitive form is słuchać.
Michael: You can use this phrase to say that you are paying attention.
Marzena: Both men and women can use it.
Michael: It’s often used on phone calls.
Marzena: It can be used in both formal and informal settings.
Michael: Can you give us an example using this word?
Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say... Tak, słucham?
Michael: ... which means "Yes?"
Michael: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Marzena: dział kadr
Michael: meaning "HR department."
Michael: Let’s break this phrase down.
Marzena: dział is a noun that means "department." Next is kadr.
Michael: This is also a noun, and it means "HR."
Marzena: This phrase can be used in both formal and informal settings.
Michael: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say... Gdzie jest dział kadr?
Michael: ... which means "Where is the HR department?"
Michael: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Michael: In this lesson, you'll learn about asking for a day off. Knowing how to do this is very important.
Marzena: The verb you need for this is potrzebować.
Michael: Which means "to need."
Marzena: You can use it in the phrase potrzebować wolnego.
Michael: "to need days off." Let’s hear an example.
Marzena: Pani Mario, potrzebuję wolnego.
Michael: "Ms. Maria, I need (a few) days off." This example doesn’t specify how many days off are needed.
Marzena: To specify a day, add the preposition w, "in," followed by the day of the week in accusative case.
Michael: If you’re going to ask someone for time off, you need to do it in a nice, polite way.
Marzena: That’s right. You can’t just jump straight to asking for time off.
Michael: How can we start a conversation about time off?
Marzena: You can say Mam do pani / pana sprawę.
Michael: "I have something to ask you for." Next, we’ll look at how to ask someone to tell someone else something.
Marzena: For this, you need the verb powiedzieć.
Michael: This is "to say," or "to tell." This is a perfective verb.
Marzena: Powiedzieć is usually followed by the particle że which we can translate as "that."
Michael: Let’s hear some examples.
Marzena: Proszę mu powiedzieć, że się spóźnię.
Michael: "Tell him, please, that I will be late."
Marzena: Proszę jej powiedzieć, że nie możemy tego zrobić.
Michael: "Tell her, please, that we cannot do this."
Marzena: Proszę im powiedzieć, że będę na spotkaniu.
Michael: "Tell them, please, that I will be at the meeting."

Outro

Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Marzena: Do zobaczenia!

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