Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to PolishPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1, Lesson 2 - Meeting Your Polish Namesake. John here.
Marzena: Cześć. I'm Marzena.
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about some discourse tactics: asking for specification, clarification, and confirmation. The conversation takes place in a coffee shop.
Marzena: It's between Thomas and Tomasz.
John: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll speak informal Polish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Tomasz: Thomas, prawda?
Thomas: Tak, miło mi cię wreszcie poznać.
Tomasz: Mi również, mamy tak samo na imię.
Thomas: Jak to?
Tomasz: Tomasz po angielsku to Thomas.
Thomas: No tak. To skąd jesteś?
Tomasz: Ze Śląska, a konkretnie z Katowic.
Thomas: O, będę niedługo w Katowicach na szkoleniu.
Tomasz: Naprawdę? To świetnie!
John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Tomasz: Thomas, right?
Thomas: Yeah, nice to finally meet you.
Tomasz: Same here, we have the same name.
Thomas: How so?
Tomasz: Tomasz in English is Thomas.
Thomas: Oh right. So where are you from?
Tomasz: From Silesia, Katowice to be more specific.
Thomas: Oh, I'm going for a training in Katowice soon.
Tomasz: Really? That's great!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
John: We just heard a conversation between Thomas and Tomasz.
Marzena: Yes, same name but different languages!
John: When the Polish Tomasz introduced himself, he also said where he was from.
Marzena: That’s right, he said he was from “Silesia," or Śląsk, which is in the south part of Poland.
John: How far is that from Warsaw?
Marzena: It’s about three to six hours away.
John: Is it a nice region? What’s it famous for?
Marzena: It’s known for its mineral and natural resources.
John: How’s the food there? That’s the most important question when asking about a place!
Marzena: It’s great! It’s known for good food, such as kluski, a type of dumpling.
John: What’s the landscape like there?
Marzena: It has some beautiful mountains. I also recommend the town Opole, as it has some amazing canals and a lovely city square.
John: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is...
Marzena: prawda [natural native speed]
John: truth
Marzena: prawda[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: prawda [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Marzena: mieć [natural native speed]
John: to have
Marzena: mieć[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: mieć [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Marzena: Śląsk [natural native speed]
John: Silesia
Marzena: Śląsk[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: Śląsk [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Marzena: Katowice [natural native speed]
John: Katowice
Marzena: Katowice[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: Katowice [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Marzena: niedługo [natural native speed]
John: soon
Marzena: niedługo[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: niedługo [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Marzena: szkolenie [natural native speed]
John: training
Marzena: szkolenie[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: szkolenie [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Marzena: naprawdę [natural native speed]
John: really
Marzena: naprawdę[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: naprawdę [natural native speed]
John: And last...
Marzena: świetnie [natural native speed]
John: excellently
Marzena: świetnie[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Marzena: świetnie [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is...
Marzena: mieć na imię
John: Meaning "to be called." Can you break this phrase down and tell us what each word means?
Marzena: Sure. Mieć means "to have," while imię is "first name." The word in the middle is a preposition meaning “for.”
John: When do we use this phrase?
Marzena: We use it when we meet someone and want to give them our name.
John: As it means “first name,” can we use it to give our surname?
Marzena: No, you can’t. To do that you should say either nazywam się or jestem.
John: Can you give us an example using our original phrase?
Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say, Mam na imię Ewa.
John: ...which means "My name is Ewa."
John: Okay, what's the next word?
Marzena: naprawdę
John: Meaning "really." What can you tell us about this word?
Marzena: Actually, this is made of two words. First is the preposition na.
John: This means “on” or “for.”
Marzena: Second is the noun prawda, meaning "truth."
John: When do we use this word?
Marzena: You can use it to check things. Although I broke it down into two words, remember that it’s actually one word.
John: Can you give us an example using this word?
Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say, Naprawdę nie chcesz tam iść?
John: ..which means "Really? You don't wanna go there?"
John: Okay, what's the next word?
Marzena: a
John: Meaning "and." How can we use this word in Polish?
Marzena: It can be used at the start of a sentence, or in the middle.
John: Does it need a comma when writing it, if it’s in the middle?
Marzena: Yes, it does. The comma should go before.
John: What function does it serve at the start of a sentence?
Marzena: At the start, it can be used to change a topic. In the middle, it connects two parts of the sentence. We don’t use it to connect nouns.
John: Can you give us an example using this word?
Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say, Kasia lubi lody, a Marysia czekoladę.
John: ...which means "Kasia likes ice creams and Marysia likes chocolate."
John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

John: In this lesson, you'll learn some discourse tactics, such as asking for specification, clarification, and confirmation.
John: Usually, there are some set phrases you can use to ask for clarification and so on. So Marzena, can you give us a few examples?
Marzena: Sure! You can say Poważnie? To super!
John: “Seriously? That’s great!”
Marzena: Or To nie może być prawda!
John: “This cannot be true!”
Marzena: Both of those sentences show surprise at the news, but the second one is negative.
John: Are these phrases, plus the extra ones in the lesson notes, good to use in all circumstances?
Marzena: These are informal, so they shouldn’t be used in business settings. In that case, you should make them more formal.
John: You may have learned before that by making sentences third person, they become more polite and formal.
Marzena: That’s right! So you’d say something like Może mi pan podać więcej szczegółów?
John: “Can you give me some more details, sir?” Next, let’s look at some prepositions.
Marzena: Some prepositions have short and long versions. For example, z and ze, or w and we.
John: The first is used with the genitive case, and the second with the locative case. Why are there two versions?
Marzena: It’s because over time, some weak vowels disappeared from words. So, if the noun begins with a group of consonants, we use the longer versions, ze or we.
John: So if there’s one consonant, use the short version. If there are two or more, use the long version.
Marzena: There are exceptions and times when you can use either. But, that’s a good, general rule to follow.
John: Let’s hear some examples.
Marzena: On podróżuje ze wschodu na zachód.
John: “He travels from the east to the west.”
Marzena: Przede wszystkim to nie możesz tak mówić.
John: “First of all, you cannot talk like that.”
Marzena: One thing that’s difficult for all Polish learners is Polish spelling.
John: Is there a particular mistake that people often make?
Marzena: Yes, one common mistake is writing the particle nie, meaning “not,” with the following word instead of separately, or the other way around.
John: Oh, so writing it separately when it should be joined, or writing it joined when it should be separate.
Marzena: Yes. There are some exceptions, but generally, we always write nie separately from the adverb when the adverb comes from an adjective and is in the comparative or superlative form.
John: Let’s hear two examples. One joined, and one not joined.
Marzena: Okay. Trochę się uczyłem, ale niedostatecznie.
John: “I studied a little bit, but not enough.”
Marzena: Nie najmądrzejszy ten twój przyjaciel.
John: “Your friend is not the brightest.”

Outro

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

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