Day 69: Stamped with a Potato
In the living room of their flat in Jelenia Góra, Gosia (A) reads out a note that the headmaster has just posted on Librus, the school's online register, to her husband Sławek (B), a town hall clerk, while their daughter Nina (C), ten, pretends to do her homework.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Polish word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Polish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Sławku, uwaga z Librusa, od samego dyrektora: „Uczennica, zjadłszy drugie śniadanie, podjęła działania w celu zmiany planu lekcji”.
Sławek, a note on Librus, from the headmaster himself: 'The pupil, having eaten her mid-morning snack, took action with the aim of changing the timetable.'
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B
Działania w celu zmiany? Brzmi jak zamach stanu w podstawówce. Nino, co ty właściwie zmajstrowałaś?
Took action with the aim of changing? Sounds like a coup d'état at primary school. Nina, what exactly have you been up to?
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C
Nic takiego! Zbierałam tylko podpisy pod petycją o dłuższą przerwę obiadową. Podpisała cała szkoła i pani woźna.
Nothing much! I was just collecting signatures for a petition for a longer lunch break. The whole school signed, and the caretaker too.
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A
Jest i ciąg dalszy: „Po zebraniu podpisów uczennica dokonała doręczenia petycji do gabinetu dyrektora z pominięciem drogi służbowej”.
And there's more: 'Following the collection of signatures, the pupil effected delivery of the petition to the headmaster's office, bypassing the official channels.'
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B
Z pominięciem drogi służbowej? Moja krew. A ja od piętnastu lat w urzędzie nie mam na to odwagi.
Bypassing the official channels? That's my girl. I've been at the town hall for fifteen years and I've never had the nerve.
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A
Nie chwal jej, bo na wywiadówkę pójdziesz ty. Nino, a jak pan dyrektor przyjął petycję?
Don't encourage her, or you'll be the one going to parents' evening. Nina, and how did the headmaster take the petition?
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C
Powiedział, że bez pieczątki nie przyjmie, bo takie są procedury. No to wycięłam z ziemniaka pieczątkę „Zatwierdzono”.
He said he couldn't accept it without a stamp, because that's procedure. So I carved an 'Approved' stamp out of a potato.
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B
Sama sobie zatwierdziłaś petycję? W moim wydziale przyjęliby to bez mrugnięcia okiem, byle pieczątka była okrągła.
You approved your own petition? In my department they'd accept that without batting an eyelid, as long as the stamp was round.
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A
Chwileczkę, na samej górze jest kategoria. To wcale nie uwaga negatywna, tylko pozytywna: „za postawę obywatelską”.
Hang on, there's a category at the very top. It's not a bad note at all, it's a good one: 'for civic-mindedness'.
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C
Mówiłam, że nic takiego. A pan dyrektor pożyczył ode mnie pieczątkę, bo z nią wszystko idzie szybciej.
I told you it was nothing much. And the headmaster has borrowed my stamp, because with it everything goes through faster.
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