Day 71: A Representative Stairwell
On a Sunday morning in a block of flats in S艂upsk, Mr Tadeusz (A), a retired maths teacher, rings the doorbell of his neighbour Jolanta (B), who works for a polling company, while a political talk show blares from his flat.
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
Przepraszam, pani Jolanto, ale w telewizji jaki艣 pose艂 wymachuje pani sonda偶em: dwie trzecie Polak贸w chce zlikwidowa膰 zmian臋 czasu.
Sorry to bother you, Jolanta, but some MP on TV is waving your poll around: two thirds of Poles want to scrap the clock change.
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B
Wiem, ogl膮dam to samo, tylko ciszej. Tym razem akurat cytuje nas bez przekr臋cania, co wcale nie jest regu艂膮.
I know, I'm watching the same thing, only quieter. For once he's actually quoting us without twisting it, which is by no means the rule.
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A
Dwie trzecie Polak贸w? Mnie nikt nie pyta艂, nikogo z naszej klatki te偶 nie. Sprawdziwszy w 偶yciu tysi膮ce klas贸wek, wynik wzi臋ty z sufitu poznam na kilometr.
Two thirds of Poles? Nobody asked me, or anyone else in our stairwell either. I've marked thousands of tests in my life, and I can spot a result pulled out of thin air a mile off.
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B
Bo pytamy pr贸b臋 reprezentatywn膮, czyli ca艂膮 Polsk臋 w miniaturze. Dwie trzecie to dwie trzecie, cho膰by si臋 pan na mnie obrazi艂.
That's because we ask a representative sample, the whole of Poland in miniature. Two thirds is two thirds, even if you never speak to me again.
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A
No dobrze. Ale skoro wi臋kszo艣膰 jest przeciw zmianie czasu, to czemu oni si臋 w studiu k艂贸c膮 ju偶 trzy kwadranse?
All right. But if most people are against the clock change, why have they been arguing about it in the studio for three quarters of an hour?
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B
Bo zlikwidowa膰 chce j膮 dwie trzecie, ale w sprawie tego, kt贸ry czas zostawi膰, kraj dzieli si臋 r贸wno na p贸艂.
Because two thirds want to scrap it, but on which time to keep, the country's split exactly in half.
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A
A pani, je艣li wolno spyta膰, jest za letnim czy za zimowym? Pytam prywatnie.
And are you for summer time or winter time, if I may ask? Privately, I mean.
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B
Za letnim, bo lubi臋 jasne wieczory na balkonie. A rano i tak nic nie widz臋, dop贸ki nie wypij臋 kawy.
Summer time, because I like light evenings on the balcony. And in the mornings I can't see a thing anyway until I've had my coffee.
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A
A ja za zimowym, bo wstaj臋 o pi膮tej. No prosz臋, nasza klatka te偶 dzieli si臋 r贸wno na p贸艂.
And I'm for winter time, because I'm up at five. Look at that, our stairwell's split exactly in half too.
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B
Jak na pr贸b臋 reprezentatywn膮 przysta艂o. A ci w studiu b臋d膮 si臋 k艂贸ci膰 do wieczora.
As befits a representative sample. And that lot in the studio will be arguing till tonight.
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A
Niepotrzebnie. Wys艂uchawszy pani, mam kompromis dla ca艂ego kraju: latem czas letni, a zim膮 zimowy.
No need. Having heard you out, I've got a compromise for the whole country: summer time in summer and winter time in winter.
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B
Gratuluj臋, panie Tadeuszu. W艂a艣nie wymy艣li艂 pan zmian臋 czasu, kt贸r膮 mamy od prawie pi臋膰dziesi臋ciu lat.
Congratulations, Tadeusz. You've just invented the clock change, which we've had for nearly fifty years.
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