Day 9: Damage Control for Dad's Skoda
In a Biedronka car park in Giżycko, at the end of a weekend in Masuria, Karolina (A), who works in PR, takes charge after her boyfriend Michał (B) drives his father's car into a bollard.
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
Oddychaj, kochanie, to był tylko słupek. Powiedz mi spokojnie, jaka jest skala zniszczeń.
Breathe, love, it was only a bollard. Tell me calmly how bad the damage is.
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B
Rysa przez trzy czwarte zderzaka, a lampa patrzy w niebo. Tata pucuje to auto szczoteczką do zębów!
A scratch along three-quarters of the bumper, and the light's staring at the sky. Dad polishes this car with a toothbrush!
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A
Dobra, mamy kryzys wizerunkowy. Zanim twój tata to zobaczy, potrzebujemy komunikatu i jednej wspólnej wersji wydarzeń.
Right, we've got a reputational crisis. Before your dad sees it, we need a statement and one agreed version of events.
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B
Wersji wydarzeń? Wjechałem w słupek pod Biedronką, bo patrzyłem, czy jest jeszcze promocja na arbuzy.
Version of events? I drove into a bollard outside Biedronka because I was checking whether the watermelon offer was still on.
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A
Świetnie, szczerość zawsze się broni. Tyle że wypadałoby zadzwonić do taty wcześniej, a nie stawać pod blokiem z miną winowajcy.
Great, honesty always wins. Only it would be proper to ring your dad beforehand, not turn up outside his block of flats looking guilty.
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B
Zadzwonić? On mi przez półtorej godziny będzie opowiadał, jak Niemiec płakał, kiedy sprzedawał mu tę skodę.
Ring him? He'll spend an hour and a half telling me how the German cried when he sold him that Skoda.
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A
Niech opowiada, to go zmiękczy. Ty mówisz: „Tato, przepraszam, naprawię za swoje”, a ja w tym czasie wnoszę sernik.
Let him, it'll soften him up. You say, 'Dad, I'm sorry, I'll pay for the repair,' and meanwhile I bring in the cheesecake.
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B
Sernik? Mamy tylko pół arbuza, na który zresztą wcale nie było promocji.
Cheesecake? All we've got is half a watermelon, which wasn't even on offer, by the way.
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A
To kupimy sernik po drodze. Tylko o arbuzie ani słowa, bo cała narracja nam się posypie.
Then we'll buy a cheesecake on the way. Just not a word about the watermelon, or our whole narrative falls apart.
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