Day 133: Who Is This Belka?
In her flat in Łowicz, the day after his First Communion, nine-year-old Gucio (A) shows his grandmother Zdzisława (B) the money he found in his gift envelopes.
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
Babciu, policzyłem pieniądze z kopert! Mam cztery tysiące dwieście złotych i jutro kupuję konsolę.
Grandma, I've counted the money from my envelopes! I've got four thousand two hundred złoty, and tomorrow I'm buying a games console.
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B
Najpierw wypadałoby zadzwonić do chrzestnych z podziękowaniem, gdyż to od nich dostałeś najwięcej. A z zakupami się nie spiesz.
First you really ought to ring your godparents and thank them, since they gave you the most. And there's no rush with the shopping.
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A
Zadzwonię, obiecuję. Ale tata mówi, że to moje pieniądze i mogę z nimi zrobić, co chcę.
I'll ring them, I promise. But Dad says it's my money and I can do what I like with it.
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B
Oczywiście, że twoje. Tylko może warto część zainwestować w obligacje skarbowe, aby pieniądze na ciebie pracowały, zamiast leżeć w kopertach?
Of course it's yours. Only maybe it's worth investing some of it in treasury bonds, so that the money works for you instead of sitting in envelopes?
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A
A co to są obligacje? To coś jak lokata, którą ma tata?
What are bonds? Are they something like Dad's deposit account?
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B
Prawie: pożyczasz państwu pieniądze na dziesięć lat, a ono co roku dopisuje ci odsetki. Tylko na końcu zabierze dziewiętnaście procent zysku, czyli podatek Belki.
Nearly: you lend the state your money for ten years, and every year it adds interest to it. The only thing is, at the end it takes nineteen per cent of the profit: that's the Belka tax.
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A
Kto to jest Belka? I dlaczego on chce moje pieniądze z komunii?
Who's Belka? And why does he want my Communion money?
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B
To były minister finansów: podatek wprowadzono, kiedy nim był. Ale nawet po podatku za dziesięć lat będziesz miał więcej, niż dostałeś.
He's a former finance minister: the tax was brought in when he was in office. But even after tax, in ten years you'll have more than you were given.
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A
Za dziesięć lat to ja będę już stary! Dobra, połowę odłożę, a za resztę kupię konsolę, zanim Belka się dowie.
In ten years I'll be old! OK, I'll save half and buy the console with the rest before Belka finds out.
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