Day 62: Off the Books
In the kitchen of their rented flat in Włocławek, flatmates Ewelina (A) and Kamila (B) talk over an offer from their landlord, Mr Jacek Wrzesiński (C), while he checks the boiler in the bathroom next door.
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
Pan Jacek proponuje trzysta złotych mniej, jeśli będziemy płacić gotówką, bez umowy.
Mr Jacek is offering us three hundred złoty off if we pay in cash, without a contract.
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B
Trzysta miesięcznie to trzy tysiące sześćset rocznie. Kusi, nie powiem.
Three hundred a month is three thousand six hundred a year. I won't deny it's tempting.
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A
Bez umowy na piśmie niczego nie udowodnimy, on zaś uniknie podatku, który inni płacą uczciwie.
Without a written contract we won't be able to prove a thing, while he dodges the tax that other people pay honestly.
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C
Ściany tu cienkie, wszystko słyszałem. Wszyscy tak robią, a ja mam troje dzieci na studiach.
The walls here are thin, I heard everything. Everybody does it, and I've got three kids at university.
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B
Możemy się zgodzić. Tylko proszę pamiętać, że wtedy o podwyżkach czynszu decydowałybyśmy raczej my.
We could agree to it. Only please bear in mind that from then on it would be us deciding on rent rises.
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C
Pani Kamilo, to brzmi jak szantaż. Proponuję paniom korzystny układ, a panie mi grożą?
Kamila, that sounds like blackmail. I offer you ladies a good deal, and you threaten me?
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A
Nikt panu nie grozi, lecz układ poza prawem nie chroni ani nas, ani pana.
Nobody's threatening you, but a deal outside the law protects no one, neither us nor you.
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C
No dobrze, zostajemy przy umowie. Oboje z żoną zawsze powtarzamy, że uczciwość się opłaca.
All right, we'll stick with the contract. My wife and I always say that honesty pays.
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