Day 99: The Underpass Grandma Skipped
At Sunday dinner in her flat in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Cecylia (A) reads out a piece of local news to her daughter Inga (B) and her teenage grandson Makary (C).
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
Słuchajcie: w ramach przebudowy ronda przejście podziemne jest zasypywane, a w jego miejscu powstanie zebra ze światłami.
Listen to this: as part of the roundabout's redevelopment, the underpass is being filled in, and a crossing with traffic lights is going in its place.
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B
Mamo, przez to rondo przejeżdża kilkaset aut na godzinę. Światła zmniejszą jego przepustowość o połowę.
Mum, several hundred cars an hour go round that roundabout. Traffic lights will cut its capacity in half.
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C
Serio, mamo? A babcia ma targać zakupy po kilkudziesięciu schodach?
Seriously, Mum? So Grandma's supposed to lug her shopping up and down dozens of steps?
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A
Makary ma rację. Przez pół wieku miasto było projektowane dla kierowców, a pieszych spychano pod ziemię.
Makary's right. For half a century this town was designed for drivers, and pedestrians were pushed underground.
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B
Za to w tunelu nikt nie wpadnie pod samochód. Bezpieczeństwo pieszych jest ważniejsze od ich wygody.
But in an underpass nobody gets hit by a car. Pedestrians' safety matters more than their convenience.
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C
Babcia i tak nie chodzi tunelem. Widziałem ją z autobusu, jak śmigała przez ulicę między autami.
Grandma doesn't use the underpass anyway. I saw her from the bus, zipping across the road between the cars.
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B
Mamo, przez cztery pasy, na dziko? W twoim wieku?
Mum, across four lanes, with no crossing? At your age?
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C
Spoko, mamo, babcia po prostu testowała zebrę, zanim ratusz na nią wpadł.
Chill, Mum, Grandma was just testing the crossing before the town hall came up with it.
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A
Nie miałam wyjścia, bo winda w tunelu od lat jest nieczynna. Od wiosny będę przechodzić tam, gdzie zawsze, tylko legalnie.
I had no choice, because the lift in the underpass has been out of order for years. From spring I'll cross where I always have, only legally.
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