Learn how to make polite but direct requests
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dana: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RomanianPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 11 - Getting a Snack in Romania. Dana Here. |
| Mihai: Bună. I'm Mihai. |
| Dana: In this lesson, you’ll learn polite but direct requests. The conversation takes place at a fast food restaurant. |
| Mihai: It's between a salesperson and Masanobu. |
| Dana: The speakers are strangers in a customer service context; therefore, they will speak formal Romanian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Vânzătoare: Bună ziua. Ce doriți, domnule? |
| Masanobu: Un hamburger și o înghețată, vă rog. |
| Vânzătoare: Aici, sau la pachet? |
| Masanobu: Aici, vă rog. |
| Vânzătoare: Altceva nu doriți? |
| Masanobu: Nu, atât. Cât mă costă? |
| Vânzătoare: 10 (zece) lei. |
| Masanobu: Mulțumesc! |
| Vânzătoare: O zi plăcută! |
| Dana: Listen to the conversation one more time, slowly. |
| Vânzătoare: Bună ziua. Ce doriți, domnule? |
| Masanobu: Un hamburger și o înghețată, vă rog. |
| Vânzătoare: Aici, sau la pachet? |
| Masanobu: Aici, vă rog. |
| Vânzătoare: Altceva nu doriți? |
| Masanobu: Nu, atât. Cât mă costă? |
| Vânzătoare: 10 (zece) lei. |
| Masanobu: Mulțumesc! |
| Vânzătoare: O zi plăcută! |
| Dana: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Salesperson: Hello. What would you like, sir? |
| Masanobu: A hamburger and ice-cream, please. |
| Salesperson: Here, or to go? |
| Masanobu: Here, please. |
| Salesperson: Anything else, sir? |
| Masanobu: No, that's all. How much is that? |
| Salesperson: Ten lei. |
| Masanobu: Thank you! |
| Salesperson: Have a nice day! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dana: What can you tell us about food customs in Romania? |
| Mihai: There is a great variety of dishes in Romania, as the food has been influenced by many other cultures and countries. |
| Dana: What are some common ingredients used in Romanian dishes? |
| Mihai: The most common ingredients are beef, lamb, pork, fish, vegetables, and fruits. |
| Dana: Sounds healthy. What about meals? How many meals do Romanian people eat each day? |
| Mihai: Three times a day, with dinner considered to be the most important. |
| Dana: Are meal times seen as social events? Do people eat in groups? |
| Mihai: Yes, Romanians either enjoy their meals with their families or invite their close friends to share food and spend time together. |
| Dana: Are special meals served during special occasions? |
| Mihai: Yeah, for example, at Christmas people eat pork meat cooked in various ways, and people eat lamb at Easter. |
| Dana: I’m going to guess that if you’re invited to a Romanian home for dinner, you’re going to be spoiled with choices. |
| Mihai: That’s right. Try to eat everything! |
| Dana: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dana: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Mihai: domn [natural native speed] |
| Dana: sir |
| Mihai: domn[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: domn [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: înghețată [natural native speed] |
| Dana: ice cream |
| Mihai: înghețată[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: înghețată [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: la pachet [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to go |
| Mihai: la pachet[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: la pachet [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: aici [natural native speed] |
| Dana: here |
| Mihai: aici[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: aici [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: sau [natural native speed] |
| Dana: or |
| Mihai: sau[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: sau [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: cât [natural native speed] |
| Dana: how much |
| Mihai: cât[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: cât [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: a costa [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to cost |
| Mihai: a costa[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a costa [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: plăcut [natural native speed] |
| Dana: pleasant |
| Mihai: plăcut[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: plăcut [natural native speed] |
| Dana: And lastly.. |
| Mihai: altceva [natural native speed] |
| Dana: anything else |
| Mihai: altceva[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: altceva [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Dana: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Mihai: Altceva? |
| Dana: Meaning "Anything else?" |
| Mihai: This is an indefinite pronoun used in an interrogative sentence. |
| Dana: Here, it is in the accusative case. It literally translates to “something else.” |
| Mihai: But can be translated as “anything else?” if it’s a question. |
| Dana: This word is used to ask someone if they want something other than what has already been mentioned. |
| Mihai: It’s commonly used in customer service. |
| Dana: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Altceva ce ți-ai mai dori? |
| Dana: ..which means "Do you want anything else?" |
| Dana: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Mihai: Aici, sau la pachet? |
| Dana: Meaning "Here or to go?" |
| Dana: This is an interrogative sentence. |
| Mihai: First is the adverb of time, aici, meaning “here.” Then is the conjunction sau, meaning “or.” And finally, the expression la pachet. |
| Dana: Which means “to go.” |
| Mihai: pachet is a neuter noun that means “package.” |
| Dana: So this sentence is literally saying “Here, or to package?” Or a better way of putting it is “Here or to go?” |
| Mihai: This is a common expression in restaurants, especially fast-food places. |
| Dana: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example you can imagine a situation where the client says: Bună ziua. Aș dori o pizza quatro fromaggi, vă rog! |
| Dana: Meaning “I want a quatro fromaggi pizza, please!” |
| Mihai: And the salesperson replies: Aici, sau la pachet? |
| Dana: .. which means “Here or to go?" |
| Dana: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dana: In this lesson, you'll learn about polite but direct requests. |
| Dana: First let’s look at “to want.” |
| Mihai: In Romanian, this is a vrea. You can also use this as an auxiliary verb for creating the conditional-optative mode in the present tense for other verbs. |
| Dana: It can be used to create several nuances in phrases, such as formulating a specific wish. |
| Mihai: For example Vreau o cafea cu lapte. |
| Dana: “I want a coffee with milk.” You can also form interrogative sentences with it. |
| Mihai: Ce vrei să faci după ce termini studiile? |
| Dana: “What do you want to do after graduating?” It can also be used in speech to introduce the topic of discourse. |
| Mihai: Aș vrea să vă spun ceva despre Mihai. |
| Dana: “I would like to tell you something about Mihai.” A conjugation chart for this verb is in the lesson notes. Now let’s look at another word for “to want.” |
| Mihai: Yes, a dori. Again this can be used in several different phrases. |
| Dana: Yes, it can be used to formulate a specific wish. |
| Mihai: For example, Ei doresc plăcintă de mere cu scorțișoară. |
| Dana: “They want apple pie with cinnamon.” It can also be used to greet someone. |
| Mihai: Vă doresc multă sănătate și bucurii. |
| Dana: “I wish you strong health and joy.” It can be used for forming interrogative sentences. |
| Mihai: Doriți să jucați o partidă de șah cu noi? |
| Dana: “Do you wish to play chess with us?” It can be used to introduce a topic of discourse. |
| Mihai: Aș dori să vă povestesc puțin despre România. |
| Dana: “I would like to tell you a little about Romania.” It can express time availability. |
| Mihai: Se poate oricând doriți. |
| Dana: “Anytime you want.” You can express professional objectives. |
| Mihai: Doresc să lucrez ca asistent manager în compania dumneavoastră. |
| Dana: “I want to work as a manager’s assistant in your company.” And it can also express something desirable or undesirable. |
| Mihai: E de dorit să nu conduci multe ore fără pauză. |
| Dana: “It is desirable not to drive many hours without a break.” Again, a breakdown of the conjugations is in the lesson notes. How do we know which of these two verbs to use? |
| Mihai: They are generally synonymous. There are many situations where they are interchangeable. |
| Dana: But there are situations where they aren’t? |
| Mihai: Right. Usually, a dori is used in more formal situations when formulating a request, while a vrea is used in more informal contexts. |
| Dana: Thanks for that! |
Outro |
| Dana: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Mihai: La revedere. |
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