Learn how to use expressions of comparison
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dana: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RomanianPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 9 - Talking About Your Plans in Romanian. Dana Here. |
| Mihai: Bună. I'm Mihai. |
| Dana: In this lesson, you’ll learn some expressions of comparison. The conversation takes place downtown. |
| Mihai: It's between Mihai and Masanobu. |
| Dana: The speakers are friends; therefore, they will speak informal Romanian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mihai: Masanobu, aș vrea să merg la studii în Japonia. |
| Masanobu: Da? Mă bucur să aud asta! |
| Mihai: Bineînțeles, este o țară atât de interesantă! Trebuie să strâng bani. |
| Masanobu: Cred că pentru tine e mai ușor să obții o bursă. |
| Mihai: Ești sigur? Nu este greu? |
| Masanobu: Este, dar sunt sigur că tu poți, ar trebui să dai examenul pentru bursă. |
| Mihai: Mulțumesc mult de sfat, încerc! |
| Dana: Listen to the conversation one more time, slowly. |
| Mihai: Masanobu, aș vrea să merg la studii în Japonia. |
| Masanobu: Da? Mă bucur să aud asta! |
| Mihai: Bineînțeles, este o țară atât de interesantă! Trebuie să strâng bani. |
| Masanobu: Cred că pentru tine e mai ușor să obții o bursă. |
| Mihai: Ești sigur? Nu este greu? |
| Masanobu: Este, dar sunt sigur că tu poți, ar trebui să dai examenul pentru bursă. |
| Mihai: Mulțumesc mult de sfat, încerc! |
| Dana: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Mihai: Masanobu, I'd like to go study in Japan. |
| Masanobu: Really? I'm glad to hear that! |
| Mihai: Of course, it's such an interesting country. I need to raise money. |
| Masanobu: I think it's easier for you to obtain a scholarship. |
| Mihai: Are you sure? Isn't it difficult? |
| Masanobu: It is, but I'm sure you can do it. You should take the scholarship exam. |
| Mihai: Thank you for the advice, I'll give it a try. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dana: We heard in this lesson about studying abroad, but what about studying in Romania? |
| Mihai: Romanians consider education to be a national priority, so the education system is under the protection of the Constitution. |
| Dana: Let’s talk about higher education, in particular. |
| Mihai: Overall, there are more than one hundred higher education institutions, with an almost equal number of public and private universities. |
| Dana: So 50% of students are in public universities, and 50% in private? |
| Mihai: Actually no, only 20% are in private universities, despite them totalling half. |
| Dana: Are Romanian universities good? |
| Mihai: In the 2017 Global University Ranking, there were only four Romanian Universities present on the list. |
| Dana: Is that what leads to studying abroad? |
| Mihai: Maybe. About a tenth of the students study abroad, and it’s partly due to being able to attend high-class universities in the US and the EU. |
| Dana: What about students coming to study in Romania? |
| Mihai: There have been many over the last decade, especially for study programs in Computer Science, Medicine, and Engineering. |
| 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: studiu [natural native speed] |
| Dana: study |
| Mihai: studiu[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: studiu [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: a auzi [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to hear |
| Mihai: a auzi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a auzi [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: bineînțeles [natural native speed] |
| Dana: of course |
| Mihai: bineînțeles[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: bineînțeles [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: pentru [natural native speed] |
| Dana: for |
| Mihai: pentru[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: pentru [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: ușor [natural native speed] |
| Dana: easy |
| Mihai: ușor[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: ușor [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: bursă [natural native speed] |
| Dana: scholarship |
| Mihai: bursă[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: bursă [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: a strânge [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to raise |
| Mihai: a strânge[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a strânge [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: bani [natural native speed] |
| Dana: money |
| Mihai: bani[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: bani [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: sfat [natural native speed] |
| Dana: advice |
| Mihai: sfat[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: sfat [natural native speed] |
| Dana: And last.. |
| Mihai: a se bucura [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to be glad |
| Mihai: a se bucura[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a se bucura [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: la studii |
| Dana: Meaning "to study." |
| Mihai: It’s an expression made out of the preposition la, "to," and the neuter noun studii. |
| Dana: This is “studies” in its plural form. So it translates literally to “to study.” |
| Mihai: This refers to studying somewhere other than the place that the person is living. |
| Dana: Like studying abroad. |
| Mihai: It is also common to use the conjunctive form să studieze. |
| Dana: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Aș merge la studii în străinătate. |
| Dana: ..which means "I wish to go study abroad.” |
| Dana: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Mihai: Mă bucur să... |
| Dana: Meaning "I'm glad to..." |
| Dana: This is an expression made from a reflexive verb. |
| Mihai: Yes, it’s from a se bucura, meaning “to be glad.” Next is the conjunction să. |
| Dana: This is a conjunction that means “to.” |
| Mihai: And mă is the reflexive pronoun for the first person singular, used to create the reflexive form of the verb. |
| Dana: The phrase literally means “I am glad to.” It’s used to express the speaker’s feeling of happiness towards a particular action. |
| Mihai: You can say îmi pare rău să to mean the opposite. |
| Dana: “I am sorry to.” Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Mă bucur să aud că te-ai căsătorit. |
| Dana: .. which means "I am glad to hear that you got married." |
| Dana: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dana: In this lesson, you'll learn about expressions of comparison. |
| Dana: Some adverbs of modality, place, and time can be compared. |
| Mihai: Their degrees of comparison form with the help of adverbial structures like mai |
| Dana: “more” |
| Mihai: mai puţin |
| Dana: “less” |
| Mihai: and foarte |
| Dana: “very.” There are more examples in the lesson notes. Besides the comparative degrees, there is also the relative superlative, of superiority or inferiority, that expresses comparisons. |
| Mihai: The special case of the comparative sentence is: pe cât “as...” + prep. + pe atât “as…”+ prep. |
| Dana: Pe cât, meaning “as”, followed by a preposition, followed by |
| Mihai: pe atât |
| Dana: again, meaning “as”, and then another preposition. Let’s hear some examples of sentences that are expressions of comparison. |
| Mihai: Aceste rochii sunt asemănătoare cu cele ale Iuliei. |
| Dana: “These dresses are similar to the ones of Iulia.“ |
| Mihai: La mine acasă este la fel de cald ca la tine. |
| Dana: “My place is as warm as yours.” A word that we often use for comparison is “better.” |
| Mihai: In Romanian, “well” is bine. This can be used for comparisons such as mai bine. |
| Dana: “Better.” Let’s hear some examples. |
| Mihai: Mai bine să plecăm mai devreme decât să pierdem trenul. |
| Dana: “It is better to leave earlier than to miss the train.” |
| Mihai: El vorbeșe mai bine decât mine românește. |
| Dana: “He speaks Romanian better than me.” Finally, let’s look at the comparative word “easier.” |
| Mihai: Ușor is the Romanian word for “easy,” and “easier” is mai ușor. |
| Dana: This changes due to gender and number, though. See if you can hear the difference in these example sentences. |
| Mihai: Mi se pare că vorbești mai ușor japoneza în ultimul timp. |
| Dana: “It seems to me that you speak Japanese easier lately.” |
| Mihai: Vrea să încerce niște subiecte mai ușoare. |
| Dana: “He wants to try easier topics.” |
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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