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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RomanianPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 11 - Choosing the Perfect Birthday Present for a Romanian Friend. Becky Here.
Mihai: Bună. I'm Mihai.
Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn about expressing dates. The conversation takes place in Bucharest city center.
Mihai: It's between Andreea and Masanobu.
Becky: The speakers are friends, so they’ll speak informal Romanian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Andreea: Hai să îi cumpărăm un cadou lui Mihai de ziua lui!
Masanobu: Ah, e ziua lui de naștere?
Andreea: Da, în română "ziua lui" înseamnă și "zi de naștere".
Masanobu: Înțeleg. Când este ziua lui Mihai?
Andreea: Astăzi este marți, trei iunie, deci este săptămâna viitoare, vineri, treisprezece iunie.
Masanobu: Ce să îi cumpărăm?
Andreea: E pasionat de astronomie. Să îi cumpărăm o excursie pe lună?
Masanobu: Da, e o idee foarte bună.
Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Andreea: Hai să îi cumpărăm un cadou lui Mihai de ziua lui!
Masanobu: Ah, e ziua lui de naștere?
Andreea: Da, în română "ziua lui" înseamnă și "zi de naștere".
Masanobu: Înțeleg. Când este ziua lui Mihai?
Andreea: Astăzi este marți, trei iunie, deci este săptămâna viitoare, vineri, treisprezece iunie.
Masanobu: Ce să îi cumpărăm?
Andreea: E pasionat de astronomie. Să îi cumpărăm o excursie pe lună?
Masanobu: Da, e o idee foarte bună.
Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Andreea: Let's buy Mihai a present for his day.
Masanobu: Oh, is it his birthday?
Andreea: Yes, in Romanian "his day" also means "birthday."
Masanobu: I understand. When is Mihai's birthday?
Andreea: Today is Tuesday, June 3rd, so it's next week's Friday, June 13th.
Masanobu: What shall we buy him?
Andreea: He loves astronomy. How about we buy him a trip to the moon?
Masanobu: Yes, that's a very good idea.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Becky: I don’t think a trip to the moon is a possible birthday present, but the sentiment is nice!
Mihai: Yes, it’s the thought that counts!
Becky: What are birthday celebrations like in Romania?
Mihai: They’re one of the most important days in the year for each person.
Becky: How are they celebrated?
Mihai: Usually with friends and family and also at the workplace.
Becky: That sounds like a lot of celebrations...
Mihai: Yes, adults might have three parties - one with family, one with friends, and one at work.
Becky: What are workplace celebrations like? I’m guessing that the office doesn’t turn into one big party space.
Mihai: No, it doesn’t! Usually the person celebrating their birthday will bring in desserts and drinks and invite others to have some.
Becky: So the birthday person brings in the snacks...
Mihai: ...but the guests still bring the presents!
Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is...
Mihai: cadou [natural native speed]
Becky: present
Mihai: cadou[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: cadou [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: naștere [natural native speed]
Becky: birth
Mihai: naștere[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: naștere [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: lui [natural native speed]
Becky: his
Mihai: lui[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: lui [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: când [natural native speed]
Becky: when
Mihai: când[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: când [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: săptămână [natural native speed]
Becky: week
Mihai: săptămână[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: săptămână [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: viitor [natural native speed]
Becky: next, coming
Mihai: viitor[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: viitor [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: iunie [natural native speed]
Becky: June
Mihai: iunie[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: iunie [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: pasionat [natural native speed]
Becky: passionate, keen
Mihai: pasionat[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: pasionat [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: lună [natural native speed]
Becky: moon; month
Mihai: lună[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: lună [natural native speed]
Becky: And last...
Mihai: idee [natural native speed]
Becky: idea
Mihai: idee[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: idee [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is...
Mihai: zi de naștere
Becky: meaning "birthday." This has three words. Can you break them down for us?
Mihai: Sure. Zi means “day,” de is “of,” and naștere is a noun meaning “birth.”
Becky: How is this phrase used?
Mihai: It’s used to refer to the date of your birthday. It’s also used in formal situations.
Becky: What would you say in casual speech?
Mihai: sunt născut pe
Becky: This means “I am born on…” Can you give us an example using our original phrase?
Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, Când este ziua ta de naștere?
Becky: ...which means "When is your birthday?"
Becky: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Mihai: pasionat de
Becky: meaning "keen on." What can you tell us about this phrase?
Mihai: Pasionat is the past participle of the verb a pasiona.
Becky: This means “to especially interest.”
Mihai: We use this to talk about our favorite hobbies.
Becky: So it’s just favorites, and not casual pastimes?
Mihai: Right.
Becky: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, Eu sunt pasionat de modă.
Becky: ...which means "I am keen on fashion."
Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn about expressing dates.
Becky: One way of doing this is to use time adverbs. These are words such as “yesterday” and “today.”
Mihai: Yes. These words don’t change in Romanian, so once you learn them they’re pretty easy to use.
Becky: How do they work in sentences with verbs?
Mihai: They can go either before or after the verb.
Becky: Okay. Let’s hear a couple of the most common time adverbs. What’s “today?”
Mihai: astăzi. Astăzi merg la școală.
Becky: “Today I'm going to school.” How about “tomorrow?”
Mihai: mâine. El merge mâine.
Becky: “He’s going tomorrow.”
Mihai: Now, I said earlier that time adverbs can go before or after the verb, and although the meaning doesn’t change, there are common orders that are used.
Becky: Oh, an order that native speakers naturally use?
Mihai: Yes. I advise listening to what people say, and soon you’ll figure out the orders.
Becky: Okay. Now, how do we say things like “this year” or “this week?”
Mihai: By adding acesta or aceasta, the masculine or feminine form of “this.”
Becky: Let’s hear some example sentences.
Mihai: Anul acesta eu încep facultatea.
Becky: “I’m starting college this year.”
Mihai: Cartea este publicată luna aceasta.
Becky: “The book is being published this month.”
Mihai: I’d like to talk a little about the Romanian spellings of months and days.
Becky: Oh? Is there something important we should note?
Mihai: Yes, because in Romanian, words for months and days start with lowercase letters, not capitals. Apart from when they start a sentence, of course!
Becky: That’s an important thing to remember if you ever have to write in Romanian. What are the days of the week? Can you tell us?
Mihai: Sure! I’ll start at Monday, as that is the first day of the Romanian week. Luni, marți, miercuri, joi, vineri, sâmbătă, duminică.
Becky: So that was Monday through Sunday. And to finish, how about the months of the year?
Mihai: ianuarie, februarie, martie, aprilie, mai, iunie, iulie, august, septembrie, octombrie, noiembrie, decembrie.
Becky: Thank you!

Outro

Becky: 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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