Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RomanianPod101.com This is Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 23 - Have You Met My Romanian Feline Friend? Becky here.
Mihai: Bună. I'm Mihai.
Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to describe people’s physical features using adjectives. The conversation takes place at a house.
Mihai: It's between Masanobu and Mihai.
Becky: The speakers are friends; therefore, they’ll speak informal Romanian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Masanobu: Tu îl știi pe colegul meu de cameră?
Mihai: Hmm, nu îmi amintesc.
Masanobu: Este roșcat, scund și grăsuț.
Mihai: Acum sunt sigur că nu îl cunosc.
Masanobu: Este motanul meu. Are doar doi ani.
Mihai: Pare de treabă. Vreau să îl cunosc.
Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Masanobu: Tu îl știi pe colegul meu de cameră?
Mihai: Hmm, nu îmi amintesc.
Masanobu: Este roșcat, scund și grăsuț.
Mihai: Acum sunt sigur că nu îl cunosc.
Masanobu: Este motanul meu. Are doar doi ani.
Mihai: Pare de treabă. Vreau să îl cunosc.
Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Masanobu: Do you know my roommate?
Mihai: Hmm, I don't remember.
Masanobu: He's red-haired, short, and plump.
Mihai: Now I'm sure I don't know him.
Masanobu: It's my tomcat. He is only 2 years old.
Mihai: He seems nice. I want to get to know him.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Becky: Ah, I actually thought Masanobu was talking about a person!
Mihai: Me too! Although the description did seem a little rude.
Becky: Right? I guess that pets can be considered housemates and friends.
Mihai: Definitely! It’s normal in Romania to introduce your friends to other friends, especially if they’re human friends!
Becky: That’s nice - that way, people’s circles of friends can expand.
Mihai: Yes. It’s fine to take friends or partners to parties too, unless they’re formal business events.
Becky: How do you greet someone that you’re meeting for the first time?
Mihai: The most common way is with a firm handshake.
Becky: Is that just for men?
Mihai: No, everyone can give a firm, but not crushing, handshake.
Becky: Do people greet each other with kisses at all?
Mihai: Hugs and cheek kissing are more friendly ways of greeting. Basically, hand shaking is the most formal, then cheek kissing, and hugs are the most informal.
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: coleg [natural native speed]
Becky: colleague, peer, mate
Mihai: coleg[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: coleg [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: cameră [natural native speed]
Becky: room
Mihai: cameră[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: cameră [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: a își aminti [natural native speed]
Becky: to remember
Mihai: a își aminti[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: a își aminti [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: roșcat [natural native speed]
Becky: red-haired
Mihai: roșcat[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: roșcat [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: scund [natural native speed]
Becky: short
Mihai: scund[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: scund [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: acum [natural native speed]
Becky: now
Mihai: acum[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: acum [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: motan [natural native speed]
Becky: tomcat
Mihai: motan[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: motan [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: a părea [natural native speed]
Becky: to seem
Mihai: a părea[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: a părea [natural native speed]
Becky: And lastly...
Mihai: treabă [natural native speed]
Becky: work
Mihai: treabă[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: treabă [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: Sunt sigur că...
Becky: meaning "I am sure that..." Can you explain the words in this phrase, please?
Mihai: Sure. Sunt is the first person singular of a fi, meaning "to be." Sigur is an adjective.
Becky: It means “sure.”
Mihai: And finally is că, which means “that.”
Becky: You can use this phrase to say that you’re certain about a fact.
Mihai: You can use this in any situation where you’re sure.
Becky: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, Sunt sigur că ea ajunge cu bine.
Becky: ...which means "I'm sure she'll arrive safely."
Becky: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Mihai: de treabă
Becky: meaning "nice." Can you explain this phrase for us?
Mihai: de means "of," and treabă means "job" or "business."
Becky: So it literally means “of job.” Is this an idiom?
Mihai: Yes, it is. You can use de treabă to talk about a person being nice.
Becky: When do you use this expression?
Mihai: You can use it in daily conversation; just remember that it refers to people.
Becky: Can you give us an example using this idiom?
Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, Tatăl tău este de treabă.
Becky: ...which means "Your father is nice."
Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn about describing the physical features of people with adjectives.
Becky: This can be quite important and something you may need to do or understand quite often.
Mihai: That’s right. So the first thing we’ll look at is hair color.
Becky: Let’s check some vocabulary for hair color. How do we say “blonde?”
Mihai: blond. We can use roșcat for “red” and brunet for “dark.”
Becky: How do we use these in a sentence?
Mihai: El are părul șaten.
Becky: “His hair is brown.”
Mihai: Ea are părul blond.
Becky: ”She has blond hair.” Another important way to describe people is by their height.
Mihai: We can say înalt or înaltă for “tall.”
Becky: How do we say “short?”
Mihai: scund or scundă.
Becky: And again, let’s hear these adjectives in some sentences.
Mihai: Ea este foarte înaltă.
Becky: “She is very tall.”
Mihai: El este foarte scund.
Becky: “He is very short.” Next, we’ll look at body types and weight.
Mihai: We can use slab or slabă for “skinny," and sveltă for “thin.”
Becky: How do we say “fat?”
Mihai: grasă is “fat," and grăsuță is “plump.”
Becky: Is it okay to use these words to describe people?
Mihai: Like any other language, you have to be careful and be respectful if you use these words!
Becky: How do we use these words in a sentence?
Mihai: By saying El are o constituție.. or Ea are o constituție...
Becky: “He has a… body,” and “She has a… body.”

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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