Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RomanianPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 9 - What Do You Do in Your Free Time in Romania? Becky Here.
Mihai: Bună. I'm Mihai.
Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn about verbs in the present simple tense. The conversation takes place at a zoo.
Mihai: It's between Masanobu and Andreea.
Becky: The speakers are friends, so they’ll speak informal Romanian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Masanobu: Andreea, tu vii des la grădina zoologică?
Andreea: Nu. Merg rareori la zoo. Dar tu?
Masanobu: Nici eu nu merg des. Dar ce faci în timpul liber?
Andreea: Deseori ies în oraș cu prietenii.
Masanobu: Eu de obicei ascult muzică și fac ciclism cu prietenii.
Andreea: Foarte interesant și sănătos!
Masanobu: Mulțumesc. Dar trebuie și să mănânc mai sănătos.
Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Masanobu: Andreea, tu vii des la grădina zoologică?
Andreea: Nu. Merg rareori la zoo. Dar tu?
Masanobu: Nici eu nu merg des. Dar ce faci în timpul liber?
Andreea: Deseori ies în oraș cu prietenii.
Masanobu: Eu de obicei ascult muzică și fac ciclism cu prietenii.
Andreea: Foarte interesant și sănătos!
Masanobu: Mulțumesc. Dar trebuie și să mănânc mai sănătos.
Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Masanobu: Andreea, do you often come to the zoo?
Andreea: No. I seldom go to the zoo. How about you?
Masanobu: I don't go often either. But what do you do in your leisure time?
Andreea: I often go out with my friends.
Masanobu: I usually listen to music and cycle with my friends.
Andreea: Very interesting and healthy!
Masanobu: Thank you. But I must also eat healthier.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Becky: They went to the zoo in this lesson’s conversation.
Mihai: Yeah, neither of them go very often, but that just makes it more special, doesn’t it?
Becky: I think so! What do Romanian people do in their free time?
Mihai: Romanians like to spend their free time with their family and friends.
Becky: Is food often involved?
Mihai: Yes, it is! Traditional Romanian food is quite high in fat though.
Becky: Eating food high in fat can cause a lot of health problems.
Mihai: That’s true, but it’s only recently become a problem as people’s lifestyles have changed.
Becky: Yes, people are more sedentary these days.
Mihai: And fast food and instant foods have become more popular. There has been a rise in health issues due to this.
Becky: I can imagine! Another good way to spend free time is with pets. Are pets popular in Romania?
Mihai: Yes, they are. Dogs and cats are the most popular, and they are usually healthier than their owners!
Becky: That’s good, at least! Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is...
Mihai: des [natural native speed]
Becky: often
Mihai: des[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: des [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: rareori [natural native speed]
Becky: seldom, rarely
Mihai: rareori[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: rareori [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: obicei [natural native speed]
Becky: habit
Mihai: obicei[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: obicei [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: grădină [natural native speed]
Becky: garden
Mihai: grădină[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: grădină [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: zoo [natural native speed]
Becky: zoo
Mihai: zoo[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: zoo [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: a ieși [natural native speed]
Becky: to exit; to go
Mihai: a ieși[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: a ieși [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: oraș [natural native speed]
Becky: city
Mihai: oraș[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: oraș [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: a asculta [natural native speed]
Becky: to listen
Mihai: a asculta[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: a asculta [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Mihai: interesant [natural native speed]
Becky: interesting
Mihai: interesant[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: interesant [natural native speed]
Becky: And last...
Mihai: sănătos [natural native speed]
Becky: healthy
Mihai: sănătos[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mihai: sănătos [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: a ieși în oraș
Becky: meaning "to go out"
Becky: What can you tell us about this phrase?
Mihai: ieși is a verb that means “to exit” or “to go out.”
Becky: What do the other words mean?
Mihai: în means "in" and oraș, "city."
Becky: But it means “to go out” in a general sense?
Mihai: That’s right. It’s a neutral sentence so you can use it in any circumstance.
Becky: Can you give us an example using this word?
Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, Haide să ieșim în oraș în seara asta!
Becky: ...which means "Let's go out tonight!"
Becky: Okay, what's the next word?
Mihai: de obicei
Becky: meaning "usually." What can you tell us about this phrase?
Mihai: This is two words, but as a unit they’re used like an adverb.
Becky: What do the two words mean?
Mihai: de is a preposition meaning "of." Obicei is a noun, which means "habit."
Becky: Literally “of habit” or “habitually.” So it’s used for the frequency of an action.
Mihai: Right. It can be used in formal and casual situations.
Becky: Can you give us an example using this word?
Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, De obicei nu mănânc mămăligă.
Becky: ...which means "I don't usually eat polenta."
Becky: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Mihai: a asculta muzică
Becky: meaning "to listen to music." Let’s break this down.
Mihai: First is the verb a asculta.
Becky: This means “to listen.”
Mihai: And then the noun muzică, meaning “music.”
Becky: It’s pretty literal. You can use it when you’re listening to music.
Mihai: Yes. It can be used in both formal and informal situations.
Becky: Can you give us an example using this word?
Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say, Ei ascultă muzică des?
Becky: ...which means "Do they often listen to music?"
Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn about verbs in the present simple tense.
Becky: First, what is the present simple tense?
Mihai: It’s one of the most used tenses in Romanian.
Becky: I think it is in most languages! It’s used to show what’s happening at the current time.
Mihai: But, as there’s no present continuous tense in Romanian, it’s also used for events that take place at certain intervals. And also, for future actions.
Becky: Is there no future tense in Romanian?
Mihai: There is a future tense, but this is sometimes used too.
Becky: How do we conjugate the present simple tense?
Mihai: Remove the verb ending that is unique to each verb group to get the verb stem. Then, add the endings that we learned in lesson 7.
Becky: Let’s hear an example. We’ll use the verb “to listen,” as we heard this earlier in this lesson. It’s a group I verb.
Mihai: We can say eu ascult or tu asculți, for example.
Becky: That’s “I listen” and “you listen,” respectively. Let’s hear an example with a group III verb. How about, “to laugh?”
Mihai: Okay. eu râd and tu râzi.
Becky: “I laugh” and “you laugh,” respectively. There are multiple examples for each group in the lesson notes, so make sure to check them out! Now, often we use adverbs with verbs.
Mihai: Right. In Romanian, adverbs don’t conjugate, so things like number or gender have no effect on adverbs.
Becky: What’s the pattern for using an adverb and a verb?
Mihai: Usually, the verb comes before the adverb. But, if you want to emphasise the adverb, you can put the adverb first.
Becky: Let’s hear an example sentence.
Mihai: El mereu întârzie la cursuri.
Becky: “He is always late for class.”
Mihai: I want to say just a couple of things about making questions in Romanian. They’re easy to make, but not intuitive for English speakers.
Becky: Why’s that?
Mihai: They’re made just by changing the intonation. You don’t change the word order or add extra words. You just need a question mark when writing.
Becky: Okay, let’s hear a Romanian question!
Mihai: Este cald în București?
Becky:”Is it hot in Bucharest?”

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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