Learn how to apologize
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dana: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RomanianPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 24 - Offering an Apology in Romanian. Dana Here. |
| Mihai: Bună. I'm Mihai. |
| Dana: In this lesson, you’ll learn about apologizing. The conversation takes place in the living room. |
| 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: Îmi cer scuze că te-am călcat pe coadă ieri. |
| Masanobu: M-ai călcat pe coadă? |
| Mihai: Ah, e o expresie în română. Înseamnă "a deranja pe cineva." |
| Masanobu: Ah, te referi la întrerupere. Nu e nicio problemă. |
| Mihai: Mă bucur să aud. |
| Dana: Listen to the conversation one more time slowly. |
| Mihai: Îmi cer scuze că te-am călcat pe coadă ieri. |
| Masanobu: M-ai călcat pe coadă? |
| Mihai: Ah, e o expresie în română. Înseamnă "a deranja pe cineva." |
| Masanobu: Ah, te referi la întrerupere. Nu e nicio problemă. |
| Mihai: Mă bucur să aud. |
| Dana: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Mihai: I'm sorry I stepped on your tail yesterday. |
| Masanobu: You stepped on my tail? |
| Mihai: Oh, it's a Romanian idiom. It means "to trample on someone's toes." |
| Masanobu: Oh, you mean the interruption. Don't worry! |
| Mihai: I'm glad to hear that. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dana: How are Romanians at resolving conflict? Do they shy away from it, or attack it head on? |
| Mihai: Romanians come from a Latin bloodline, so they’re passionate and have strong opinions. |
| Dana: Ah, so I’m going to guess that they don’t shy away from conflict then! |
| Mihai: No, Romanians can be quick to anger when conflict arises. |
| Dana: What should our listeners do if they find themselves in an argument while they’re in Romania? |
| Mihai: Be patient, and let the situation burn itself out. If you’re reasonable, people won’t hold a grudge against you. |
| Dana: Are there any topics that can especially lead to anger? |
| Mihai: Yes, be careful when talking about a Romanian person’s family, and never make fun of them. |
| Dana: Do you have any other tips? |
| Mihai: When conflict arises with friends, you might find that they will bring up issues from the past. That’s because Romanians often bottle-up problems. |
| Dana: Ah, so it builds up and then all comes out at once. How should this be dealt with? |
| Mihai: Again, have patience and be willing to communicate. |
| 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: a-și cere scuze [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to be sorry |
| Mihai: a-și cere scuze[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a-și cere scuze [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: a călca [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to step |
| Mihai: a călca[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a călca [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: coadă [natural native speed] |
| Dana: tail |
| Mihai: coadă[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: coadă [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: expresie [natural native speed] |
| Dana: idiom |
| Mihai: expresie[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: expresie [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: a însemna [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to mean |
| Mihai: a însemna[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a însemna [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: a deranja [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to disturb |
| Mihai: a deranja[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: a deranja [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Mihai: întrerupere [natural native speed] |
| Dana: interruption |
| Mihai: întrerupere[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mihai: întrerupere [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 the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Mihai: a călca pe coadă |
| Dana: Meaning "to trample on somebody's toes." |
| Dana: This is an expression. |
| Mihai: It is made from the verb a călca, meaning “to step,” the preposition pe, meaning “on,” and finally coadă. |
| Dana: This is a feminine noun that means “tail.” It literally means “to step on tail,” but has the same meaning as the English expression “to trample on somebody’s toes.” |
| Mihai: This is a pretty informal expression. |
| Dana: You use it when someone did something that offended another person. |
| Mihai: In a more formal setting, you should use something like a supăra, which means “to upset.” |
| Dana: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say.. S-a simțit călcat pe coadă după atâtea ironii primite. |
| Dana: ..which means "He felt trampled on (his toes) after all the irony he had received." |
| Dana: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Mihai: a se referi la ceva |
| Dana: Meaning "to mean something." |
| Mihai: First is the reflexive verb a (se) referi |
| Dana: This means “to refer.” |
| Mihai: Then the conjunction la "to," and the indefinite pronoun ceva. |
| Dana: Which means “something.” The phrase is literally “to refer yourself to something.” |
| Mihai: It is used to highlight the subject of an informing action. |
| Dana: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mihai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Când am zis că nu mai pot, m-am referit la faptul că mi-e somn. |
| Dana: .. which means "When I said I cannot anymore I meant that I was sleepy." |
| Dana: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dana: In this lesson, you'll learn about apologizing. |
| Dana: Let’s start with the most basic way to apologize - “I’m sorry.” |
| Mihai: In Romanian this is Îmi cer scuze, and it is one of the most common apologies. |
| Dana: It can be used in cordial conversations when the problem is unintentional. |
| Mihai: Usually, you say Îmi cer scuze, and then follow it with a reason. Often, we use pentru (că), too |
| Dana: This means “for” or “that.” Let’s hear a couple of examples. |
| Mihai: Îmi cer scuze pentru întârziere, am fost prins în trafic. |
| Dana: “I am sorry for being late, I was stuck in traffic.” |
| Mihai: Vai, îmi cer scuze că v-am vărsat cafeaua. |
| Dana: “Oh, I am sorry I spilled your coffee.” Now, let’s move on to “excuse me.” |
| Mihai: This is a more formal apology... vă rog să mă scuzați. |
| Dana: You mostly use this with strangers. |
| Mihai: You don’t have to give a reason with this, as the person you’re apologizing to usually knows the situation. |
| Dana: However, it’s also used when talking to service staff, as a way of apologizing for disturbing their routine. |
| Mihai: Yes, that’s a special case. |
| Dana: Let’s hear it in action. |
| Mihai: Ups, v-am lovit din greșeală, vă rog să mă scuzați. |
| Dana: “Oops, I hit you by mistake, please excuse me.” |
| Mihai: Vă rog să mă scuzați, puteți să-mi spuneți unde găsesc legumele? |
| Dana: “Please excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the vegetables?” Finally, let’s hear a few more verbs and phrases that we can use to express our regret. |
| Mihai: First is regret. |
| Dana: “Regret,” itself. |
| Mihai: A good phrase to remember is nu-i nici o problemă |
| Dana: “There’s no problem.” |
| Mihai: Also nu vă faceți griji |
| Dana: “Don’t worry about it.” |
| Mihai: You might also need nu a fost intenția mea să… |
| Dana: “It wasn’t my intention to…” |
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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