Where to throw this away in Polish
A new resident asks a neighbour about the waste containers in the yard in Polish. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Przeprowadziłam się wczoraj. Gdzie tu segregujemy śmieci?» — I moved in yesterday. Where does one sort rubbish here?; «Trzy pojemniki za budynkiem: papier, szkło i plastik, wszystko osobno.» — Three containers behind the house: paper, glass and plastic, everything separately.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a new resident asks a neighbour about the waste containers in the yard. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Przeprowadziłam się wczoraj. Gdzie tu segregujemy śmieci?I moved in yesterday. Where does one sort rubbish here?
- Trzy pojemniki za budynkiem: papier, szkło i plastik, wszystko osobno.Three containers behind the house: paper, glass and plastic, everything separately.
- A stare meble? Nie mogę ich tak zostawić.And old furniture? I cannot just leave it like that.
- Odwieź je na wysypisko śmieci — albo zamówisz darmowy odbiór z domu.Take them to the dump yourself? No, there is a free pick-up.
- Super. A plastik jednorazowy, ten też do żółtego?Great. And disposable plastic — into the yellow one too?
- Tak. Segregacja to nasz mały wkład w czyste powietrze.Yes. Sorting is our small contribution to clean air.
- Rozumiem. W moim bloku kiedyś nikt tego nie robił.I see. In my house nobody used to do this.
- Teraz coraz częściej ludzie to robią, i dobrze.People do it more and more often now, and that is good.
Lines one by one
| Polish | Translation |
|---|---|
| Przeprowadziłam się wczoraj. Gdzie tu segregujemy śmieci? | I moved in yesterday. Where does one sort rubbish here? |
| Trzy pojemniki za budynkiem: papier, szkło i plastik, wszystko osobno. | Three containers behind the house: paper, glass and plastic, everything separately. |
| A stare meble? Nie mogę ich tak zostawić. | And old furniture? I cannot just leave it like that. |
| Odwieź je na wysypisko śmieci — albo zamówisz darmowy odbiór z domu. | Take them to the dump yourself? No, there is a free pick-up. |
| Super. A plastik jednorazowy, ten też do żółtego? | Great. And disposable plastic — into the yellow one too? |
| Tak. Segregacja to nasz mały wkład w czyste powietrze. | Yes. Sorting is our small contribution to clean air. |
| Rozumiem. W moim bloku kiedyś nikt tego nie robił. | I see. In my house nobody used to do this. |
| Teraz coraz częściej ludzie to robią, i dobrze. | People do it more and more often now, and that is good. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Polish in this situation?
“Przeprowadziłam się wczoraj. Gdzie tu segregujemy śmieci?” — I moved in yesterday. Where does one sort rubbish here? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.