Choosing a projector in Polish
An electronics department, a customer picks a projector and measures everything in words in Polish. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Dzień dobry, szukam projektora do salonu.» — Good day, I am looking for a projector for the living room; «Mamy trzy modele. Jak daleko do ściany?» — We have three models. How far is it to the wall?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: an electronics department, a customer picks a projector and measures everything in words. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Dzień dobry, szukam projektora do salonu.Good day, I am looking for a projector for the living room.
- Mamy trzy modele. Jak daleko do ściany?We have three models. How far is it to the wall?
- Długość ściany to pięć metrów.The wall is five metres long.
- To wystarczy. Obraz będzie miał dwa metry szerokości.Then this one will do. The picture will be two metres wide.
- Czy mogę go podłączyć do telefonu?Can I connect it to the phone?
- Tak, kablem albo automatycznie, przez wi-fi.Yes, by cable or automatically over wi-fi.
- Ile waży i jaka jest gwarancja?How much does it weigh, and what is the warranty?
- Dokładnie półtora kilograma, gwarancja trzy lata.Exactly one and a half kilograms, three years of warranty.
Lines one by one
| Polish | Translation |
|---|---|
| Dzień dobry, szukam projektora do salonu. | Good day, I am looking for a projector for the living room. |
| Mamy trzy modele. Jak daleko do ściany? | We have three models. How far is it to the wall? |
| Długość ściany to pięć metrów. | The wall is five metres long. |
| To wystarczy. Obraz będzie miał dwa metry szerokości. | Then this one will do. The picture will be two metres wide. |
| Czy mogę go podłączyć do telefonu? | Can I connect it to the phone? |
| Tak, kablem albo automatycznie, przez wi-fi. | Yes, by cable or automatically over wi-fi. |
| Ile waży i jaka jest gwarancja? | How much does it weigh, and what is the warranty? |
| Dokładnie półtora kilograma, gwarancja trzy lata. | Exactly one and a half kilograms, three years of warranty. |
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?
“Dzień dobry, szukam projektora do salonu.” — Good day, I am looking for a projector for the living room. 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.