Dialogue

Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Simone: Hello everyone, this is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 21: How Was Your Hungarian Holiday? My name is Simone.
Gergo: And I am Gergo.
Simone: In this lesson we’re going to learn a couple of very polite expressions and ask about someone’s holiday.
Gergo: The dialogue is in Anne’s office.
Simone: The conversation is between Anne and her boss, Mr. Szabó.
Gergo: So they are using the formal language.

Lesson conversation

Szabó úr: Üdvözlöm Anne. Rég láttam.
Anne: Jó napot! Hogy telt a szabadság?
Szabó úr: Jól, köszönöm. És önnek?
Anne: Nekem is jól, köszönöm.
Szabó úr: Hozta a papírjait?
Anne: Ó, elnézést kérek, elfelejtettem.
Szabó úr: Semmi gond.
English Host: Let's listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Szabó úr: Üdvözlöm Anne. Rég láttam.
Anne: Jó napot! Hogy telt a szabadság?
Szabó úr: Jól, köszönöm. És önnek?
Anne: Nekem is jól, köszönöm.
Szabó úr: Hozta a papírjait?
Anne: Ó, elnézést kérek, elfelejtettem.
Szabó úr: Semmi gond.
With Translation
Szabó úr: Üdvözlöm Anne. Rég láttam.
Mr. Szabó: “Greetings, Anne. Long time no see.”
Anne: Jó napot! Hogy telt a szabadság?
Anne: “Good afternoon. How was your holiday?”
Szabó úr: Jól, köszönöm. És önnek?
Mr. Szabó: “It was very good, thank you. And yours?”
Anne: Nekem is jól, köszönöm.
Anne: “Mine was good too, thank you.”
Szabó úr: Hozta a papírjait?
Mr. Szabó: “Did you bring your papers?”
Anne: Ó, elnézést kérek, elfelejtettem.
Anne: “Oh, I am sorry, I forgot.”
Szabó úr: Semmi gond.
Mr. Szabó: “No problem.”
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Simone: This guy is still insisting on the formal speech.
Gergo: It happens very often at the workplace. He’s a lot older and he is the boss, he’ll probably take his time before offering to tegez.
Simone: That’s the word for...
Gergo: For using the informal language. Tegez. As opposed to magáz, of “use the formal speech.”
Simone: So at work the latter is more frequent.
Gergo: Among people on the same rank, tegez is more common. Usually someone older than you will initiate that. Teachers can do that do, if they wish.
Simone: And your boss?
Gergo: It really depends on his personal preference and age. At some point people do decide to switch to informal. This used to be done while drinking, but this is no longer absolutely necessary.
Simone: Ok. then Let’s move to the vocab.
Gergo: (laughs) Don’t insult me.
VOCAB LIST
Simone: Ok, let’s do some vocab guys.
Gergo: üdvözöl
Simone: “greet”
Gergo: üd-vö-zöl
Gergo: üdvözöl
Gergo: rég
Simone: “long time, long ago”
Gergo: rég
Gergo: rég
Gergo: lát
Simone: “see”
Gergo: lát
Gergo: lát
Gergo: telik
Simone: “go by, pass”
Gergo: te-lik
Gergo: telik
Gergo: szabadság
Simone: “holiday, vacation”
Gergo: sza-bad-ság
Gergo: szabadság
Gergo: papír
Simone: “paper (work), documents”
Gergo: pa-pír
Gergo: papír
Gergo: Elnézést kérek.
Simone: “Excuse me.”
Gergo: El-né-zést ké-rek.
Gergo: Elnézést kérek.
Gergo: elfelejt
Simone: “forget”
Gergo: el-fe-lejt
Gergo: elfelejt
Gergo: Semmi gond.
Simone: “No problem.”
Gergo: Sem-mi gond.
Gergo: Semmi gond.
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Simone: All right Gergo, what is the first expression for this lesson?
Gergo: In this lesson we have a couple of polite small talk expressions. The first one is “long time no see.”
Simone: Please repeat.
Gergo: Rég láttam.
{pause}
Gergo: Rég láttam. This is conjugated formal. You can also change the word láttam to láttalak, that way it’s informal.
Simone: Can you say the whole expression please?
Gergo: Rég láttalak.
Simone: OK, now the boss said “hi” in a weird way.
Gergo: He used the word üdvözlöm.
{pause}
Gergo: Üdvözlöm. This is super-formal and normally you’d add a name after it. Üdvözlöm Simone.
Simone: How would you say this to your friends?
Gergo: You wouldn’t. It is possible to tone it down, but it’s ridiculous that way.
Simone: Al righty, what else?
Gergo: We had the expression which means “excuse me (I need attention)” and “pardon me, sorry.”
Simone: Please repeat.
Gergo: Elnézést kérek.
{pause}
Gergo: Elnézést kérek. This is normally used with strangers or when you want to be polite. Like if you knock over someone’s drink, you can use it.
Simone: How do you say “Excuse me, what’s the time?” Please repeat.
Gergo: Elnézést kérek, mennyi az idő?
{pause}
Gergo: Elnézést kérek, mennyi az idő?
Simone: How do you answer this?
Gergo: Unless you’re very angry you say...
Simone: ...please repeat...
Gergo: Semmi gond.
{pause}
Gergo: Semmi gond.
Simone: OK, let’s go to the grammar now.

Lesson focus

Simone: In this lesson we’re going to learn how to use the words “go by” or “spend” to discuss holidays.
Gergo: Yes, the first sentence we had was: Hogy telt a szabadság?
Simone: The literal translation of this is something like “how did the holiday go by.” It doesn’t actually have the word “spend” in it.
Gergo: Yes, telt is the third person singular past tense form of telik, or “go by, elapse.”
Simone: How do you say: “how was you weekend?” Please repeat.
Gergo: Hogy telt a hétvége?
{pause}
Gergo: Hogy telt a hétvége? The good thing with this expression is that it is suitable for all audiences, no formal-informal problems.
Simone: All right. How do we answer this question?
Gergo: If it went well, you have to say Jól telt.
{pause}
Gergo: Jól telt. You should remember jól, which means “well.”
Simone: What if it didn’t exactly go well.
Gergo: You have to say Nem telt jól.
Simone: What else do we have?
Gergo: A very similar question is made by changing the word from telt to ment. That is the past tense of “go” and it implies that there was an effort involved.
Simone: So you would use it in a sentence like: “How did the exam go?”
Gergo: Exactly. That question is hogy ment a vizsga?
{pause}
Gergo: Hogy ment a vizsga?
Simone: If your friend’s moved recently...
Gergo: You have to say hogy ment a költözés?
{pause}
Gergo: Hogy ment a költözés?
Simone: Let’s answer this one now.
Gergo: Either you say jól ment. This is very similar to the one before.
Simone: And if it didn’t go well?
Gergo: We should learn “it went” badly instead of “it didn’t go well.”
Simone: Please repeat.
Gergo: Rosszul ment.
{pause}
Gergo: Rosszul ment.
Simone: This is not the best sentence to wrap the lesson up.
Gergo. Okay, Jól ment.
Simone: That’s better. See you guys again next time.
Gergo: Sziasztok.

Comments

Hide