Learn how to buy something at a mobile phone store
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to FinnishPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 18 - Has Your Finnish Phone Run Out of Credit? Michael here. |
| Nico: Hei. I'm Nico. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll master vocabulary and phrases related to phone subscriptions along with superlatives and adverb superlatives. The conversation takes place at a mobile phone store. |
| Nico: It's between Linnea and a sales assistant. |
| Michael: The speakers are in a customer service situation, so they'll be using formal Finnish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sales Assistant: Päivää! Kiitos että jaksoitte odottaa, tänään on kiireisin päivä koko viikolla. |
| Linnea: Päivää! Ei haittaa, minulla on tänään viikon rauhallisin päivä! Minulta loppui puhelimesta saldo ja olisin halunnut ladata siihen lisää puheaikaa. Minulla on prepaid-liittymä. |
| Sales Assistant: Prepaid-liittymän saldon voi ladata kaikkein helpoimmin ja nopeimmin internetin kautta. Tiesittekö sitä? |
| Linnea: Ai, en tiennyt, mutta minulla ei ole juuri nyt yhteyttä internetiin. |
| Sales Assistant: Ahaa. Voin toki ladata puhelimenne saldon tässäkin. Kuinka suurella summalla haluatte ladata? |
| Linnea: 20 (kahdellakymmenellä) eurolla kiitos. |
| Sales Assistant: Selvä. Saanko vielä liittymänne numeron, kiitos? |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Sales Assistant: Päivää! Kiitos että jaksoitte odottaa, tänään on kiireisin päivä koko viikolla. |
| Linnea: Päivää! Ei haittaa, minulla on tänään viikon rauhallisin päivä! Minulta loppui puhelimesta saldo ja olisin halunnut ladata siihen lisää puheaikaa. Minulla on prepaid-liittymä. |
| Sales Assistant: Prepaid-liittymän saldon voi ladata kaikkein helpoimmin ja nopeimmin internetin kautta. Tiesittekö sitä? |
| Linnea: Ai, en tiennyt, mutta minulla ei ole juuri nyt yhteyttä internetiin. |
| Sales Assistant: Ahaa. Voin toki ladata puhelimenne saldon tässäkin. Kuinka suurella summalla haluatte ladata? |
| Linnea: 20 (kahdellakymmenellä) eurolla kiitos. |
| Sales Assistant: Selvä. Saanko vielä liittymänne numeron, kiitos? |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Sales Assistant: Good afternoon! Thank you for having the patience to wait, today is the busiest day of the whole week. |
| Linnea: Good afternoon! It's ok, I have my most relaxed day of the week today! I ran out of credit on my mobile and I would like to top it up please. I have a pre-paid subscription. |
| Sales Assistant: The easiest and quickest way to top up a prepaid subscription is through the Internet. Did you know that? |
| Linnea: Oh, I didn't know, but I don't have access to the Internet at the moment. |
| Sales Assistant: I see. I can of course top up the balance for your phone here as well. How much would you like to put on it? |
| Linnea: 20 euros please. |
| Sales Assistant: Ok. Could I just have the number for your subscription please? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Nico, do Finns like using mobile devices? |
| Nico: Finnish people love their mobile phones, largely of course thanks to the former Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia. Finns might be sometimes a little bit timid in social situations, but they love talking on their mobile phones and sending text messages. |
| Michael: I’ve also heard that a Finn helped invent the sms-message, is that true? |
| Nico: Yes, it is! |
| Michael: Is there any specific etiquette for using a mobile phone in Finland? |
| Nico: There is no common etiquette in Finland about when and where to use mobile phones, so you can see and hear people talking on their phones, even on public transport. This is a controversial habit, and irritates some people. In hospitals, however, the use of mobile phones is usually banned. |
| Michael: Ah yes, that’s quite common around the world. Do you have any useful expressions or sentences related to this topic? |
| Nico: Matkapuhelimen käyttö kielletty. |
| Michael: which means "The use of mobile phones is banned." Okay, now onto the vocab! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nico: kiireisin [natural native speed] |
| Michael: most busy |
| Nico: kiireisin[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: kiireisin [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: rauhallisin [natural native speed] |
| Michael: most relaxed |
| Nico: rauhallisin[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: rauhallisin [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: puhelin [natural native speed] |
| Michael: telephone |
| Nico: puhelin[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: puhelin [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: saldo [natural native speed] |
| Michael: balance |
| Nico: saldo[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: saldo [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: ladata [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to top up |
| Nico: ladata[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: ladata [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: puheaika [natural native speed] |
| Michael: talk time |
| Nico: puheaika[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: puheaika [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: prepaid-liittymä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: prepaid subscription |
| Nico: prepaid-liittymä[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: prepaid-liittymä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: liittymä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: subscription |
| Nico: liittymä[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: liittymä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: helpoimmin [natural native speed] |
| Michael: the easiest |
| Nico: helpoimmin[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: helpoimmin [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: nopeimmin [natural native speed] |
| Michael: the fastest |
| Nico: nopeimmin[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: nopeimmin [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Michael: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nico: matkapuhelin |
| Michael: meaning "mobile phone" |
| Nico: matkapuhelin is made up of matka meaning "journey" or "travel" and puhelin meaning "phone." |
| Michael: So the word is literally “journey phone” or “travel phone,” a phone that you can use while you’re on the move. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nico: Sure. For example, you can say.. 80-luvun matkapuhelimet olivat naurettavan suuria. |
| Michael: ..which means "The mobile phones in the 80s were ridiculously big." |
| Nico: Right. |
| Michael: You may want to note that this word is starting to feel quite formal and a bit dated, since it's from the time when mobile phones were first introduced. |
| Nico: A very common slang word for "mobile phone" is kännykkä, which is used around Finland, and even in some formal contexts and adverts nowadays. |
| Michael: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nico: puheaika |
| Michael: meaning "talk time." Nico, could you break down this word? |
| Nico: Sure, puheaika is made out of puhe meaning "talk" or "speech" and aika meaning "time." |
| Michael: You can use this word when you’re referring to talk time in mobile phone contracts. This usually refers to the limited amount of talk time you have in your contract, or how many minutes per month you can talk on your mobile for a certain fare. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nico: Sure. For example, you can say.. Tässä sopimuksessa on runsaasti puheaikaa. |
| Michael: .. which means "There is plenty of talk time in this contract." Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson you'll learn how to get what you want at a mobile phone store. More specifically, we'll master adverb comparatives and superlatives along with vocabulary and phrases related to a phone subscription. We already studied comparatives in Lesson 3, so in this lesson we'll review those and add the superlative degree for both adjectives and adverbs. |
| Nico: In this lesson we'll explain some of the rules for forming superlatives. First, to form a superlative, we add the ending -in to the stem of the word. For example iso, meaning “big,” becomes isoin, meaning “biggest.” |
| Michael: But depending on the stem of the adjective, you sometimes have to remove the last letter of the stem before adding the ending in. |
| Nico: That’s right. The letter is removed if the last letter is an i, and the same happens if the stem of the word ends with two vowels or if the stem contains three or more syllables and ends with a or ä. |
| Michael: Let’s see a few examples. |
| Nico: Ok, let’s start with suuri, |
| Michael: This means "great," or "big" and finishes with i. |
| Nico: Right, so “greatest, biggest” will be translated as suurin. |
| Michael: There's only one i. |
| Nico: Right. Let’s also take a look at nopea, |
| Michael: Which means "fast." The stem of this one ends with a, |
| Nico: ...so the superlative loses the final a and becomes nopein. |
| Michael: I suppose there are also some exceptions, like for the English “good.” |
| Nico: Actually, "good" is irregular in Finnish, too. It's hyvä. |
| Michael: What are the comparatives and the superlatives? |
| Nico: They are parempi and paras respectively. |
| Michael: Is there another similar case? |
| Nico: Yes, the same goes for the adjective “tall,” pitkä. The comparative is pidempi - “taller” and the superlative pisin - “tallest” |
| Michael: Now let’s see the superlatives for adverbs. Remember that adverbs are words describing the way something happens or is. |
| Nico: Very often they have a -sti ending. The comparative has a -mmin and the superlative has an -immin ending, and this is added to the same stem as the comparative and the superlative of adjectives. |
| Michael: So let’s consider the adverb for “fast.” |
| Nico: The stem is the same as the adjective, nopea, to which the ending -sti is added, nopeasti |
| Michael: Therefore the comparative will be... |
| Nico: nopeammin, |
| Michael: "faster." And the superlative... |
| Nico: nopeimmin, |
| Michael: means "fastest." Let’s hear some complete sentences. |
| Nico: Ok, let’s do that with the adverb helposti, meaning “easily.” The comparative is helpommin and superlative is helpoimmin. |
| Michael: Let’s see the same sentence with the three different grades. |
| Nico: Here's the basic form, Saldon voi ladata internetissä helposti |
| Michael: “You can top up the balance easily on the Internet.” |
| Nico: Here's the comparative, Saldon voi ladata internetissä helpommin. |
| Michael: “You can top up the balance more easily on the internet.” |
| Nico: And the superlative, Saldon voi ladata internetissä helpoimmin. |
| Michael: “You can top up the balance most easily on the internet.” Please remember that some of the adverbs, especially the ones expressing time, frequency or quantity, like “late” or “seldom,” often have an irregular comparative and superlative form. |
| Nico: For example paljon which means “a lot,” in the comparative grade is enemmän, meaning “more” and in the superlative is eniten meaning “the most.” |
| Michael: Okay, what’s another example? |
| Nico: myöhään, which is “late." The comparative is myöhemmin and the superlative is myöhimmin. |
| Michael: Making them "later" and "latest," respectively. Listeners, you can find a list of these in the Lesson Notes. Finally, let’s see some vocabulary related to phone subscriptions. |
| Nico: We already saw matkapuhelin and kännykkä, which both refer to “mobile phone.” Here is another - matkapuhelinliittymä. |
| Michael: Which means “mobile subscription.” What’s the Finnish for “text message”? |
| Nico: tekstiviesti or the colloquial tekstari. You may find älypuhelin useful, too. |
| Michael: That means “smart phone.” |
| Nico: Another good word is SIM-kortti, |
| Michael: which means “SIM card.” |
| Nico: Finally, you should know that the Finnish for “application” is sovellus. |
Outro |
| Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Nico: Hei hei. |
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