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
Finally, you're at the table and at your seat. Now it's time to order!
In this lesson, we'll cover how to ask for a menu and then order your food and drinks.
BODY
Normally, to get the waiter's attention, you can simply ask, Verskoon my, which is a polite way to say, "Excuse me," when the waiter is passing by.
(slow) Verskoon my.
Verskoon my.
Then you can ask for a menu by saying, Mag ek die spyskaart sien? which is, "May I see the menu?"
(slow) Mag ek die spyskaart sien?
Mag ek die spyskaart sien?
The first word, mag, meaning, "may."
(slow) mag
mag
Next we have spyskaart, meaning, "menu."
(slow) spyskaart
spyskaart
The last word is sien, which stands for "to see."
(slow) sien
sien
To recap, let's repeat the whole sentence one more time.
Verskoon my, mag ek die spyskaart sien?
It means "Excuse me, may I see the menu?"
Once you have looked at the menu, you can finally call the waiter to order.
South African menus don't always follow a standard pattern. However, you will usually find voorgereg which means "appetizers," sop meaning "soup," hoofgereg, for "main entrées," drankies for ”drinks", and nagereg, for "desserts."
In South Africa, after the waiter shows you to your table, he or she will usually ask for your drink. When you look ready to order, the waiter may ask you, Het u gekies? This literary means, "Have you chosen?"
(slow) Het u gekies?
Het u gekies?
First we have the verb het which means, "have."
(slow) het
het
Next we have u which means “you.”
(slow) u
u
And the last word is gekies. This is a form of the verb kies which means, "to choose."
(slow) gekies
gekies
If you're not sure what to order, you can always ask the staff for recommendations. The appropriate question in such a situation would be Wat beveel u aan? This means, "What do you recommend, sir?"
(slow) Wat beveel u aan?
Wat beveel u aan?
First word Wat means "what"
(slow) Wat
Wat
Then we have u, meaning "you." We have to use the polite form here because the waiter is not our friend and so we cannot use the informal jy. Let’s hear this word once again.
(slow) u
u
The two words that follow are beveel and aan, they together make one verb, aanbeveel which means "to recommend." Let's break the verb down.
(slow) aan-be-veel
aanbeveel.
Let's listen to the whole phrase one more time. Wat beveel u aan?
This means ”What do you recommend, sir?"

Comments

Hide