sea captain living room

The Home of a Sea Captain

 
 
 
 
Józef Gawłowicz is a retired sea captain and a professor at the Marine Academy in Szczecin.

Vocabulary

china valuable living room
prove cabinet appendicitis
peace flamingo count (2)
piece genuine present (2)
oak fitting hand-carved
iron original ornamentation
carve century bring/brought
bronze made of country (2)
cigar furniture to go with it
invent nautilus give/gave/given
lovely typical appendectomy
rather light (2) patient (2)
bit (2) perform recognize
shell collect appendix (2)
bust pipe (2) figure (3)
ivory member

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Hello. I’m Józef Gawłowicz. I was a sea captain for years. Let me show you my living room.

This is my living room. It’s not typically Polish because I have a valuable china cabinet from the Pomoranean Count Fleming. The two flamingos prove that it’s genuine.

This piece of furniture is so valuable because it’s made of oak with hand-carved ornamentation, and the original iron fittings from the 17th century.

When I was a captain, I was always traveling. I brought something back from most of the countries I visited. This bronze figure is from Nigeria. This is from Ghana. This is from Peru. And this very modern Madonna is by the African artist Bisi Fakea.

I bought this lamp because it’s so beautiful. And there’s a nice story to go with it.

The Patopski family gave it to the Lukaewicz family as a present to thank them because Lukaewicz had invented oil lamps. And the first appendectomy was performed in Poland under an oil lamp. The patient was a member of the Patopski family.

It gives a nice green light, though it may be a bit too large for my living room. It cost 14,000 zloty, a lot of money (nearly $5,000).

You can recognize a captain by his pipe. Here’s my collection. This one is made of a nautilus shell. These are rather unusual ones. This tiny cigar pipe is from Italy. And the pipe with the bust of a captain’s wife is made of ivory. What a lovely face.

My living room isn’t for just relaxing: this is also where I clean my instruments: my sextant, my mirror, and my chronometer.

Thank you so much for visiting me in my living room.

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Questions

1. Who is this person? What is his former occupation? Does he still sail ships?

2. Jozef has a traditional Polish living room. True or false?

3. What is the biggest furniture in Józef’s living room? What is it made of?

3. What were some advantages or benefits of being a ship captain?

4. Is Jozef lower-class (poor), lower-middle class, middle-class, upper-midde class or upper class (rich) .

5. He might be a smoker. Is this right or wrong?.

6. Does Józef use his living room as a workroom?

7. He has a very large collection or artwork and instruments. Is this correct or incorrect?
 
 
 
A. I am a sailor or captain. Yes or no? Do you know anyone who is or was a sea captain or sailor or ship engineer?

B. Would you like to be a ship captain, sailor or ship engineer? Would you like to travel on a cruise liner?

C. I have a large collection of artwork, souvenirs or other objects in my home. True or false? Does your friend have a large collection?

D. Where would you like to travel? I would like to visit . . . .

E. What would you like to collect and own? I would like to have . . . . .
 
 
 
 
 

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