Święta, Święta i po Świętach...

Dzień dobry,

If you were missing Christmas topic on our blog, please note that we covered this one a year ago :-))).

One thing has been changing slowly I must admit - there is less and less carp fish on our tables and Polish people are introducing more fish variety to their Christmas Eve menus - which would make our grandparents proud.

Our students this year had a chance to try some Polish Christmas Eve dishes on our Christmas Workshops organised at Mamuśka Bar in London. 

During the workshops they discussed Polish Christmas traditions and traditions from regions where their Polish friends, families and partners come from. 

Together we learnt a carol "Cicha Noc"

I even heard of some after party at Thom's ;-))). Christmas spirit.... 

Huge "thank you" to the owners of Mamuśka and Pani Ewa, who made sure everything was excellent: we loved pierogi and barszcz z uszkami.

Here is a quick reminder of Polish Christmas Eve traditions.

http://polilang-polish-school.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-eve-traditions-part-1.html

http://polilang-polish-school.blogspot.com/2009/11/just-before-christmas-eve.html

http://polilang-polish-school.blogspot.com/2009/11/polish-christmas.html

See you in class,

Ola

It wasn't what I meant

If you tried to make a conversation in Polish and after a few sentences you  (or rather the person you were talking to) got stuck, run out of topics or even switched to English the reasons are:

... ok, there might be hundreds of reasons, but I'm interested in only one of them...

No, let's say that you were polite and the person was trying their best, but you both just couldn't figure out what was wrong.

No, this wasn't in the church or in the lift and the person wasn't your dentist either.

No, your accent is ok and you have a broad vocabulary in Polish...

Ok, ok: the reason was - you weren't speaking Polish, I mean you were using Polish words and combining them into sentences, but they weren't Polish - they were literal translation from English.

I'm sure you heard of a Polish mistakes like:

Thank you from the mountain = thank you in advance (lit. z góry dziękuję);

Or It's not my fairy tale = It's not my cup of tea (lit. to nie moja bajka).

and many more which I'm sure can you can hear at our weekly classes :-))

You must have done the same mistake asking someone whether they had a good time you would say (no there is no other reason - I have just eliminated them):

"Miałeś/Miałaś dobry czas?" and what you should say is "Czy dobrze się bawiłeś/bawiłaś?"

How would you say: "No thanks I'm fine?" 

Would you choose: "Dziękuję, nie trzeba", czy "Dziękuję, wszystko w porządku?". 

Would both mean the same or would they mean something else, or maybe the context would bring the distinction. (Yes, the last answer is correct).

See you in class,

Ola

instead of swear words...

Dzień dobry,

Do you remember our Polish Swear Words Workshops. Well, I do :-))) - Created monsters ;-)))

Although most people know just one Polish swear word, we can be very inventive with our word formation of bad words.

"No" to swearing we say :-))), but "yes" a huge "yes" to euphemisms. Here are some words, that would be proud equivalents of English "Oh, sugar" but we love them and find it very funny and creative when someone uses them.

pierniczyć - "to ginger bread" (not care about something or to joke);

pieprzyć/spieprzyć - "to pepper" (to have sex or to spoil something);

chrzanić/schrzanić - "to horseradish" (to spoil something or to joke);

kiełbasić/skiełbasić - "to sausage" (to miss your chance or to make a mistake/error);

przysolić/przyfasolić - "to salt/to bean" (to hit someone);

podwędzić - "to smoke/to cure in smoke" (to steal).

Please excuse my literal translations, but only they will show the true beauty of  these colloquial words.

The words can change their meaning if you apply different prefixes. 

Finally, there are not the only meanings of enlisted words.

See you in class,

Ola

5 things you should never do in Poland

The list of things you should never do in Poland is almost as long as a list of Polish people giving you advice on that.

Some say you should never smile to strangers. Some say you should never approach girls and ask to buy them a coffee or a beer. Maybe someone will tell you not to hand money from hand to hand - just leave it on this ash tray-looking device which a shop assistant shoves money out from...

Oh, there is also the difficult topic of queuing at the train station and asking for information at the information office before buying your ticket at the cashiers...

My 5 forbidden behaviours in Poland that can make you a social outcast are: refusing to drink with us 5 times :-)))

See you in class,

Ola

The things I will never understand - we asked Katarzyna (25, in London since 2008)

Us: What was the first cultural difference you noticed when you moved to London?

Katarzyna*:  (yyyyy) It must have been "How are you" - the phrase and how people react to it. I will never understand (let's be honest, I will learn and obey but will never understand why would people say or do that) why people ask you how you are when they don't want to hear how you are. You start telling them how you really are and then they look at you in a funny way. 

And the other thing is: why would you talk about the weather when you are sitting in the same room and everyone can see what the weather is. It is clearly not about stating your opinion, as they always have to agree with each other... Every time they start talking about the weather I feel like an idiot talking about such an obvious thing.

Us: I'm sure it must be difficult to know what to say not to offend anyone...

Katarzyna: Oh, yes - you can say that the weather hasn't changed since yesterday and this way you will just finish the conversation [laughing]. On the other thing you try to say something about it but can't just go with the same "yes indeed" all the time and you just need to say something creative (I don't know why - perhaps that's just minding my father's words "if you don't have anything wise to say, just don't say anything") . I already tried the names of clouds in Latin and weather forecast for the following day judging on the colour of the sky plus the wind and each time I ended up as a person who tries to show off. 

Us: Do you mind if we continue this interview tomorrow? Actually, let's be honest - not tomorrow - any time in the future.

Katarzyna: As if I had a choice. Yes, sure any time in the future.

(yes it's a small print)
*Just in case - Katarzyna is a fictional character standing for all stereotypical views about British culture. She was created to..., well she was created because she could be created. Just between you and me - I think she is a mixture of the authors experiences and insecurities.

Why Polish?

Dzień dobry,

I often ask new students why they want to learn Polish. 
I am even more often asked why people want to learn Polish and what a typical student of Polilang is like.
The typical student of Polilang - I reply - is usually doing her/his homework and working hard :-) and it usually stops people from asking similar questions :-))).

I however found it important to answer why one has to work hard to learn Polish. That's because it is the second most difficult language in the entire world (natural and discovered).
Polish grammar is very complicated and even essential grammar sufficient for a very simple conversation is extremely complex.


Moreover Polish language is not going to be simplified or changed a lot. There is no way we will stop using different endings to state whether a word is a subject, a positive object or negative object etc. 

Even if someone had such a surreal idea, we would not allow it - we take pride in our language. This was a glue keeping us together and preserving our national identity when there was no Poland on a map of Europe (we regained independence in 1918 after 123 years of being divided among Austria, Prussia and Russia). Then and later - during the communists' regime it was our weapon against the invaders.

Even we struggle with this complex but beautiful language sometimes. We would however always want it to be pronounced properly and with the respect to grammar. Maybe this is why we are so happy when you speak Polish and share our love for it.

See you in class,
Ola

Another quiz

Here is a riddle:

I answer a phone and say: 

- "I'm listening, here Ewa.

I'm knocking on the door and I hear:

"Who there?"

I buy a newspaper or beer and I ask for it by saying:

"Please newspaper" or "Please beer"

I want my mother to help me with something. I should be polite so I say:

"Give me that", "Take this", "Don't do this".

Where am I?

Yes, I'm in Poland and yes I know it is a blog about Polish culture and language and that everyone knew that it would be another quiz about Poland... Can we please go to the answers?

When answering a phone in Poland you say: "Słucham" which literally means "I'm listening, but it really expresses that you are all ears and can listen to the person calling you".

"Kto tam" will allow you to check who knocked on your door.

In Poland you need just one word to say : "Can I have ..., please" - "Proszę....  "

So "Proszę gazetę" or "Proszę piwo" is a polite way of asking for a newspaper or a beer.

And finally in Poland putting "please" - "Proszę" at the end or start of sentences will just sound too formal when you talk to your family and friends. We use imperative instead. Saying it with a soft tone of voice makes it a request rather than an order.

"Daj mi to" - give me that, "Weź to" - take this, "Nie rób tego"- don't do this.

See you in class,

Ola

Easter traditions part 4 - Easter Bunny

Dzień dobry,

In a post dated on 7th of March I asked, if Polish children know Easter Bunny.

It's time to face this question now.

NO, they don't.

See you in class,

Ola

Easter ( ? ) traditions part 3: Śmigus-Dyngus

Dzień dobry,

I know that Easter is over now, but Śmigus-Dyngus is older than Easter in Poland. It used to be a part of pagan tradition (turned into Christian after 11th century), or more accurately they used to be, because they were two different festivals: Śmigus and Dyngus. The first one was a part of Spring Festival. Traditionally boys and man were pouring water on unmarried girls and women. The symbol of new life - water was a guarantee of getting married the same year and for sure was a reassurance for the girls that they are the attractive ones. No wonder that some women jumped into the rivers asked politely to do so and some even on purpose poured some water on themselves :-). When pouring water men were also whipping girls' legs with willow branches - another symbol of youth and fertility. This part of Śmigus didn't survive and is now forgotten - I wonder why ;-).

Dyngus on the other hand was celebrated later in spring and its main idea was to give each other little gifts. The only thing left of it is the name. It's not we don't like giving presents - I think we just don't like the idea of thinking what I can give each person next year for the excellent gifts I received this year :-).

See you in class,

Ola

Easter traditions part 2

Witam,

The baskets we take to the church with us on Saturday are not the same our grandparents took. At least they say so. "Today you have cars and buses that take you from your flat to the church directly, but you still don't want to carry a full basket of Easter food. Instead of a loaf of bread, you put in your basket just a slice of it.

Instead of a whole big babka, you just put a slice of it or bake a miniature of a real babka.

Real boiled eggs (pisanki) are slowly replaced by chocolate in childrens' baskets".

Was my Grandma right about that? Sure in some parts of Poland (Wielkopolska) you want your kids to play egg hunting. There is no harm when between hard boiled eggs painted, coloured or decorated you place one or two chocolate eggs. 

And sure it will not be the best idea to take a huge basket with all food for Easter breakfast (and we all know it is a lot of food) with you to the church. There will not be enough space for everyone's basket.

But you have to admit, that our baskets still contain: kielbasa, chleb (bread), chrzan (horseradish), sól (salt), pieprz (black pepper), babka (or other traditional cake),masło (butter) pisanki and a sugar figurine of a ram.

We are not so bad in nurturing the Easter traditions ;) after all.

See you in class,

Ola

Easter traditions part1

Dzień dobry,

Just a quick test:

1. Please name 4 traditional dishes served during Easter breakfast in Poland.

2. What do you take to the church with you on Easter Saturday? 

3. What is Śmigus-Dyngus?

4. Easter Bunny - do Polish children know him?


Having trouble answering these questions?
Let's start with the first one and hopefully answer all of them before Easter.
Students of Polilang don't worry, we will cover all of that (and even more) during our Easter Meeting (Workshops).



Traditional food:

 

 Babka  

 Mazurek  

 Żurek (Barszcz biały)

 

Biała kiełbasa 

 

Ćwikła (beetroot with horseradish)

Well, I'm already hungry. Let's leave something for Sunday breakfast. 

Please visit for recipes:

http://polishfoodinfo.com/polish-food/polish-recipes/86-polish-recipes-zurek-rye-soup.html

http://polishfoodinfo.com/polish-food/polish-recipes/78-polish-recipes-traditional-bigos.html

http://www.polstore.com/html/easterrecipes.html

See you in class,

Ola

We love our language

Can you think of a country where two students of law or IT discuss - over a glass of beer - the difference between two similarly sounding verbs? 

Can you imagine a country where a shop assistant will correct your pronunciation? 

Can you imagine a country where every Friday on TV a program about grammar and spelling is almost as popular as a comedy show (even though it is not funny at all)?

A country where at the same public TV two families compete to win a title of grammar experts?

A country where every year a orthography contest is organised and all celebrities and politicians are happy to take part?

A country where the host of mentioned Friday's show is a celebrity - linguistic celebrity?

Yes - this is Poland. 

We love our language, we love our word formation which gives us: "kancelować", "bookować",

"topupować" even though you will not find it in any dictionary. 

We love the flexibility of the word order in sentences, which gives us the best poets in the entire world and we finally love how a little change in words changes the meanings of these words.

Finally we love how many meanings can hide in prefixes and suffixed of words. Is there any other language where adding different endings to a swear word you can form a sentence: "Wow, that was an excellent party"?

See you in class,

Ola

Why do they laugh when I say....

Dzień dobry,

With years of practice of teaching Polish comes the knowledge and wisdom to lead others and help them to achieve the best results when learning Polish.... Excuse me, could anyone turn the pomposity off...?     That's better. 

There are some phrases that seem to sound perfectly normal and you can't wait to share them with your Polish friends. You think it would be nice to surprise them with some words you learnt and all you get is their hysterical laughter.

1) "Jestem angielski" to say "I'm English". This literal translation of an English phrase means: "I'm made in England", or "I'm an English object", but not a person.
 

2) "Miałeś dobry czas?" (Did you have a good time?) you ask when your friend talks about his party last night.  Firstly he does not understand and then he tells you that they weren't running and no one timed them how fast they could run yesterday.

3) "Jestem gorący". (I'm hot) This simple phrase makes people touch you to check whether you are really hot or suggest you to visit a doctor.

4) "Jestem dobry" (I'm good) is a right sentence to say that you are a good person, but not to reply to a greeting.

*correct phrases:
1) Jestem Anglikiem/Angielką
2) Czy dobrze się bawiłeś?
3) Jest mi gorąco./Gorąco mi.
4) Dobrze./Mam się dobrze.

Oh, oh almost forgot. Have a doughnut for Fat Thursday ("Tłusty Czwartek") - an equivalent of Shrove Tuesday in England.

British guy in Poland

Having decided to go to Poland for holidays he arrived at Wroclaw airport and was welcomed by very serious looking custom officers. No smile at their faces, no "welcome to Poland", just a short "thank you" returning his passport.

He took his suitcase and made his way to the taxis. A taxi driver dropped him off at the Mercury Hotel. Just one thing had gone wrong - crossing the street he was stopped by a policeman and handed a fine: - "There is a zebra crossing nearby sir and you disregarded it when crossing the street. It is dangerous and against the rules". He was about to say: "Which rules", but was advised by a passer by: "Just take a fine" - so he took it.

Strange, but well I will google those "rules" later - he thought. Hotel was normal, but he wasn't going to get to know Poland by staying in his room. He had a plan: Wroclaw -  Rynek, Ostrów Tumski, Plac Grunwaldzki, Uniwersytet and Ruska Street (called sometimes Pasaż Niepolda) in the evening. One day wasn't enough for all that.

He fancied a trip around Wroclaw by tram - he needed some tickets, but where to buy them. His guidebook said he could get them at any "kiosk". That was correct. He saw "bilety MPK" sign on each small shop he passed. But buying them was much more difficult. He knew what to say, but couldn't understand why everyone was looking at him, two customers left the shop and one of the customers finally nearly yelled at him: Do you want these tickets or not? You are not the only customer here and we haven't got the time to tell you what you should visit in Wroclaw". He tried to explain that he was just asking and in return he was called "arrogant".

See you in class,

Ola

Polish girl in UK :-)

She arrived in UK two weeks ago and she couldn't understand why they all smile to each other.

When she was six she was told not to smile to strangers and once she saw an adult woman smiling to strangers - her older brother explained that the woman was mentally handicapped. That explained everything. She smiles when she sees a familiar face. She kisses and hugs her fiends but to smile to total strangers - ridiculous.

When she had to do the shopping, she was pleasantly surprised. There was a sign with the direction of a queue but no one asked her to obey it when she was the only person queueing. A shop assistant wasn't lecturing her what a correct name of a product was and how to pronounce it. 
She was a bit impatient and even felt offended when a lady in front of her started talking to a cashier and it took them six minutes to bag one bread, two cans of tomatoes and crisps. She thought it was unacceptable in Poland and you can either work or talk to friends, but never at the same time. She was finally surprised that the cashier and the lady weren't friends.

She couldn't understand why they kept announcing everything: a change in a bus route, that a train was delayed by approximately 5 minutes, that you have to send your tax return on time. If she wanted to know, she would have asked someone. 

She went past a policeman and tried not to look at him and then waited for him to disappear round the corned before she crossed the street 100 m from zebra crossing. She was lazy enough not to reach zebra crossing and she was cheeky enough not to be fined for doing it...

Things looked different,  but not the things and language were her problem. She somehow was offending people saying: "Can I have a ticket?",  "Give me that.", "Take it."
What was she doing wrong?- "It was polite. Should I start repeating myself?"



See you in class,
Ola

Polilang is back after Christmas break

Hello Everyone,

As a title proudly states, we are back and we start a New Year with enthusiasm. Which means more classes, more homework, more speaking and writing in Polish...

I know, I'm as happy as you are :-). I hope you didn't forget what you've learned so far and that your have been practising during Christmas break ;-).
 

New Year resolutions as always:

1. We will focus on everyday Polish to allow you to communicate with your friends, family or partner.

2. We will prepare you for a visit to Poland (communication and culture aspects).

3. We will ensure that you learn in a relaxed atmosphere and in a friendly environment led by experienced creative and fun-loving teachers.

4. We will let you decide what you want to learn and give advice on what you should know.

5. We will not bore you with nuances of Polish grammar but let you speak and listen in order to communicate efficiently.

6. We will improve your pronunciation during classes and on professional workshops.

7. We will ask you to practice grammar at home and ask your partner/friend to work on vocabulary with you (it's much easier once you get support).

8. We will tailor the teaching methods to your needs and advise you how to learn.

9. We will lead you through your entire journey with Polish.

10. We will inform you of Polish cultural events.

And to lose weight and start writing a book. So far each year the first ten were the ones I managed to stick to.

Some of the students have their own resolutions: "... speak Polish with my girlfriend", "move to Poland...", "go to Poland for an intensive Polish course", "start talking to my friends in Polish..." - well done guys !!!!

 

New Year means new challenges too. This time for you - our students.

Your first challenge will wait for you at our meeting in a restaurant. 

Everyone will have to introduce themselves (and their partners) in Polish.

More advanced students will have to talk to waitresses in Polish.

See you in class,

Ola