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Saturday 13 February 2010

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.


3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Some English guy tries hard to learn a word in a language that people like you seek to remain so complex that even Polish people struggle with the grammar. He puts so much effort in, and all you can do is laugh? Do you expect that to encourage him? Oh yes, you want the language to remain inaccessible! Would you like me to rip you English apart? Take a minute to think about how racist you sound! Where is your tolerance??

    "Jestem angielski" does not mean "I'm made in England" - it means nothing, but any Polish person with the smallest ounce of sympathy, imagination and effort would be able to work out what the person meant, and thank them for their effort. If that is your attitude, why do you live in England? You lack the ability to speak proper English!

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  3. Thank you for the great article, I would like to take the chance to invite polish tutors and students who are asking themselves how to learn english as a polish speaker to have a free view on this excellent website that offers english conversation http://preply.com/en/polish-by-skype I am currently taking polish conversation classes online over there with native speakers and the quality presented is professional and satisfying

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