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