CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SNOW IN POLISH

EXPANDING POLISH VOCABULARY
The time has come when apart from carnival parties, keeping New Year’s resolutions (such as taking a course of Polish as a foreign language – you can find more information about the courses here), conversations about … snow begin to take place.
Frequently, during Polish lessons, the students seeing whirling, white flakes outside the window ask: How do you say it in Polish? Today we would like to present a handful of practical phrases so that you can be prepared for the winter season also in terms of language.

WHEN IT SNOWS, OR HOW TO SAY IT IN POLISH
Śnieg pada. However, the Polish language is very precise in terms of the white fluff. Pada śnieg indicates that the precipitation is neither too heavy nor too light. When the snow falling from the clouds on the ground is fine grained and there is not too much of it, we say prószy śnieg. And when the flakes become large and it starts to snow heavily, we will say that śnieg sypie.
After all those weak and heavy precipitations, we have to odśnieżyć, that is to remove the snow from steps, doormats, pavements, streets, cars, etc.
All this is fine as long as there is mróz, that is the temperature is below zero. It’s worse when it turns warmer. Next the white fluff starts melting, and odwilż comes. Then, on the streets and pavements, appears an even and smooth layer of ice. We call this phenomenon gołoledź. If you happen to go to your Polish class in such weather, make sure to check whether the pavement is posypany with sand. And when you finally reach the place safely, you will be able to boast that you know what gołoledź 
means.

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CHARMS OF POLISH WINTER 
Luckily, low temperature has its charms as well. After a frosty night szron appears on the windowpanes, bus stops and trees, which can be seen in the beautiful images created by nature from needle ice.
It is best, from point of view of safety, to zeskrobać szron that settled on our car’s windshield. The well prepared for this situation car drivers use a special skrobaczka. Those who don’t have them often reach for anything they happen to have at hand, e.g.: for … credit cards:)
Anther winter phenomenon is szadź, which picturesquely wraps tree branches with ice crystals. How do you tell the difference between szadź and szron? The best thing to do is to go outside on the streets and listen to the words the Polish use.

We hope that after reading this text you have enriched your winter-related vocabulary.

PARTIES AND BALLS, OR ON TERMINOLOGY FOR SOCIAL GATHERINGS IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE

NEW YEAR`S RESOLUTION – POLISH LANGUAGE LESSONS
The beginning of the year is a time not only to think of New Year’s resolutions (perhaps one of them will be a Polish language course), but also to take full advantage of carnival. It is also a good opportunity to discuss, in the framework of learning Polish, what all kinds of social gatherings are called in Polish. Let’s start with carnival.

BALLS, PARTIES, RECEPTIONS – HOW DO THEY DIFFER?
Bal is of course an elegant, very formal, social gathering with gourmet food and dancing and where you are obliged to follow a formal dress code. In contrast to the French language, the Polish bal refers only to formal social gatherings. If a gathering has an informal character: with casual clothes and quite spontaneous rules of functioning, it is just called impreza. Impreza – depending on what we are celebrating, has still other names, but more on that in a moment. However, not every formal gathering with music and elegant clothes is bal. If an event takes place at an embassy and the participating guests are officially invited and are required to wear formal gowns, there is music (but then again without dancing) and a glass of champagne (or good wine), it is called przyjęcie. Obviously, such a reception can take place at any other institution or a private house.

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NAMES FOR INFORMAL PARTIES (IMPREZY) - PARAPETÓWKI AND PĘPKOWE
Let’s return, however, to somewhat less formal gatherings. If a party (impreza) is organised on the night of the 31st of December and 1st of January, we call it sylwester (from saint Sylwester, whose name day falls on that night); we also have urodziny (when we celebrate the event of someone’s birth a given number of years ago) and imieniny. The latter type of a party is a Polish speciality. The older we get, the more we prefer to celebrate our imieniny instead of urodziny that expose our age:). We celebrate our imieniny on a day that in catholic calendar falls on the saint’s day whose name we bear. The celebration itself has no religious character whatsoever. Impreza on the occasion of moving to another house is called parapetówka (from the word parapet, presumably, to stress the fact that at the new place there are still many things missing and therefore the windowsill has a more important function than usual); impreza during which a fledgling father celebrates with his pals the birth of his child is called pępkowe (from the word pępek - a navel); pre-wedding parties for women and men are called  wieczór panieński (a hen night) and kawalerski (a stag night), respectively; a Christmas gathering is called opłatek  - a communion wafer (from the act of sharing a communion wafer with each other), and a get-together just before Easter is often called caressingly jajeczko - small egg (from the custom of sharing an with each other a boiled egg). Impreza taking place on the day of sint Andrew is a popular party called andrzejki (it’s an occasion for telling fortune, and for those who are more religious, it’s the last opportunity to dance before the approaching Advent), and the ostatki - literally it means remains or leftovers -  (or zapusty) is the last chance for some carnival fun before Lent (fasting period in preparation for Easter) comes.

As you can see, with or without religion in the background, there are a whole lot of opportunities for a pleasant celebration. Find the time for it between your Polish language lessons. All the best in the New Year!!!

INFLECTION OF NOUNS ENDING IN –UM

NOUNS OF LATIN ORIGIN IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE 
Recently we have talked about the nouns that are uninflected in Polish (check here for details), and now the good news continues. In the Polish language there is a large group of nouns of Latin origin ending in –um (by the way, remember that they are neuter gender), which do not inflect, either, BUT only in the singular form. Try to recall some of those words, you’ve had them in your Polish lessons... Do you know now? Yes, they are: muzeum, liceum, gimnazjum, akwarium, atrium, terytorium, kolokwium, technikum, etc. When in singular form, they do not inflect, so we can say: Idę do muzeum historycznego (I’m going to a historical museum)/ Dzięki muzeum historycznemu mogłam poznać historię miasta (Thanks to the historical museum I have learned the history of the city)/ Lubię to muzeum historyczne (I like this historical museum)/ Współpracujemy z tym muzeum historycznym (We cooperate with this historical museum)/Spotkamy się w muzeum historycznym (We’re going to meet at the historical museum).

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DECLENSION OF PLURAL FORM OF NOUNS ENDING IN –UM
Unfortunately, it gets more complicated when we need to use those nouns in the plural form, but let’s not lose heart! You’ll see that it’s not as difficult as it seems. To są małę muzea (These are small museums)/ Nie wyobrażam sobie wakacji bez zwiedzamia małych muzeów (I can't imagine a holiday without visiting small museums) / Dzięki tym małym muzeom poznałam interesujące fakty (Thanks to these small museums I have learned some interesting facts) / Lubię małe muzea (I like small museums) / Współpracujemy z małymi muzeami (We cooperate with small museums) / Byliśmy w małych muzeach (We’ve been to small museums).
Easy, isn’t it? You definitely know all the above endings, they are the regular endings of the plural form of other nouns. Will you now think more warmly of the Polish declension?:)

PROVERBS, OR A LESSON IN OPTIMISM FROM POLAND

POLISH PROVERBS
Proverbs are generally believed to be the wisdom of nations. Therefore, when they appear in lessons of Polish as a foreign language students learn much more than just their meanings. Not only do proverbs allow us to learn the language, its conjugations and declensions, but also the customs, culture and even... about the vagaries of the weather :)

POLISH PROVERBS ABOUT THE WEATHER 
Polish proverbs are no exception. We already mentioned one of them in our post of 26th February (W marcu jak w garncu literally: March is like a pot; similar to the English proverb: March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb). Another common proverb is Kwiecień plecień, co przeplata: trochę zimy, trochę lata (April the weaver, because interweaves a little bit of winter with a little bit of summer). It perfectly describes the changeable April weater, with beautiful summer sun on one day and snow on the following day.
There is one more popular saying referring to the climate: Idzie luty, szykuj buty (February is coming, get your shoes ready). It reminds us that the second month of the year is cold and severe (if you want to learn about the etymology of the names of the months in Polish, check out our post of 9th Sempember), so you should prepare the proper clothes and shoes so as not to catch a cold or fall ill.

                                      Proverbs allow (not only foreigners) to get to know Polish customs

WISDOM OF POLISH PROVERBS
Naturally, there are lots of proverbs that do not refer to the weather at all. Many foreigners must have heard their Polish colleagues say when in trouble: Co cię nie zabije, to cię wzmocni (What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger). These words give you hope that even the most serious problems may teach you a valuable lesson and broaden your experience. The proverb Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło (Every cloud has a silver lining) has a similar meaning.
It is worth mentioning that there are many optimistic proverbs in Polish. Take Dla chcącego nie ma nic trudnego (Where there is a will there’s a way), for instance, which tells us that everyone who is motivated, ambitious and eager to work will definitely reach their goals.
Kuj żelazo póki gorące (Strike while the iron is hot) encourages us to act and take advantage of the situation. So, if you would like to learn more secrets of the Polish language, then strike while the iron is hot and enroll in a language course (more on courses here) or check out our FB profile.