CHRISTMAS IN TRADITIONAL POLISH STYLE

POLISH CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION 

Christmas is a time everyone always looks forward to and anticipates. And Christmas celebrated in „Polish style“ is shrouded in myth and legend among foreigners. There are stories of tables groaning with food, multi-generational family reunions and beautiful Polish Christmas carols sung by whole families. It is not surprising, since Polish Christmas celebration traditions are not only rich, but also simply beautiful.

SPARE PLATE ON POLISH TABLE

In Poland the celebration begins with the Christmas Eve supper (kolacja wigilijna). It’s a time of joyful anticipation. Everything must be very well prepared and, as the Polish nicely put it, „zapięte na ostatni guzik“ (buttoned up).
First, we decorate the Christmas tree, then we lay the table. We often put a bundle of hay under the white tablecoth, which is a reminder of a manger where Jesus was born. There is always one place-setting more than there are guests who will be sitting at the table. The spare plate is meant for a „weary wanderer“, a traveller who might knock on the door on that night. The Polish tradition refers to the search for a place to spend the night by Mary and Joseph and says that on the Christmas Eve night everyone should let in an unexpected guest if one stands at their door.

                                                    What do you call a Christmas tree in Polish?

                                                         Other riddles refering to the Polish language you can find here

TWELVE DISHES FOR THE CHIRSTMAS EVE SUPPER

Nowadays, you can find twelve dishes (the number refers to twelve apostles and twelve months), but it wasn’t always like that. In the old days nine dishes were served at mansions of nobility and eleven at mansions of magnates. The odd number was believed to bring prosperity and abundance to the household in the upcoming year. The dishes served on Christmas Eve vary from region to region, however, they should always contain all the fruits of the earth, coming from the fields, woods, gardens and water. Therefore, traditional dishes are made with poppy seeds, grains of cereals, cabbage, mushrooms, honey, fruit and fish. Poppy seeds and cereals would provide wealth and offspring, fish would provide health, cabbage would give people strengh and vitality, mushrooms – prosperity and good fortune, honey – well-being and long life, and fruit – love and harmony. If you have a lesson on Christmas in your Polish class, you’ll find out that there’s no Christmas without barszcz z uszkami (beetroot soup with ravioli), pierogi z kapustą i grzybami (dumplings filled with cabbage and cooked dried mushrooms), śledź (herring), karp (carp), or kompot z suszonych owoców (dried fruit compote). There must be makowiec (poppy seed cake), piernik (gingerbread), babka drożdżowa (yeast cake) and kutia (sweet grain pudding).
The Christmas Eve supper doesn’t begin until the appearance of the first star in the sky. Before we sit at the table and start feasting we share opłatek (wafer) and wish each other good fortune and happiness, since Christmas is a time of forgiving and reconciling.

WHO BRINGS POLISH CHILDREN GIFTS?

After the supper many Poles sing Christmas carols. That is also a moment when Święty Mikołaj (Saint Nicolas), Gwiazdor (in Wielkopolska, Kujawy, Kaszuby and Western Pomerania), Aniołek (in Małopolska), or Dzieciątko Jezus (Child Jesus, as they call him in Upper Silesia) bring gifts.
At midnight whole families attend Pasterka, the Midnight Mass at the local church, which takes its name after pasterze (shepherds), who were the first ones to welcome the newly born Jesus. That is the night when everyone enjoys the beginning of Christmas.

                      You’ll learn in our courses of Polish for foreigners how to wish someone a Merry Christmas 

HOLIDAYS IN WŁOCHY (ITALY): IN RZYM (ROME) AND MEDIOLAN (MILAN). ON EXONYMS IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE.

UNUSUAL NAMES OF COUNTRIES IN POLISH

On hearing that sentence many students doing a  Polish course get really confused. Where has the speaker been? Włochy... what country is that? And where is Rzym located? True... Exonyms, i.e. names given to foreign geographical names in another language, Polish in our case, may puzzle many students of Polish. Suddenly, the inhabitant of Berlin finds out that he is from Niemcy (z Niemiec), and the citizen of Hungary is from ... Węgry (z Węgier). We’ll get back to the names of the three countries later on (Włochy – Niemcy – Węgry). For now, let’s take a look at the names of some of the foreign cities.

POLISH NAMES OF WELL KNOWN EUROPEAN CITIES

 It is relatively easy to guess what names we have in mind when we say Paryż (Paris), Londyn (London),  Lizbona (Lisbon), Wilno (Vilnius), Haga (the Hague), or Bruksela (Brussels). These have simply been transcribed using Polish sounds. Polish name of the capital of Belgium might sound a bit confusing when compared to the English way it’s pronounced, but if we think of the French Bruxelles, the Polish form is not that surprising anymore.
When talking about your holiday plans or a business trip it’s good to know that Ghent is Gandawa, Rome – Rzym, Milano – Mediolan, Wien – Wiedeń, Beijing – Pekin, Munchen – Monachium, Firenze – Florencja, Koln – Kolonia, and Cape Town is... Kapsztad.

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WHERE DOES THE NAME NIEMCY COME FROM?

In Polish classes teachers are often asked about the etymology of the names Niemcy, Włochy and Węgry.
It is believed that the form Niemcy is derived from the word memy, which described a person who speaks unintelligibly, not clearly. In short, the name appeared as a result of communication problems our ancestors had with the tribes inhabiting the area of today’s Germany.
The word Włochy derives from the Proto-Slavic name describing Romans, which we took over from the Germans, who initially called all Roman tribes Walh. And that name comes from the name of a Celtic tribe – Volcae. Among the Slavs, the term Wołch became common. Using this word the Slavs referred to all Romans, while in the Polish language it only referred to the inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula.
In the Polish language as well as in other languages the name Hungary refers to the tribe of Huns, who used to inhabit the area of today’s Hungary before the ancestors of the present inhabitants . The Polish form Węgry is a transformed name of tribes that sounded like Onogur/Ongur. The Slavs are believed to have pronounced that as w-ągri.

THE LOCATIVE CASE OF NAMES OF COUNTRIES

When talking of the three above-mentioned countries we should bear in mind that they all have a plural form in the Polish language, and that they take an unusual ending in the locative case. Mówimy o (we talk about), opowiadamy o (we tell about), mieszkamy (live), pracujemy (work), and studiujemy (study) w Niemczech, we Włoszech but na Węgrzech.

Here you can learn more on the Polish declensions

I’D LIKE A KILO OF APPLES (POPROSZĘ KILO JABŁEK), OR SHOPPING IN POLISH

A FEW PHRASES AND NUMBERS

It would seem that doing the shopping is more or less the same wherever in the world we are. It’s enough to learn the names of several products, numbers and some practical phrases in a language, e.g. Polish, and you’re ready to go to the shops. Naturally, you can always “take the easy way out” and go to a supermarket. However, even before going there it’s a good idea to look up the names of departments, because the Polish piekarnia sounds nothing like the German “Backerei”, English “bakery” or Spanish “panderia”. Apart from piekarnia you might need words like pieczywo(bread and bread-like goods), nabiał (dairy products) or chemia gospodarcza (household chemicals). Having learned those words you won’t be confused once in a shop, and it’ll spare you the unnecessary run around the shop in search of one product.

KILO MEANS KILOGRAM

However, if you decide to go to a corner shop, you should do your homework and go over the „weight“ topic. Obviously, the official unit of mass in Poland is a kilogram, whose prototype is in Sevres, France. The question is, how it works in the Polish language. It is generally known that users of every language have habits of their own.
First of all, all Polish shoppers use the short form of the word kilogram. Therefore, a Pole buys 2 kilos (dwa kilo), not 2 kilograms, of apples, potatoes or plums at the market. For the same reason you should ask for pół kilo (half a kilo – 500 grams) of cheese.

BETWEEN GRAMS AND DEKAGRAMS

We hardly ever buy half a kilo of ham, though, unless we are throwing a big party. When we feel like a sandwich with ham we should ask for (attention!) 15 dekagrams (15 deka) of it. And here’s when many foreigners ask themselves: „What is DEKA?“. The answer is simple, it’s short for „dekagram“ (=100 grams). The Polish use dekagrams, not grams. That’s why when in a shop we ask for 20 deka, not 200 grams of cheese. Shop assistants will definitely understand if the customer says: Poproszę 250 gramów tych pysznych ciastek (I’d like 250 grams of those delicious biscuits), but it does sound a bit unnatural.

                                    In Polish we ask for „20 deka“ of cheese rahther than „200 gramów“

You will definitely learn about this habit in classes of Polish for foreigners (see here for more information on courses). If you’re not sure of something, ask your teacher, one of your Polish colleagues, check out our facebook profile, or remember to read our blog regularly.

PISZĘ BLOG or PISZĘ BLOGA? UNUSUAL USES OF THE ACCUSATIVE CASE

ACCUSATIVE MASCULINE

Anyone learning Polish as a foreign language will face that problem at some point. They already know that in the masculine gender accusative case takes one of the two forms: either -a ending or remains unchanged, i.e. it is the same as the nominative case (it is also called a zero ending – ø). Those attending the courses of Polish know that the –a ending refers to the so called masculine animate nouns (that’s why we say: mam męża, brata, kota, psa – I have a husband, brother, cat, dog), while the zero ending refers to the group of nouns that are masculine inanimate (that’s why we say: mam dom, samochód, komputer etc. – I have a house, car, computer).

BLOG, MEJL, SMS IN A POLISH LESSON

Right. Why then do we often hear: on pisze bloga (he’s writing a blog), wysłałam ci smsa (I’ve sent you a text message), kupiłem laptopa (I’ve bought a laptop), odebrałem twojego mejla (I’ve got your email)? All the nouns mentioned are of masculine inanimate gender. According to the rule, they should remain unchanged when put in the accusative case! Well. The rule says one thing, but life, or should we say, users of the language, say another. The above mentioned use of masculine inanimate nouns with the –a ending has become so common that Polish linguists had to give in and accept those forms. However, though acceptable, they are considered COLLOQUIAL, and the structures with masculine inanimate nouns in the nominative case still remain to be the correct ones (on pisze blog, wysyłam ci sms, kupiłem laptop, odebrałem twój mejl).
In the examples given we’ve used the words that have appeared in the Polish language quite recently, the words connected with the latest technologies. However, we face the same dilemma (whether to use the accusative case with or without the –a ending) when using the nouns that appeared in Polish a long time ago. We often say: jem kotleta, pomidora, banana, although the correct form is jem kotlet, pomidor, banan. The use of –a ending with those nouns has become so common that it will probably replace the zero ending over time.

CARS, DANCES, SPORTS: 
THE “LEGAL” –A ENDING IN THE ACCUSATIVE CASE

When learning the accusative case we should bear in mind that there is a great deal of inanimate nouns which take the –a ending, and that is THE ONLY CORRECT FORM they can take. We use it when talking about car makes (mam mercedesa, fiata, peugeota), dances (tańczyliśmy walca, fokstrota, swinga, rock and rolla), sports (gram w tenisa, golfa, pokera, brydża), types of flowers (dostałam jednego goździka, tulipana, irysa).
You can learn more about the exceptions and unusual uses of the language while attending our classes or using our app.

WHERE DID THE POLISH NAMES OF DAYS OF THE WEEK COME FROM?

WHAT DOES „WTÓRY“ MEAN AND WHAT DOES THE WEEK HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

 Unlike in many other languages, Polish names of the days of the week do not take their names after Greek or Roman gods, they do not really relate to religion, either, with two exceptions that will be discussed later on. Instead, their names are closely linked to the order in which they appear one after another in what we call a week. Perhaps that’s the reason why the students of Polish do not find it very difficult to memorise the names of weekdays.

CZWARTEK and PIĄTEK (Thursday and Friday) seem relatively easy to remember, as they are the fourth (czwarty) and the fifth (piąty) days of the week.

Actually, it’s also the case with the second day of the week, WTOREK (Tuesday), which takes its name after the ancient Proto-Slavic adjective „wtóry“, which means... second.

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It is just as easy to explain the meaning of the word ŚRODA (Wednesday), which comes from „środek“ (middle), so the middle day of the week. This is supposedly a  calque (loan translation) from German, in which Mittwoch means the central part of the week.

Another loanword is the word SOBOTA (Saturday), which is derived from the Hebrew word shabbath, that is the holy day of rest. The word remained in the Polish language despite the changes introduced by the church, one of which was making the seventh day of the week the most imporant one. In fact, it is the word NIEDZIELA (Sunday) that students ask most questions about in Polish classes. Where did that word come from?

WE DO NOT WORK ON SUNDAY (NIEDZIELA)

NIEDZIELA is derived from an ancient Proto-Slavic verb ne delati, which simply means... do not work, do not do anything, do not act. Since the Synod of Laodicea (in 364 AD), this very day (not Saturday) has been the day of rest, i.e. a holy day. Therefore, the first day of the week that follows niedziela is called PONIEDZIAŁEK (i.e. dzień po niedzieli – the day after niedziela).

DAYS OF THE WEEK AND GRAMMAR

When using the names of the days of the week the student needs to remember that they usually collocate with the following prepositions:
• „w“ (on) – and then we must use the accusative case, which is especially important in case of feminine forms, so we say w środę, w sobotę, w niedzielę;
• „do“ (to) and „od“ (from) – we have to use the genitive case here;
And do remember that the use of the word „tydzień“ (week) itself is not at all easy, as we say 2,3,4 tygodnie but 5,6,7 etc. tygodni (you can practise Polish declensions in here)

THE THREE CAPITAL CITIES OF POLAND

WARSAW AS THE THIRD CAPITAL 

Capital city is the showpiece of every country. Undeniably, Warsaw is the showpiece of Poland. However, not everyone knows that it is the third capital of Poland.

THE FIRST CAPITAL OF POLAND AND THE EMERGENCE OF POLAND AS A STATE

 The first capital was Gniezno, a small town near Poznań. The origin of Gniezno is connected with the legend of the establishment of the Polish state, and it takes its name after „gniazdo“, which means „nest“. In that very area was the beautiful and fertile land and the eagle nest described in the legend, which encouraged Lech (progenitor of the Poles) to stop his wanderings and set up a settlement.
Naturally, that is only a legend, but there must be a grain of truth in it. Anyone going to Gniezno must definitely go and see the Cathedral with the famous Bronze Doors bulit in the 12th century, which show the episodes from the life of St. Adalbert.

THE CAPITAL OF POLISH CULTURE

The second capital of Poland was the city very well known to tourists, Kraków. Officially, Kraków served as the capital from the 11th century up to 1795, although it ceased to be the residence of the kings much earlier, in 1611.
Kraków, located on the Vistula river in the south of Poland, is not only one of the oldest cities, but it is also a place where tourists will definitely have no chance to put away their cameras. You can visit the Wawel Castle (the former Royal Castle), the beautiful Sukiennice (Cloth Hall), the picturesque Kazimierz (the former Jewish Quarter) and the Social Realist suburb of Nowa Huta. You should go for a stroll in Planty, go to one of the numerous Kraków theatres to see a good play, in Polish, naturally. Kraków has always claimed the name of “the Capital of Polish Culture”.

MOVING THE CAPITAL TO WARSAW

In 1596 King Sigismund III Vasa decided to move his court from Kraków to Warsaw. The official reason behind the decision was the fire in the Wawel Castle. Interestingly, for the next 200 years Warsaw was formally only the Residential City of His Majesty, while in fact it served as the capital city.
Nowadays Warsaw is a city full of contrasts. On the one hand, it is a modern metropolis with skyscrapers, whose inhabitants live the metropolitan life; on the other hand, there are picturesque old houses, narrow streets of the Old Town, the Royal Castle and the Wilanów Palace. Warsaw is not only a business and trade centre and a place frequently visited by tourists. It is also teeming with cultural and student life. Warsaw is the place where many foreigners come to learn Polish. Whether you are a tourist or a student, you should go to one of the museums, go for a walk in Łazienki park, and should you get lost, remember to look up to find your way thanks to the Palace of Culture towering over the city.

                                            Polish course only in Po Polsku.Polish for Professionals

PODOBA MI SIĘ JĘZYK POLSKI or LUBIĘ JĘZYK POLSKI?

TWO IMPORTANT POLISH VERBS

Many students find it annoying that there are two verbs in the Polish language that can be used to express one’s likes, admiration or compliments. Today we’re going to focus on LUBIĆ and PODOBAĆ SIĘ.

WHEN DO WE USE  "LUBIĆ" AND WHEN "PODOBAĆ SIĘ"?

When translated into English, they both mean LIKE. Why then do we sometimes say „Podoba mi się Polska“, and sometimes „Lubię Polskę?“. Why is it quite risky to confess that „Podoba mi się Adam“, whereas „Lubię Adama“ sounds absolutely harmless? Why is it wrong to say: „Podoba mi się pływać.“? These are the questions frequently asked in lessons of Polish.
The verb LUBIĆ is used to talk about your interests as well as your liking of someone or something. It emphasises the engagement of the speaker and a good knowledge of the subject. PODOBAĆ SIĘ we usually use to say that we like something or someone’s physical appearance, they way they look. At the same time, the person we’re talking to gets the impression that we do not know the subject or the person too well. So, we can say:

• Lubię Ryana Goslinga (he’s a brilliant actor, I love his films I watch each and every one of them)

• Podoba mi się Ryan Gosling (he’s handsome)

• Lubię Polskę (I live here, I know the customs, I have friends here; if I don’t live there, I often go  there to visit)

• Podoba mi się Polska (I know Poland as a tourist, it seems to be an interesting country, but I’m not knowledgeable about it)

Now, let’s return to the question asked at the very beginning. If you know Polish, you are able to control it, you use it and you keep discovering its various aspects, you can say: LUBIĘ JĘZYK POLSKI. However, if you don’t speak Polish yet, but you are going to sign up for a course of Polish, because you have already read about it and you know it’s an interesting language with fascinating grammar and sophisticated vocabulary as well as beautiful melody... then you can say: PODOBA MI SIĘ JĘZYK POLSKI.

DIFFICULTIES IN THE USE OF „PODOBA MI SIĘ“ AND „LUBIĘ“

Naturally, all sorts of traps and catches are an integral part of the Polish language. There are cases when these verbs are not interchangeable with each other. For instance, we never use the verb PODOBAĆ SIĘ when we’re talking about food! When talking about our food preferences we have to use the verb LUBIĆ ("Lubię pizzę, kawę, mięso"), unless we wish to comment on the way the dish looks ("Podoba mi się dekoracja na tym torcie").
Let’s not forget the grammar (another trap!). The verb  LUBIĆ is followed by either another verb (in infinitive form), or a noun (in Accusative case). The verb PODOBAĆ SIĘ can ONLY be followed by a noun (in Nominative case!). If you want to practise the conjugation of both verbs, please check out ...

                                                                  PODOBA Wam się Wrocław? LUBICIE podróżować? 

THE NAMES OF THE MONTHS IN POLISH

THE NAMES OF THE MONTHS IN POLISH APPEAR TO BE DIFFICULT 

No matter where and what kind of Polish course you are attending, sooner or later you will need to learn the names of the months. Their unusual and complicated names have become a legend. It is not surprising that for many foreigners the names of the months in Polish are quite a challenge. And that’s not about the way they’re pronounced, although we must admit that is not easy, either.

THE NAMES OF THE MONTHS AND THEIR CONNECTION WITH NATURE 

As you probably know, the Polish language likes to be original. Unlike most European languages, in which the names of the months derive from Roman traditions and the Julian calendar, Polish months owe their names to nature and agricultural work performed in particular seasons of the year.
Accordingly, the first month is not called „januar“ or „January“, but „styczeń“, and the etymology of the word still arouses strong emotions among linguists. Some link it with TYKI (long sticks used on farms), others believe the word is derived from „STYKANIE SIĘ“ (to connect, merge), which means the moment when the new year meets (connects with) the old one.

TWO FOREIGNERS :)

Luty (February) takes its name after an old adjective that meant severe and freezing cold.
Marzec (March) is the first „foreigner“ among the twelve months. The same as in many other languages, it was named after the Roman god of war, Mars.
Kwiecień (April) is a month when  flowers start to bloom (kwitnąć – to bloom).
Maj (May) is the second of the „strangers“, the month named after the Roman goddess Maia. It’s probably the only month, which is really easy to pronounce.
Czerwiec (June) owes its name to insects that were collected in the sixth month of the year. They were called „czerwie“ (maggots) and purple dye was extracted from them.
Lipiec (July) was named after LIPY (linden trees), the trees that are beautiful when in bloom, but disliked by people allergic to them.
Sierpień (August) comes from „sierp“ (sickle) which was a tool used for harvesting crops.
Wrzesień (September) was named after „wrzosy“ (heather), bushes with violet flowers when in bloom. It’s enough to go for a walk in the forest in September to see meadows of heather.
Październik (October) takes its name after „paździerz“. It’s hard to understand the origin of the word even for the Polish, because it is connected with flax production. Paździerz was the part of the plant that was discarded as unnecessary.
Listopad (November) – after leaves (liście) that fall off trees.
Grudzień (December) – after „gruda“, which means frozen ground.

DIFFICULT, BUT ...

As you can see, the names of the months in Polish may be difficult, but they are meaningful, the etymology of the words allows us to learn how people used to live and work in the distant past, when the words were created.

 

WIEM, ŻE MNIE ZNASZ (I know you know me). THE USE OF VERBS „ZNAĆ“ AND „WIEDZIEĆ“

THE PROBLEM ANGLO-SAXONS HAVE WHEN LEARNING POLISH

A heading like that can make anyone feel dizzy, especially the students whose native language is English. While the French, Italians, Germans or Spanish find it fairly easy to choose the right verb (WIEDZIEĆ or ZNAĆ), the English speakers find it really hard and they constantly confuse the two words.

WIEDZIEĆ or ZNAĆ? THAT IS THE QUESTION

In fact, there’s a simple way to explain the differences in the use of the two words. Look at the exaples below, what do you see?

Znam Warszawę/ Martę/ Adama/ tę książkę/ was/ twoich rodziców /Polskę/ język polski.

Wiem, gdzie leży Warszawa/ kim jest Marta/ jaki jest Adam/ kto napisał tę książkę/
           jak nazywają się twoi rodzice/ jak jest po polsku... 

Take a closer look at the structures the verbs are followed by. The verb ZNAĆ is followed by a noun. Remember to put the noun in the accusative case if you use the verb in a statement (positive sentence). The verb WIEDZIEĆ, on the other hand, requires the presence of interrogative, relative or indefinite pronouns, such as kto – co – gdzie – kiedy – jak – jaki/a/e – and so on, depending on the context.

CONJUGATION TRAPS

When using the verbs WIEDZIEĆ and ZNAĆ you should remember about the unusual endings in the 3rd person of singular form in the present tense. You can refer to a website with Polish conjugation. And do not forget the unusual conjugation of WIEDZIEĆ in the past tense.
And? Do you know now how to use the verbs? Do you know how they are used?

                                        a common problem the students of Polish: „wiedzieć“ or „znać“?

POLISH CULINARY TRAVELS

THERE’S MORE TO POLISH FOOD THAN PIEROGI

Holidays. The time for intensive courses, trips, exploring new places, meeting new people, learning new languages and trying ... new tastes and flavours! No one can deny that when we are travelling around the world not only do we do sightseeing but also try new dishes. And it’s no different in case of Poland.
Most people when they hear „Polish cuisine“ they immediately think of „pierogi (made in a 1000 ways), bigos, barszcz“. Obviously, these dishes seem to be ones of the most popular around the world and you can try them all over Poland. However, if we limit the Polish food to those three standard dishes only , we’ll miss the chance to try something new, unique and delicious!
Polish cuisine is as diverse as Poland itself, every region is different. Everyone can find something for themselves on this giant menu.

POLISH COD

Fans of fish should definitely go to the Baltic seaside to try the delicious  Gdańsk fish soup with tomatoes, or the Kashubian cod soup (kaszubski rosół z dorsza). If we don’t feel like soup we can have some delicate Kashubian-style flounder with light sauce made with vegetables and dill. Cold beer from a local brewery goes very well with that :)
Everyone who has a taste for freshwater fish is welcome to come to Masuria, where they can try smoked eel and crayfish soup with birch bark. If they enter a kitchen in a Masurian house, they will smell marjoram, cardamom and cumin.

                 while visiting Poland you definitely have to try the exquisite apple pie (szarlotka) made with Polish apples

ŻUREK, TROUT AND OSCYPEK

Those hiking the pastures in Bieszczady (you don’t know what a mountain pasture is? See the previous blog entry), must try the coal-roasted trout or the delicious zander.
You can’t pass by and not try at least a bit of  the dishes that owe their mysterious names to their Lemka and Ukrainian origin. In this region we can discover the real taste of Polish żur (sour rye soup) the most famous plum jam in Poland (made without any sugar!). If you go further south, to Podhale, you will definitely love the smoked sheep milk cheese, the most well known kind of which is oscypek.

TASTES OF PODLASIE AND LUBLIN PROVINCE

Podlasie is the place to be for the fans of potatoes. It is famous for its „kartacze“ (long-shaped potato dumplings stuffed with meat and because of its shape they’re often called cepeliny - zeppelins), potatoe pancakes, żmudzkie pancakes (a delicious combination of boiled potatoes and meat stuffing), and the exquisite chlodnik (cold beet soup), which is a beetroot equivalent of the Spanish gazpacho soup. If you start to feel like something sweet, you definitely have to try the world-famous Polish sękacz (tree cake) made with eggs, flour and honey.
When in Lublin province, you will have an opportunity to try both the exquisite cuisine of nobility and the country food, which is not that diverse but just as tasty. In both of them the main ingredients are kasha and pastries, since this region can boast supposedly the best bakers in the world.

                                               Polish speciality present in the cuisine of every region: cottage cheese

You can write about Polish cuisine for ages as every corner of Poland has a lot to offer, something different, typical of just one little town, village or area. Everyone is invited, not only foreigners, to take a culinary trip around Poland. And every trip like that is a chance to brush up your Polish.

REST AFTER THE COURSE OF POLISH. THE BIESZCZADY MOUNTAINS.

BIESZCZADY: NOT ONLY POLISH WAS SPOKEN THERE

The summer’s coming to an end and you have deserved some rest after the course:) Before you start attending regular classes you can visit the parts of Poland that are not that  popular with foreigners. You must have been to the Tatra Mountains already, you might have been to the ski slopes of the Beskids. Have you heard of Bieszczady, the mountains in the south-east Poland, where the three borders come together: Polish, Slovakian and Ukraine? They’re the so-called Southern Bieszczady, the eastern part of which is in Ukraine.
The Bieszczady Mountains are lower than the Tatra Mountains, but they are known for their unique landscape: wild valleys, beech forests covering the mountain slopes and pastures, which are vast areas covered with grass, they look like huge meadows. When hiking in Bieszczady you will come across deserted villages, graveyards, Catholic and Orthodox churches, since the area is an ethnic and religious melting pot (Polish and Ukrainian people, Lemkos and Boykos).

                                        In such places you can practise not only the Polish language

CLIMB TO THE TOP: TARNICA

Go past Lake Solina (Jezioro Solińskie), do not stop there although it’s beautiful, and keep going until you reach Ustrzyki Dolne. This little place, which is something between a village and a small town, is a perfect starting spot to set off (ruszyć) to the highest peak of Bieszczady – Tarnica (1346 masl). On the way to the top beware of  strong winds, though :) and that’s what you can see from the the top of the mountain:
                                                           

                              on the way to Tarnica you will always run into people you can speak Polish with

It was worth it, wasn’t it?

THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN PASTURES WITH POLISH

From Ustrzyki Dolne you might head for  the breathtaking Carynska Pasture (Połonina Caryńska)

And then, hiking along the Wetlińska Pasture (Połonina Wetlińska), you can stay for the night at a charming hostel called „Chatka Puchatka“,

which is located at 1232 masl. If you arrive there around 7pm the only place available will be ... the one on the floor, in your own sleeping bag. There’s no electricity or running water. Despite the lack of basic facilities you can be sure to spend a charming evening in a cozy atmosphere, speaking Polish, watching a stunning sunset and drinking tea with rum. At the crack of dawn you can set off to Orłowicz Pass (Przełęcz Orłowicza).

At this early hour you’ll see the mist over the valleys,

                             a difficult Polish word mgła (mist): jest mgła, nie ma mgły, we mgle; mglisty dzień

desterted trails, pastures covered in morning sun, and who knows, you might spot (dostrzeżecie) a deer or a lynx.
When you have come back to the real world and to your homes you can review and repeat  the words that have been used in the text (see the Polish version of the blog): tygiel (melting pot) – połoniny (pastures) – wejść na szczyt (climb to the top) – wędrować po górach (to hike in the mountains)– przełęcz (pass) – śpiwór (sleeping bag)– świt (dawn)– ruszyć (to set off)– dolina (valley)– szlak (trail). And practise the conjugation of verbs used, here are the links :) They may prove useful next time you go hiking in the Polish mountains. See you on the trail.

                                     

FALSE FRIENDS: POLISH AND OTHER SLAVIC LANGUAGES

IS IT EASIER FOR THE SLAVS TO LEARN POLISH?

It is believed that the students whose native language is one of the Slavic languages, find it easier to learn Polish as a foreign language than do the students whose language belongs to another language group. There’s a lot of truth in that. There is a „but“, however. The Slavs can easily fall into a trap called false friends when learning Polish.

IT SOUNDS THE SAME IN POLISH, SO...

There is a great deal of words that sound very similar or identical in Polish, Slovak, Czech and Russian. Unfortunately, similar sound doesn’t go with the same meaning. Every Pole doing the shopping in the Czech Republic or Slovakia must have been surprised when they saw bread described as „czerstwy“. At first you might think it’s the honest shop assistant telling his customers that the bread isn’t fresh. Wrong. The word „čerstvé” in Czech and Slovak means fresh, whereas in Polish it means old, stale.

MILITARY TENDENCIES IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE OR FALSE FRIENDS?

Russian speakers burst into laughter when they hear that Polish people drink from a ... cannon. And again, that is a lexical error: the word puszka (пушка) in Russian means «cannon», while in Polish it's just an innocent can.

                                            THE SLAVS LEARNING POLISH MUST BEWARE OF FALSE FRIENDS

Another thing that may astonish the Polish visiting their Slovak friends is the fact that they are invited to sit on the … carpet. But before we sit on the floor, on the above-mentioned carpet, we should realize that „divan” in Slovak is a sofa, not a carpet as the Polish „dywan” is :)

On the other hand, many Czechs staying in Poland must have felt the urge to return to the shop and complain about the pierogi (dumplings) they had bought as they turned out to be with jagody (blackberries) and not truskawki (strawberries) as it said on the packaging. In Czech and Slovak „jahoda” is the Polish ‘truskawka”, and „jagoda” in Polish means a sweet fruit that grows in the forest (our Southern neighbours call it „borówka”).

As you can see, although the Slavs find it easier to learn conjugations and declension, they might have trouble with false friends, therefore it is advisable that they have a dictionary at hand when doing a Polish course.

SZUKAM CIĘ or SZUKAM CIEBIE?

PERSONAL PRONOUNS IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE

Both Polish native speakers and learners of Polish as a foreign language make mistakes when using the personal pronouns. The foreigners who have already learnt to use the pronouns correctly get confused when they hear the Polish saying things like: „szukam ciebie“ (I’ve been looking for you), „potrzebuję ciebie“ (I need you), „pożyczyłem jemu“ (I’ve lent him) and so on. The Polish we’re talking about are not only your colleagues or people you meet in the street, unfortunately, also those who appear in the media. Having heard the native speakers say that, the students return to the classroom convinced that they must have misunderstood something the teacher had said. But no, there’s no misunderstanding here. The truth is that the Polish make those mistakes repeatedly. And the rule is fairly easy to follow.

POLISH GRAMMAR: COMMON DOUBTS

In some cases the personal pronouns take a few forms. Let’s take the genitive case, for instance. The pronoun „ty“ (you singular) used in the genitive case takes the forms ciebie/cię; „on“ (he) – niego/go/jego; „ona“ (she) – niej/jej. It’s almost the same story with the accusative case but for the forms of „ona, which are ją/nią in this case. In the dative case the pronoun „ja“ takes the forms mi/mnie, and „on“ – mu/niemu/jemu. All the abovementioned forms are correct, all you need to know is when to use them, i.e. in which structures they appear. Let’s take a look at some examples which are often given in Polish classes:

Czekam na niego już pół godziny  (I’ve been waiting for him for half an hour)
Lubię go  (I like him)
Znam go bardzo dobrze.  (I know him very well)
Marek? Marek? Moment… Jego nie znam. (Mare? Marek? Wait a minute... I don’t know him – literally: HIM I do not know)

Bez ciebie to nie ma sensu. (Without you there’s no point)
To dla ciebie. (This is for you)
Szukam cię. (I’ve been looking for you)
Potrzebuję cię. (I need you)
Ciebie?! Ciebie nie chcę znać! (You?! I don’t want to know YOU)

Długo mi dziękował. (He thanked me for a long time)
Mnie? O, nie! Mnie nikt nie dziękował. (Me? Oh, no! No one has thanked ME)
Dzięki mnie to zrobił. (He was able to do that thanks to me)

USING THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS: THE RULE

Do you get the rule? Yes! You’re right!
The short pronoun forms, such as mi-cię-go-ją etc. are used IMMEDIATELY after the verb. The long form, e.g. mnie-ciebie-niego-nią we use AFTER THE PREPOSITION („patrzę na ciebie“ – I’m looking at you; „czekam na ciebie“ – I’ve been waiting for you; „boję się o niego“ – I’m worried about him; „odpowiem za nich“ – I’ll answer for them). We also use them when we want to emphasize something: „Jego nie znam“ (I don’t know HIM), „Ją, w przeciwieństwie do Basi, bardzo polubiłam“ (HER, unlike Basia, I got to like a lot – the emphasis is on HER), „Mnie nikt o zgodę nie pytał!“ (No one has asked ME for permission!). In case of emphasis the pronoun is often put at the very beginning of the sentence.
Let’s not forget a few simple rules. It’s nicer to hear „Kocham cię“ (I love you) than „Kocham ciebie“, „Słuchałem cię z przyjemnością“ (I’ve been listening to you with pleasure) than „Słuchałem ciebie z przyjemnością“, „pożyczę mu ten samochód“ (I’ll lend him the car) than „pożyczę jemu ten samochód“, isn‘t it?

DZIĘKI CI – WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

>OK<, the students often say, >We have a sentence: „Jego nigdy nie polubię“ (I’ll never take a fancy to him), but what about „To jest jego żona“, where the pronoun is not used at the beginning of the sentence?< That’s true, but the pronoun used in the second sentence is the possessive pronoun, which is a completely different type.
Great. Then what about „Dzięki ci“? Isn’t that supposed to be „dzięki tobie“? Well, yes and no. „Dzięki tobie mogłem to zrobić“ (I was able to do that thanks to you, here „dzięki“ is a preposition in the dative case).
„Dzięki ci“ is a colloqial way of saying „dziękuję ci“, and the expression is a nonchalant and not really correct equivalent of the latter, which is commonly used, though.

But, as one of my students has wittily pointed out, there are circumstances in which we can use both versions. We can say“ „Czekam na niego“ (I’ve been waiting for HIM), but also „Czekam na go“. Only that the latter means something totally different, doesn’t it? :) [wordplay: na go (the wrong use of „go“ instead of „niego“) and nago (spelt as one word means „naked“, so we get the sentence meaning „I’m waiting, naked“ :)]

If you feel like practising the personal pronouns and not only, see: application Polish for Foreigners, also for Android, iOS and iPad

BEWARE OF FALSE FRIENDS WHEN LEARNING POLISH

THE WORDS THAT SOUND SIMILAR IN POLISH AND ANOTHER LANGUAGE

Everyone who is taking up a foreign language is very happy to hear the words that sound similar in both his native language and the language they are learning. It‘s all fine as long as the words not only sound similar but also mean similar or the same things. Otherwise we’re dealing with everyone’s nightmare called false friends.

THE PROBLEM CONCERNING NOT ONLY SLAVIC LANGUAGE SPEAKERS

I would seem that in case of the Polish language the problem arises when the Slavs take it up. Obviously, there’s plenty of false friends within the same language group (we’re going to devote a separate entry to these), however, we should not think that the speakers of English, Italian or Finnish have nothing to worry about. At first sight these languages seem very different from Polish and it’s hard to find the words that sound similar. But just listen to an everyday conversation in Polish and you’ll change your mind. Examples?

                        When learning any foreign language, not only Polish, we should look out for false friends.

CONSULT A DICTIONARY BEFORE USING WORDS

Imagine that an English speaker needs to go to the doctor’s. He or she is sitting in the waiting room and overhears a conversation between two other patients:
- Bardzo dziś boli mnie bark – one of them complains.
The English speaker has been living in Poland, so he or she has definitely attended a Polish language course and has understood almost everything. But the „bark“ doesn’t seem to fit here. Was the dog barking so loudly that the person started to feel pain? Strange structure. Not at all! The structure is nothing complex. The word „bark“ is the key to understanding the sentence. In Polish the word means „shoulder“, and in English it is the sound that dogs make.
We should also watch out for what we’re saying when taking to an attractive Italian man or woman; our invitation to kolacja (dinner/supper) may be understood as an invitation to colazione, which means „breakfast“ in Italian. A Finn may look in surprise at the form he or she is trying to fill out, because one of the questions is about the name of the trip. All the confusion is caused by the word „matka“, which in Finnish means „trip“ and in Polish it’s „mother“ and it’s the mother’s name that the Finn needs to put in.
Therefore, before we use a Polish word that sounds similar to a word in our language, we’d better look it up in a dictionary to make sure it’s not a false friend.

PREPOSITIONS “DO” AND “NA” IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE

ONE OF THOSE LITTLE PROBLEMS WITH POLISH

When learning Polish we encounter a number of little grammar problems which do not prevent us from getting our message across when we speak, but which become annoying when we start to speak Polish more and more fluently. One of such little problems is the use of prepositions “NA” and “DO” with verbs of motion.

WHEN TO USE “DO” AND WHEN “NA”? THE POLISH LANGUAGE, HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY.

Exactly. Why do we say: jedziemy (or jeździmy, see the previous blog entry) DO Niemiec, Francji, USA, Szwecji (to Germany, France, the USA, Sweden), but NA Maltę, Ukrainę, Białoruś, Kretę (to Malta, Ukraine, Belarus, Crete)? As a rule, we use DO with names of countries. But most students of Polish immediately ask: >OK, so why do you say “jadę NA Ukrainę” then<? Good point. Unfortunately, it goes back to the time when these countries (now independent) used to be a part of other countries (not necessarily of Poland). Therefore, we say: jadę NA Cypr, NA Węgry, NA Litwę (I’m going to Cyprus, Hungary, Lithuania). Preposition NA is also used when referring to islands that have been a part of another country (jadę na Ibizę, NA Majorkę, NA Wyspy Kanaryjskie, Na Karaiby etc. – to Ibiza, Mallorca, Canary Islands, Caribbean) and regions (NA Mazury, NA Kaszuby, NA Warmię – to Masuria, Kashubia, Warmia).

DO WE SAY: JEDZIEMY NA CHORWACJĘ OR DO CHORWACJI?!

Does the above-mentioned rule apply to every case? Unfortunately, no. We do say: jadę DO Czech (the Czech Republic), but NA Słowację (Slovakia); jadę na Łotwę (Latvia), but jadę do Estonii (Estonia). And our Balkan friends? We use DO, always DO. Jedziecie w tym roku DO Chorwacji? :) (Are you going to Croatia this year?

                                       maybe, instead of travel you want to take Polish course? 

And one more thing: remember that about declination. JADĘ DO + gen. , JADĘ NA + acc. You can practise Polish declinations thanks to this app: Android, iOS, iPAD, Windows

BASIC VERBS OF MOTION IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE

PROBLEMS WITH THE VERBS OF MOTION

„Chodzę na zakupy“ or „Idę na zakupy“? „Jeżdżę na wakacje“ or „Jadę na wakacje“? All the forms are correct. Why then do so many foreigners find it difficult to use these verbs? And why is it so hard for the Polish (and many teachers of Polish as a foreign language)  to explain the specific nature of this grammatical issue? The only ones that don’t have difficulty using the verbs iść - chodzić - jeździć - jechać are the Slavic students. They have the same kind of verbs in their languages. However, we need to bear in mind that e.g. the Slovaks use the verbs „chodzić“ and „iść“ in the sense of „jechać“, „jeździć“, „podróżować“ (to travel) and therefore we can hear them say „ist‘ vlakom“, „ist‘ na bicykli“. Despite the minor differences it can be said that in general the Slavic students do not have difficulty using the verbs of motion as do the other foreign students. Because how to explain that there are two verbs that mean „to go“ in the Polish language?

COMMON MISTAKE BY TEACHERS OF POLISH

Unfortunately, many teachers, following the coursebooks of Polish as a foreign language, introduce all the four verbs in one lesson. As a result, the students confuse not only their meaning but also make mistakes conjugating them and make sentences like „jecham rowerem“, „idą do Kreta“, „dzisiaj chodzę do sklepu“. How to straigthen that out? It’s really easy. First, we need to realise that one of the verbs refers to using means if transport (jechać), while the other one implies walking, going on foot (iść). After we have practised using and conjugating them, we can introduce the verbs chodzić – jeździć in one of the following lessons. They’re useful especially when talking about one’s hobbies („Lubię chodzić do kina“ – I like going to the cinema, „Lubię jeździć na rowerze“ – I like riding a bike).

A QUESTION FREQUENTLY ASKED IN POLISH CLASS

OK, but what’s the difference between iść and chodzić, jechać and jeździć? Without using complex grammatical terms? Well, the verbs iść and jechać refer to ONE-TIME actions and are used with time expressions such as jutro (tomorrow), dzisiaj (today), w ten piątek (this Friday) or with specific dates. The verbs chodzić and jeździć describe REPEATED, habitual actions and therefore we use them with expressions like często (often), zawsze (always), od czasu do czasu (from time to time), raz na rok (once a year), nigdy nie (sic! never) etc.
Afterwards we should practise the use of the verbs by doing exercises, paying particular attention to the conjugation of the verbs jeździć and jechać. The similarities!

                                                         more on our FB page

REASONS TO SPEND YOUR SUMMER HOLIDAYS IN POLAND

NOT ONLY TO LEARN POLISH
At first sight Poland may seem to be a country that is not too attractive for tourists used to spending their holidays on sunny beaches of Greece of Italy. It hardly ever gets really hot, so the weather isn’t perfect here in the summer. However, that is only the first impression, which is wrong. Poland is really worth visiting in the summer.
First of all, you can sign up for a summer course of Polish as a foreign language. Everybody knows that the best way to learn a foreign language is to use it in the streets, talking to locals. Nowhere else will you have that many opportunities to use the expressions you’ve learnt in class. Obviously, materials available online, such as a site with conjugation of Polish verbs, can be outside Poland.

HOLIDAYS IN POLAND
Those who like the sea and lying on the beach will definitely enjoy the Baltic seaside. They can choose between the wide golden beaches and steep cliff edges. If the weather isn’t good enough to stay on the beach, they can visit some beautiful old Polish cities like Gdańsk, Kołobrzeg or Toruń, the hometown of Copernicus.
Those who prefer freshwater to saltwater will definitely find what they’re looking for among the picturesque lakes of Warmia and Masuria. It’s an ideal place to do water sports, go on bike tours or go hiking. On the way there you can visit one of the medieval castles in the region.
Those who are attracted by the beauty and might of the mountains will definitely choose to go to the south. Trekking the trails of the Tatra and Beskidy mountains will leave a lasting impression on them.
And if anyone would like to combine water with mountains, they will find both in the Bieszczady mountains. In hot weather they can cool off with a swim in the  Solina Lagoon, and in cooler weather they might hike the Bieszczady peaks and pastures.

WE SPEAK POLISH IN POLAND :)
In fact, every corner of Poland is full of cities and towns not only rich in architecture, but also lively and bustling, just to mention Wrocław, Poznań, Olsztyn, Kraków and many more.
And let’s not forget about the diverse and delicious Polish food, which varies from region to region. Polish cuisine is not only pierogi (dumplings) or żurek (sour rye soup) but also fish, delicious soups, vegetables, kasza (kasha – cereal eaten in the Central and Eastern Europe) and sweet desserts :)
Poland is worth coming to not only to do a Polish course :)

And as „a second helping“ we recommend taking the Polish language, since it’s much more pleasant to travel across Poland knowing several basic expressions like „dziękuję“ (thank you), „dzień dobry“ (good morning/afternoon) or „poproszę“ (I’d like/I’ll take).

LET'S NOT BE AFRAID OF "SWÓJ" :)

„SWÓJ" ISN'T AS SCARY AS IT MAY SEEM  

Of course, it’s the pronoun „swój“ that we have in mind, a pronoun which is very frequently used in Polish and which doesn’t care how many problems it causes for foreigners. However, it turns out that not all foreigners find it difficult to use this particular pronoun. For the Slavs the use of it comes as naturally as breathing and without much explanation. Unfortunately, the students who use non-Slavic languages in everyday life have a real difficulty using the pronoun. Therefore we introduce it quite late in our lessons, when we are sure that the students learning Polish have already mastered the use of other pronouns, especially „się“, and they don’t have problems with their declension. Obviously, the students are certain to encounter the scary sounding „swój“ during the very first conversation in Polish and will immediately ask what that is.
We cannot ignore the question, but we’d better not go into details at the beginning of the language course.

PRONOUN "SWÓJ" TAKES PRIORITY IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE 

But whatever we say, „swój“ is not so black as it is painted. When we take a closer look, we’ll see that „swój“ can replace any possessive pronoun (mój, twój – my, your etc.), but only when the object owned belongs to the subject mentioned in the sentence. It’s possible (or even advisable) to change:

„Lubię moją pracę“                          for                      „Lubię swoją pracę.“
„Siądźcie na waszych miejscach“    for                     „Siądźcie na swoich miejscach“

Most native speakers will choose the second option but no one will consider the first one to be incorrect. It can be said that the pronoun „swój“ takes priority in the Polish language.

                                            to find out more about Polish grammar

In a lesson it is a good idea to give examples including all the possessive pronouns. The students will soon notice that there’s usually no problem when changing pronouns „mój“ and „twój“ for „swój“, so they’ll automatically try to do the same with „jego“ and „jej“, but there’s a catch. The problem we encounter is the ambiguity of the sentence: „Adam spotkał się z jego żoną“(Adam got together with his wife). Whose wife did Adam get together with? His own wife (spotkał się ze swoją żoną), or another man’s wife (z jego żoną)? Knowing the pronoun „swój“ we’d better use it to be on the safe side so that it’s safer for Adam, his wife and the grammatical correctness of the sentence: „Adam spotkał się ze swoją żoną.“ Having said that, we’re definitely making it clear that the woman Adam got together with was his own wife :)

It’s also easy to notice the difference between the sentences: „Widziałem swojego kolegę“ (I’ve seen MY friend), and „Widziałem twojego kolegę.“ (I’ve seen YOUR friend).
It is important to draw students‘ attention to this issue and point out that the pronouns cannot be interchanged automatically. It is vital to make sure first whether the object really belongs to the subject.
However, that’s not all the trouble yet. As soon as our students get familiar with „swój“ we’ll definitely hear them say things like: „To jest swój pies.“ And that’s where we have to explain the meaning of the sentence, pointing out how absurd it sounds. That will cause some laughter, which is a precious addition to Polish grammar lessons, but will definitely help the students remember that in this particular case it is impossible to use„swój“ since it cannnot be used in the nominative case.

HOW TO PREPARE A GOOD LESSON OF POLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE? PART 2.

A GOOD POLISH LESSON. WHAT SHOULD IT BE LIKE?

100% (or almost 100%) IN POLISH!
Speak Polish! Kind of obvious, but... If you speak English or any other language for most of the lesson, it’s YOU who practises their language skills, not your students. There’s a common misconception about teaching Polish: when teaching a group of beginners it isn’t possible to use Polish only, especially during the first few lessons. Well, it IS possible! Obviously, you need to simplify the language register a lot, use your body language and visual aids, and first of all, you need to adapt the material to the specific moment of the course or lesson. Clearly, you are not going to start the first class (beginner course) with the past tense, but with introductions and alphabet, and the phrase „Co słychać?“ (How’s it going?) you’re likely to introduce at the beginning rather than the end of the lesson.

THE STRUCTURE OF A LESSON
Remember about the structure of your lesson. No matter how long the Polish lesson is, your student should go through the following stages: warm-up – review of the last lesson – introduction of new material – drilling new material – student’s performance – summary. Remember about the margin of error for your students, do not correct every single mistake that lower level students make. The less advanced the student, the larger the margin of error is acceptable.
When introducing grammar, remember: first an example, which you analyse, and then the rule (never the other way round). For homework your students can practise grammar in a fun way: application Polish for Foreigners (available also on iOS, iPAD and Windows).
Better to do less but properly, than more but just whiz through it. If you provide students with too much material during a lesson, they won’t memorize it all anyway.

YOUR STUDENTS
Listen to your students, pay attention to their verbal and non-verbal signals, find out what they’re interested in, ask them questions (without invading their privacy) and remember that being a Polish teacher you often meet people of different cultural background, confession or having values different from yours. Respect that!

                                     

One of the pictures you can find on our facebook page PoPolskuPFP. What grammatical problem does it help to explain?

HOW TO PREPARE A GOOD LESSON OF POLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE? PART 1.

A GOOD POLISH LESSON. WHAT SHOULD IT BE LIKE?

WHO IS YOUR STUDENT?
First of all, you need to figure out WHO the lesson is FOR. Who’s the foreigner you’re going to teach? Is it a businessperson who has no time to do the homework and wants to make full use of the lesson time, because that’s the only time when they can learn the language? Or is it a new mom who needs Polish to communicate with the doctor, do the shopping or to answer some question while in the park? Or maybe a student who is going to start attending university courses and needs to learn Polish as quickly as possible? Or is your student a keen language learner and the Polish course is simply another one of many in his life? Such a student is bound to ask you plenty of questions with the same level of enthusiasm as the fans of cars of sport when talking about their passions. If you love your job, a course like that will give you a lot of satisfaction.

GROUP COURSES
When conducting classes in groups, you should first try to figure out what the average level of the group is as soon as possible. That means that the pace, rhythm and your expectations as a teacher should be adjusted not to the weakest or the most gifted student but to the one between, the average one. The common mistake many teachers make, and we mean teachers in general, not only teachers of Polish as a foreign language, is that their lessons are „based“ either on the most gifted student (it’s easier for US to work like that, but is it the best solution for the group?), or they focus on the weakest student too much, trying to help him or her. Remember to note whether there are native speakers of any Slavic languages in the group. And if such students have been put in the same group as non-Slavic speakers learning Polish, that proves that the school running the course lacks professionalism. The differences between Slavic and non-Slavic students will be discussed in another entry.

COURSEBOOKS
You should be SELECTIVE about coursebooks available on the market. Believe me, most foreigners aren’t interested in lessons in which they’re asked to describe their flat, talk about fortune-telling and divination or analyse Polish legends. Do not torture foreigners by making them read Polish classics! Do not talk about the opera with a student who is a financial analyst and prefers golf; do not make an engineer read a text on classical music when he or she likes dark rock, and do not teach a mom who has decided to be a homemaker how to find a job in Poland. Obviously, that’s not the case when you are teaching a course preparing for a Polish language certificate exam. Then you need to go over the topics which are less practical for a student in everyday life.

MATERIALS FOR LEARNING POLISH
See that you use wide range of materials. If you use coursebooks available on the market on a regular basis, be sure to check whether the texts published there are up-to-date. Do not be afraid to use material from the press, radio or the Internet, especially when teaching advanced students. Make sure that the Polish language you teach is the „living language“, currently spoken by native speakers. Invite your students to like facebook pages which will support their learning: PoPolskuPFP , use materials available online, e.g. sites with conjugation of Polish verbs, suggest that your students become acquainted with applications, such as  Polish for Foreigners, which will provide them with additional exercises and practice.

WHY LEARN POLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE?

REASONS FOR CHOOSING TO LEARN POLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Why should foreigners learn Polish?

That’s the question many foreigners probably ask themselves after the first Polish lesson, which usually gives them an impression that Polish is difficult. The first answer that comes to one’s mind is that there are about 44 million speakers of Polish around the world. That means there are 44 million chances of you meeting a Polish speaking person somewhere in the world.

However, there are more practical reasons. Imagine foreigners who have arrived in Warsaw, for instance. Just in case they type in the keywords „Polish for foreigners Warsaw“ in the browser (or they can simply go to Po Polsku site and find all the necessary and important information on courses of Polish as a foreign language in Warsaw) and start wondering whether to learn Polish.

Polish is useful!

Obviously, at work or at a restaurant they can communicate in English with not much of a problem. However, assuming that the students take an active part in the lesson, after only one class they will be able to read the name of the street where they live or work without much difficulty.
They will be able to tell a taxi driver their address, no matter whether the street is called Świętokrzyska, Szczera or Pajęcza (these are some examples from Warsaw).
After the next few lessons of the course the foreigners will easily find bread at a supermarket. They will know they they can find it under the letter „P”, which is the first letter of the word „pieczywo”(the name of the department in a store) or „piekarnia”, and not under the letter „B” like „bakery”. It seems a mere trifle, but it definitely makes life easier and helps us save time, which is, as we know, precious.
On the way back from the shop you can listen to the radio, which makes driving more enjoyable. And the radio, as we all know, is not only music, but the news as well, which is always worth listening to. After the course of Polish for foreigners you shouldn’t have difficulty understanding what you hear.
As you can see, Polish is definitely worth learning, you’ll find it useful in everyday situations, it’ll make your life more enjoyable, you’ll be able to listen to the radio, read papers and good books in original version and first of all, you’ll be able to tell your neighbour in the morning „Dzień dobry! Co u pana słychać?” (Good morning, how are you?)