POLISH EASTER TRADITIONS

EASTER SYMBOLS IN POLISH

When spring begins and Easter time comes, students of Polish often want to know what the traditional Easter customs and dishes are. First questions are asked when the fairs with stalls selling Easter things appear. On the one hand, everyone knows the popular Easter symbols, such as pisanki (Easter eggs), kurczaczki (chickens), cukrowe baranki (sugar lambs), czekoladowe zajączki (chocolate bunnies) and students only want to know what they are called in Polish. However, their curiosity is aroused by the colourful palms people carry. That is related to palm tree leaves that the inhabitants of Jerusalem used when they were welcoming Christ, who entered their town.  Since palm trees do not grow in Poland, people here use colourful palms made of branches of native trees, such as willow (symbol of immortality), dried or paper flowers, coloured grass and other materials.

ŚWIĘCONE AND ŚWIĘCONKA IN POLISH TRADITION

Blessing of food on Holy Saturday is a really important Polish tradition. In the old days a priest was invited to mansions of nobility to bless all the Easter dishes. Nowadays, a symbolic święconka is prepared, i.e. a basket with salt and pepper, which protect food against decay, bread (symbolic of the body of Christ), sausage (symbolic of abundance and prosperity), and coloured eggs (symbolic of new life). When święconka is  ready, it is taken to church to be blessed. 

                                                                Traditional Easter basket is called „święconka“. 

                                             More on Easter traditions and more pictures to be found on our FB profile

POLISH TRADITION OF SHARING EGG

On Easter Sunday, before gathering at the table to have breakfast, Poles share święcone (the blessed food) and exchange wishes. Traditional Easter dishes are served: żurek (sour rye soup) or barszcz biały (white borscht) with sausage, eggs, salads, decicious cold cuts and, of course, ćwikła z chrzanem (grated beetroot with horseradish). All that is followed by desserts, such as sweet mazurki (cakes) with dried fruit and nuts, drożdżowe baby (yeast cakes)and pascha (made from cottage cheese, milk, cream and dried fruit). It’s a good idea to go for a walk with the family after a hearty breakfast like that.

ŚMIGUS-DYNGUS OR...

But if you want to go for a walk on Easter Monday, called Śmigus-Dyngus, you’d better take an umbrella. On that day, also known as Wet Monday, according to Polish tradition, people throw water over each other for good luck. In the past, only unmarried girls were doused with water. Now you can throw water over anyone you wish, within reason. of course.

Happy Easter! 

WRITING EMAILS IN POLISH. PART 3, FORMAL STRUCTURES AND SIGN-OFFS.

FORMAL STRUCTURES IN EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE
We have already discussed the ways of opening formal and informal emails (check out our posts of 4th and 20th February). Now it’s time to talk about the opening lines that can be used in formal letters.
If we’re writing an email in response to an invitation or a letter that contained some information, we can use the following phrases, some of which you must have already learned in your Polish classes:

Chciał(a)bym podziękować za ...  (I would like to thank you for...)
Pragnę serdecznie podziękować za...  (literally: I would like to sincerely thank you for...)
Uprzejmie dziękuję za ... (literally: Thank you kindly for...)
Chciał(a)bym/ Pragnę Pana/ Panią/ Państwa poinformować, że ...  (I would like to inform you that)

If we refer to a subject we discussed in a meeting or during a phone conversation some time before, we can write:

W nawiązaniu do naszej rozmowy telefonicznej... (With reference to our telephone conversation...)
Nawiązując do naszej ostatniej rozmowy... (With reference to our last conversation...)
W odniesieniu do tematu naszego ostatniego spotkania... (With reference to the subject of our last meeting...)
Odnośnie do tematu naszego spotkania... (Following the subject of our meeting...)
W odpowiedzi na Pana/ Pani wiadomość... (In response to your message...)

Please note that the forms pan/pani are spelt with a capital letter, and the expression odnośnie is used with the preposition do. The version without the preposition is frequently used as well (e.g. odnośnie tematu naszego ostatniego spotkania), but it is considered colloquial.
Official emails often include attachments, so expressions such as the ones below are an important part of correspondence:

W załączniku znajdzie Pan/ Pani .... (Please find attached/enclosed...)
W załączeniu przesyłam... (I have attached...)
Załączam naszą ofertę...  (I am anclosing our offer...)

                                            Check out our FB profile  for more information

CLOSING LINES
When closing an email it’s a good idea to ensure the recipient that we will welcome any questions they might have:

W razie jakichkolwiek pytań, proszę o kontakt (Should you have any questions, please contact me)
W razie dodatkowych pytań jestem do Pana/ Pani/ Państwa dyspozycji (literally: If you have any questions, I’m at your disposal)

Or indicate that we are are looking forward to the meeting:

Z chęcią spotkam się z Państwem, aby omówić...  (I will be happy to meet you to discuss...)

SIGN-OFFS
Students of Polish often ask how to sign off a formal letter. The most common expression we use to close a formal email is:

Z poważaniem  (Sincerely, literally: with respect)

but you can also come across:

Z wyrazami szacunku  (Yours faithfully)

This form is somewhat outdated, but still in use and seems to be full of old-fashioned charm (the same as its „relative“, the expression Łączę wyrazy szacunku – literally: I enclose my respects). If  you have been exchanging emails for a while and got to know the recipient better, you can use the less obliging Serdecznie pozdrawiam (literally: I greet you sincerely).

Now we can only say goodbye to you and wish you a fruitful correspondence in Polish:)

WRITING EMAILS IN POLISH. PART 2: INFORMAL AND SEMI-FORMAL GREETINGS

INFORMAL GREETINGS IN POLISH EMAILS

Informal correspondence in Polish seems to be much less stressful for the students of Polish as a foreign language than generating formail emails (more on formal correspondence in our entry of 4th February). When writing to a friend you can use any greeting you like. In an opening phrase there may appear forms that are common for verbal communication: Cześć – Hej – Sie ma (very colloquial!) – Witaj (we have mentioned this controversial greeting in part 1 of our series on email correspondence)  or a simple Dzień dobry. If we’re writing to someone close to us we may, or even should, use forms like Kochany, Kochana, Kochani (literally: darling, beloved one(s)). The adjectives Drogi, Droga, Drodzy, Drogie are just as common. However, in the context of correspondence, those adjectives CAN’T BE translated as the English Dear or the French Cher(e). We can write Droga Aniu, Drogi Marku, Drodzy Koledzy, but not Drogi Panie Dyrektorze (check out our entry of 4th Feb to find out what form we use in this case).

VOCATIVE CASE IN CORRESPONDENCE: TO USE OR NOT TO USE?

When talking about the greetings, the discussion always returns to the vocative case, which has been slowly disappearing from the Polish language. An example of that is the situation when we put recipient’s name in the opening phrase. Accordingly, we should write Cześć Aniu, Marku, Tomku, Kasiu, but these days the nominative case is used more and more often and we make forms, such as Cześć Ania, Marek, Tomek, Kasia. Informal correspondence is governed by less restrictive rules than the formal one, but the use of the vocative case is advised not only  for the sake of accuracy, but also to express our emotional attitude towards the recipient. The form Cześć Aniu sounds more intimate and warmer than Cześć Ania. Interestingly, if we decide on the greeting with the adjective Droga/Drogi or Kochany/Kochana, the only  possible form is the vocative one (Droga Aniu, Drogi Marku, Kochana Kasiu), the use of any other form is a glaring error.

SEMI-FORMAL GREETINGS

The Polish language is sometimes so formalised that it becomes hard to use even for the native Polish speakers. For this reason, in cases where we cannot be on first name terms with someone, either because of cultural or professional circumstances, the semi-formal forms come in handy. The students of Polish frequently ask what forms like Pani Aniu, Panie Marku mean, and what degree of intimacy they refer to. Most foreigners find such a collocation shocking and unacceptable in their native languages (e.g. in the German language). Meanwhile, such forms of address, common in the Polish culture, help to avoid numerous obstacles and longueurs of the formal language. Remember, however, that you need to know a person at least a little and be peers in the hierarchy of a company or organization. When we start an email with a semi-formal greeting, we can write Pani Aniu, Panie Marku, but DO NOT collocate those forms with Szanowny/Szanowna (literally: honorable). The only acceptable option is Szanowny Panie, Szanowna Pani.

Next part of our series on writing emails in Polish will follow soon, in the meantime check out our FB profile. The information you can find there will help you to learn more than how to write emails in Polish.

POLISH PRZEDWIOŚNIE (EARLY SPRING), OR SIX SEASONS OF THE YEAR

SIX POLISH SEASONS?

How many seasons are there? Everyone will immediately answer: „Four“. True, but in Poland, which lies in the temperate climate zone, there are in fact ... six seasons! The conventional ones are wiosna, lato, jesień and zima (spring, summer, autumn and winter), but there are two more: przedzimie and przedwiośnie (early winter and early spring). As their names indicate, they occur between the seasons: przedzimie between autumn and winter (that’s the time of listopad – November – with its gloomy and gray weather), while przedwiośnie between winter and spring. A student learning Polish in a course will definitely hear about the two additional seasons from their teacher. And while living in Poland everyone (not only the foreigners) will get to experience them personally.

PRZEDWIOŚNIE, OR THE TIME BEFORE WIOSNA (SPRING)

What is przedwiośnie characterized by? First of all, the temperature is higher than in winter with a clear upward trend. It’s not as warm as spring, but there is no winter frost anymore. Daily temperature ranges between 0 and 5C. If there is precipitation, it’s usually either rain or mixed snow and rain and the weather conditions are described as odwilż, which means warming combined with snow melting, or plucha, ugly rainy weather (if you’d like to learn more new Polish words, check out our FB profile). Przedwiośnie is chilly, rainy, with overnight frost, clouds, but at the same time with the sun appearing from behind the clouds, and first flowers coming out (called przebiśniegi, snowdrops). It’s the time when nature comes to life. It’s the season, which announces the arrival of warm, sunny and green spring.

                                            Przebiśnieg (snowdrop) is a symbol of Polish przedwiośnie

POLISH PROVERB SAYS...

There is a well-known Polish proverb which perfectly describes the changeable weather of przedwiośnie: 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). It says that at the time of przedwiośnie all weather phenomena, the ones typical of winter and those characteristic of spring, mix and stir as if cooked in a pot :)
 Therefore, if you look out of the window during your Polish class and see rain, do not get upset by the early spring weather. That is a prelude to spring.

WRITING AN EMAIL IN POLISH. PART 1: FORMAL GREETINGS (opening phrases)

EMAIL GREETNGS IN POLISH
At some point every foreigner studying the Polish language needs to write an email in Polish. Even if the email is supposed to be short and simple, obstacles appear at the very beginning, the moment they need to choose the right opening phrase, greeting. It turns out that there are enormous differences between Polish and other languages, and ignorance of the basic rules of writing emails in Polish  might result in unpleasant misunderstandings.

MOST COMMON MISTAKES IN OPENING PHRASES OF EMAILS IN POLISH
Foreigners, as well as Polish people who use foreign languages a lot, often literally translate the phrases from their languages, i.e. they calque, when writing an email in  Polish. As a result greetings, such as Drogi Panie Dyrektorze Kowalski; Szanowny Panie Marku, etc. appear. No only are such phrases incorrect, but they also show lack of respect towards the recipient of the email, which is clearly not what the sender intends to do.

SEVERAL BASIC RULES. FORMAL CORRESPONDENCE IN POLISH
 The following rules will allow you to open your email in a friendly way that will be relevant to the person and situation.

1.    Forms, which we usually use as we open an email and greet the recipient are as follows:

Szanowny Panie (when writing to one male recipient; literally: Honorable Sir)
Szanowna Pani (when writing to one female recipient; literally: Honorable Madam)
Szanowni Państwo (mixed-gender group, or when we don’t really know the recipient)

or less frequently (if we want to be precise as to the gender of the recipients)

Szanowni Panowie (when writing to a group of male recipients only)
Szanowne Panie (when writing to a group of female recipients only)

IMPORTANT: never in greetings like that, or in a situation when you’re addressing someone directly, should you use a surname of that person! A phrase Szanowny Panie Wiśniewski is... rude, or may even sound arrogant.

2.    Academic titles, corporate titles and job titles in email greetings.
Here we use different forms. We write:

Szanowny Panie Dyrektorze
Szanowny Panie Prezesie
Szanowny Panie Prezydencie

however, the same as before, we do not add the recipient’s surname, and the name of the position or title needs to be put in the Vocative case.
Now, this is  what happens when a woman with a title is our recipient:

Szanowna Pani Dyrektor
Szanowna Pani Prezes
Szanowna Pani Prezydent

Right, your eyes do not deceive you. With regard to women, the titles remain in the Nominative case, however, the tendency for introducing female forms is growing. It’s possible that we will soon start using forms like prezeska, dyrektorka, prezydentka.

3.    Remember NOT to use the form drogi/-a (dear) in formal opening phrases. In the Polish language this adjective is reserved only for ... private correspondence. Therefore, we can write Droga Aniu, Drogi Marku, but NEVER Drogi Panie Prezesie!
You’ll soon be able to read more on semi-formal and informal emails greetings on our blog.

4.    There is one more form left: Witam, which has recently become very common. It is considered incorrect by linguists, and, what’s more, it is believed to express the superiority and condescension of the writer towards the recipient. While we agree that in formal correspondence that form is a most unfortunate choice and should not be used, we do believe that in semi-formal or informal emails it is acceptable.

COMMA OR EXCLAMATION MARK?
For many years Polish people used to put an exclamation mark [!] after the greeting, which has recently started to be replaced by a comma [,], perhaps under the influence of the Anglo-Saxon epistolography. These days both versions:

Szanowny Panie!
Szanowny Panie,

are correct. Remember, however, that if you choose to use a comma, you have to start the first sentence of the email with a small letter.

More information on writing emails in Polish will follow soon, in the meantime check out our FB profile