EXERCISE FOR YOUR TONGUE – POLISH TONGUE-TWISTERS

EVERY LANGUAGE HAS ITS DARK SIDE… OF PRONUNCIATION
When we begin our adventure with learning a foreign language, apart from practical phrases and expressions, we are bound to encounter tongue-twisters. Such combinations of words are usually very difficult to repeat and every language has that “something” that causes serious problems with pronunciation.
Among many of the foreigners learning Polish there is a widespread conviction that this language has very complex phonetics. Well, if you happen to overhear Polish people talking to each other on the streets, you might, indeed, conclude that they are making some sort of whistling and crackling sounds. The popular tongue-twisters that your Polish acquaintances tend to use to “frighten” the foreigners, only seem to prove that notion.

POLISH IS NOT AS HORRIBLE AS IT MAY SEEM
Don’t be scared, though! During a Polish language course, especially the one for beginners (if you are looking for a good course, you should definitely look here), you won’t need to repeat the famous verses about a beetle making sounds in the reeds in Szczebrzeszyn (pol. chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie w Szczebrzeszynie) or about the postmaster from Tczew dancing cha-cha (pol. poczmistrz z Tczewa tańczący cza-czę). In fact, tongue-twisters, in spite of their name, are not meant to twist or break your tongue, and even less so to discourage you from learning, but to practice what’s difficult and troublesome. That is why you shouldn’t be afraid of them. You simply need to get used to the sound of the language first, and then practise phrases and words which are of more practical use, such as Jak się pan nazywa? rather than the abovementioned chrząszcz or piegża (white-throated warbler). Only then, just for fun, can you try to repeat some of the Polish tongue-twisters. And there are quite a few of them.

A CHALLENGE NOT ONLY FOR A FOREIGNER
We shouldn’t forget that these tongue-twisters have appeared not without a reason and some of them are a great challenge even for the native Polish speakers. All consonant clusters that are pronounced with such beautiful whistling and whishing are not hard for native speakers to pronounce as long as they appear in separate words. However, when too many of such words come together, they Poles might “over-whish it” and instead of saying: Sasza szedł suchą szosą (Sasha was walking along a dry road), you’ll get something like: Szasza szedł szuszą szoszą.
It is just as hard to pronounce the words such as artyleria (artillery), artyleryjski (adjective derived from the noun artillery) or rewolwer (revolver). In the Polish language “r” and “l” are close in articulation point (by the way, artykulacja is another difficult word) and therefore it’s easy to make a mistake.

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So, if any of your Polish acquaintances asks you to repeat: cesarz czesze cesarzową, a cesarzowa czesze cesarza (the emperor is combing the empress and the empress is combing the emperor), you can suggest that you will give it a try, but in exchange you should ask them to repeat: król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego (king Karol has bought a bead necklace of coral colour for queen Karolina). You can rest assured that it’s not going to be an easy task.
Let’s not forget that most Poles have been learning these tongue-twisters all their lives. When they rattle them off without pausing for breath, you can be sure they have done it many times before.

And if you want to pleasantly surprise both the Poles and foreigners speaking Polish, it is enough, while spending time in your cosy domesticity, to memorize one of such tongue-twisters (in case of difficulties just ask your teacher for help), and then to show what you can do. And then, it will turn out that Polish is easy after all (and especially so, when you learn it at Po Polsku)!

MIGRATING "SIĘ", OR A VERY FLEXIBLE POLISH PHRASE :)

WHERE SHOULD SELF (SIĘ) FIND ITSELF? ;) 
A simple question with an equally simple answer it would seem, but then again very often asked during the Polish language courses. Students are quite concerned with the fact that they hear the reflexive pronoun się in different parts of a sentence. Is it possible that the position of this pronoun is … random? Well,… very often… it is. It mainly applies to questions. We can say jak się pani nazywa? and jak pani się nazywa? (literally how do you call yourself, lady/miss?) and still, both questions are correct! There is no difference between: jak się pan czuje? and  jak pan się czuje? (literally how do you feel yourself, sir/mister?); gdzie znajduje się centrum? and gdzie się znajduje centrum? (literally where does the centre find itself meaning where is the centre located); dlaczego się jeszcze nie umyłeś? and dlaczego nie umyłeś się jeszcze? (literally why haven’t you washed yourself yet); gdzie się tak przeziębiłeś? and gdzie tak się przeziębiłeś? (literally where have you caught yourself a cold).

POSITION OF SIĘ IN A POLISH SENTENCE. ARE THERE ANY RULES?
Yes, there are rules. In principle, we should use się neither at the beginning of a sentence nor after a preposition. Accordingly, the question z się czego pan śmieje? doesn’t make sense. Instead, it should sound z czego się pan śmieje? or z czego pan się śmieje? (meaning what are you laughing at, sir/mister?). In affirmative sentences it’s best to position się just behind the verb (Obejrzałam się za siebie – I looked behind; Rozgadał się strasznie – He rambled on and on; Nasłuchał się głupot – He heard a lot of nonsense; Umówiła się ze mną na dworcu – She arranged to meet me at the station etc.). The pronoun się can be found at the end of a sentence if this sentence consists of a predicate only, for instance: Napijesz się? (Do you care for a drink?); Rozpadało się (It started to rain); Wypogodziło się (It [the sky] cleared up); Odsuń się (literally Back yourself off); Pogodziliśmy się (We made it up); Pokłóciliśmy się (We had a row).

SIĘ AND COLLOQUIAL POLISH PHRASES
It might happen that you hear się at…the beginning of a sentence. If you want to emphasise that a situation is very complicated and that it’s going to be hard to deal with it, you can say Się porobiło (literally It has done itself); someone’s ridiculous comment we disapprove of we can sum up (with a dose of sarcasm) Się wypowiedział (literally He expressed himself); to vigorously express your engagement and pride in something, we can use a phrase Się pomaga! (literally It helps itself! meaning I’m helping here). However, from point of view of grammar, these phrases are incorrect and they are chiefly used in informal, spoken language. Time will tell if such expressions will be incorporated into the Polish language for good, or if they are just a passing fad.

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WHAT DOES THE POLISH GOLDEN AUTUMN HAVE TO DO WITH APPLES?

WHAT IS ‘BABIE LATO’ ACTUALLY?
The summer is gone, the hot days have passed. The time of Indian summer or babie lato and Polish golden autumn has come, but still, the sun keeps reminding us of the summer holidays. The days are still warm, the sky is blue and the foliage of the trees is slowly turning golden, red, and brown. This is also the moment when many foreigners decide to attend a course of Polish . Rested after the summer holidays, encouraged by the language progress made during the intensive summer lessons, they enroll on regular courses and over the next few months, regularly, two or three times a week, they are going to explore the secrets of the Polish language (more information on that you can find on our FB profile).

SWEET SECRET
This is also a period when the most popular Polish pie – apple pie or szarlotka - tastes perhaps the best. Why best? Because it is made with apples that are very juicy and sweet at the beginning of autumn, and therefore ideal for making a szarlotka. And you really don’t need to be a master chef to be able to make it. A good recipe will suffice. How many recipes are there? As many as there are cookery books or perhaps even more, since everybody who cooks and bakes from time to time has their own sweet secret.
The most important thing, however, is to use high quality flour, butter, eggs and only a small amount of sugar, and of course, lots and lots of apples (preferably the Polish ones). Often, at this time of year, this popular pie is made with fresh and not roasted apples. The deliciously sweet smell of apples, cut or grated, sprinkled with sugar, vanilla or cinnamon will waft across the house.

                      Nothing will give you as much energy to learn Polish as a piece of sweet szarlotka :)

POLISH RECIPE FOR HOW TO PRESERVE A PIECE OF SUMMER FOR THE WINTER
Many provident fans of szarlotka prepare the supplies of sweet, roasted apples for the wintertime, so during cold winter evenings, while doing their Polish language homework, they can nibble on their favourite pie and recall the sunny summertime for at least a moment.

Enjoy :)