CHLEB I BUŁKA (bread and bread roll), OR POLISH IDIOMS AND BAKERY PRODUCTS

SHOPPING IN POLISH CLASSES 
Students of Polish very often ask not only how to do the shopping in Polish (check here for more on that), but also what to call some basic foodstuffs. One of the nouns that are taught at the very beginning within this vocabulary range is chleb (bread). Later, during the course you will find out in what idioms this noun is used. Let’s take a closer look at some of them.

LEARNING POLISH. CIĘŻKI KAWAŁEK CHLEBA?! 
When we’re talking about people who go abroad to look for better job opportunities, we say that they wyjeżdżają za chlebem (that is to improve the standard and conditions of their lives). Living far from home and friends, in new environment, must be ciężki kawałek chleba (literally: a tough piece of bread; a hard way to make a living). This idiom may refer not only to the issue of labour migration, but any activity or task that is difficult for you or involves mental or physical effort. One of the advantages of such travel is the possibility to get to know new cultures  and customs, and after some time the traveller can say that he or she z niejednego pieca chleb jadł (literally: has eaten bread from more than one oven; he/she has seen quite a few things), i.e. they have a lot of life experience.
Just as the expression ciężki kawałek chleba this idiom does not only refer to travel experience.  Anyone who has a wealth of experience in any area of life may say z niejednego pieca chleb jadłam/jadłem. And gaining new experience is chleb powszedni for people like that (i.e. nothing unusual, something common, natural).
We can encounter obstacles in every part of our lives (our relationship, work, hobby, project), and then we can comment, discouraged: z tej mąki chleba nie będzie (literally: one can’t make bread with this flour), i.e. it’s a fruitless effort, with no chance of success.

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POLISH COURSE. BUŁKA Z MASŁEM?
When we are not frightened by the obstacles and believe that we’ll overcome them easily, we say it’s bułka z masłem (literally: a roll with butter; a piece of cake), which means it’s easy, not too complicated. Reading a crime story in Polish may turn out to be bułka z masłem. If the crime story is popular we can imagine it rozszedł się jak świeże bułeczki (sold like hot cakes), i.e. it sold very well. And if the author of the book complains about the loss of privacy as a result of their success, we can state that they chciał(a)by on/ona zjeść ciasto i mieć ciastko (would like to have their cake and eat it, too), which means they want things that can’t possibly go together, they exlude each other.
As you can see, we use the names of foodstuffs to say something more than just describe what we had for breakfast.

POLISH ACCENT AT THE END OF THE WORLD

SCHOOLS ABROAD NAMED AFTER POLISH PEOPLE
More and more frequently we choose to spend our holiday at distant destinations. We are not only driven by the fashion for trips to exotic, isolated islands or unexplored lands, but also by the desire to get to know other cultures, languages and people. As the Polish saying goes podróże kształcą, i.e. travel broadens the mind (and you can enrol on a course of Polish during the holiday )
Distant, unknown countries may surprise us in many ways. It might turn out that while being a few thousand kilometres away we will come across some streets named after Polish people, or monuments erected to commemorate them by the inhabitans of those distant countries, or even species of animals and plants having the names of the Poles who discovered them.

POLISH BOTANIST IN THE CAUCASUS
If you go to Georgia and visit Lagodekhi National Park, right at the entrance you’ll see a plaque commemorating Ludwik Młokosiewicz. He was a Polish botanist known for exploring the fauna and flora of the Caucasus, who found himself in the region of today’s Kakheti. He was the first one to notice that many species inhabiting the area were unique, indigentous to that particular region. He spared no effort and as a result it was decided that those species would be protected and a national park was created. If you tell the museum employees that you come from Poland, they will definitely treat you with great respect and encourage you to visit the local Polish community. While there you should also try to spot the Caucasian grouse (Tetrao mlokosiewiczi) and Caucasian peony (Paeonia mlokosewitschii).

In Lagodekhi National Park there is also a stone commemorating Ludwik Młokosiewicz (check out FB profile for more interesting facts about well-known Polish people)


A CHILEAN CITIZEN SPEAKING POLISH
If one day you are in the streets of a Chilean city, walking and speaking Polish, don’t be surprised when smiling Chileans approach to speak to you. Why? We owe it to Ignacy Domeyko. In almost every city you can find a street, square or school named after him. He was a Polish engineer and geologist, born in the early 19th century. Not only did he discover rich deposits of copper in Chile and teach the people of Chile how to benefit from that, but also reformed the local education system. Moreover, Domeyko started the struggle against illiteracy and thanks to him the University of Santiago became one of the leading universities in the country. Ignacy was granted Chilean citizenship for his contribution. He lived there until he died, but he never forgot his mother tongue.


HEADING FOR THE MOUNTAINS
While staying in Peru you’ll find out that a Pole, Enrest Malinowski, is one of their national heroes. He was the one who brought sailors…to work in the mountains. Sounds ridiculous? Only at first. He was an engineer who designed Ferrocarril Central del Perú (one of the Trans-Andean Railways) and oversaw the construction process. The railway linked the two parts of Peru that had been separated before. The sailors could climb ropes easily, which was an invaluable skill under the circumstances, since the tracks were put high in the mountains. Malinowski personally helped the workmen, he worked with them all the time and endured the same hardships as they did, despite the fact that he had a fancy apartment in the capital city and could have stayed there.
Thanks to him, the highest railway in the world was built (the highest bridge is as high as 80m!), and it’s used to transport goods and raw materials.

As you can see, even very far from Poland, a Pole does not necessarily need to feel like a foreigner at all:)

POLISH IDIOMS WITH FRUIT

IDIOMS IN POLISH CLASSES
Summer’s here, which means a great variety of fruit and vegetables offered at stands (check here for more information on the names of places where we can do the shopping). During your courses of Polish not only can you learn where the names of Polish vegetables and fruit come from, but you can also find out what the most widely used idioms connected with them are. Let’s have a closer look at the  „fruit“ ones.

POLISH EXPRESSIONS WITH NAMES OF FRUIT
What fruit do you see in this picture?

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Yes, they are śliwki (plums)! There is a popular idiom with this fruit: wpaść jak śliwka w kompot (literally: to fall like a plum into compote), i.e. to find yourself in a difficult and awkward situation, which very often is of your own making (similar to be in a jam).
And what about this fruit?

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Right! They are maliny (raspberries), the fruit everybody loves. And the idiom wpuścić kogoś w maliny (literally: to let someone go into raspberry bushes) means to deceive or fool someone, to deliberately mislead them (similar to spring a trap).
Pear (gruszka)

is another tasty fruit, and it appears in two common idioms: obiecywać gruszki na wierzbie (literally: promise someone pears on a willow tree; promise someone the moon), which means to promise someone something impossible to do, and nie zasypiać gruszek w popiele (literally: do not fall asleep while pears are in the ash; seize the opportunity), that is to try not to miss the opportunity or chance to do something by procrastinating, to try to be up-to-date.
The most famous Polish fruit ...

apple (jabłko), appears in the expression niedaleko pada jabłko od jabłoni (the apple doesn’t fall/never falls far from the tree), which we use to say, often with irony, to emphasise the resemblance in personality or behaviour patterns between a parent and their child.

Conclusions? Nie zasypiajcie gruszek w popiele (do not pass up the opportunity) and practise Polish idioms! If you don’t do that you can wpaść jak śliwka w kompot (be in a jam, in trouble), and those who say that knowledge is not important simply wpuszczają was w maliny (they’re trying to fool you) :)
And one more thing, eat fruit! They are really healthy.

SUMMER POLISH COURSES – HOLIDAY ADVENTURE :)

SUMMER COURSE OF POLISH OR LYING ON THE BEACH?

Holiday time. Wherever we look, we see advertisements of travel agencies, golden sand on the seashore and exotic places, so it’s no surprise that many people are tempted to spend their holiday in those places. Foreigners are faced with a dilemma, too: sunny beach holiday or a course of Polish? If you decide to attend a summer intensive course of Polish (for more information on courses at Po Polsku check here), you definitely won’t regret it.

                            Summer Polish courses (at Po Polsku) are a real language adventure for foreigners:)

LEARN AND PRACTICE
Why is it a good idea to spend part of your holiday learning Polish in Poland?
First of all, you’re learning the language, its conjugations and declension, and at the same time you can use the learnt expressions and phrases on the spot. After a class on ordering a meal at a restaurant you can take a sit in one of the numerous restaurant or cafe gardens, in Nowy Świat in Warsaw, for instance, and test your knowledge of Polish. It’s much better than any homework, however interesting it would be :)
Secondly, the courses are usually run in the morning. After that you have time to go to a museum, cinema, concert or see the city, e.g. Warsaw, together with your teacher, classmates or on your own, as you wish.

WEEKEND TRIPS IN POLAND
Thirdly, you can spend a weekend in one of the Polish regions famous for their tourist attractions. Your teacher will definitely recommend some interesting places to you if you ask for advice. Should you want to learn more about the Baltic seaside or Warmia and Masuria, here is where you can find more information on those.
Fourthly, nowhere else will you be able to try such delicious Polish cuisine, rich in original dishes, both simple and more sophisticated ones.
Fifthly, Poland and Polish people are known for their hospitality and cordiality. You will be able to find out for yourself whether it is true, or just a nice stereotype. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed.

We hope we have managed to encourage you to enrol on a summer Polish course.

MAJOR TOURISM SPOT ON THE MAP OF POLAND

COURSE OF POLISH OF A WEEKEND ESCAPE?
With days getting longer and warmer we are more and more tempted to take some rest in the bosom of nature or go away and leave the city rather than learn, although there should always be time and energy for an interesting Polish course ;-)
If you ask your Polish friends or the foreigners living in Poland where to spend the weekend of part of your holidays, Warmia i Mazury (Warmia and Masuria) will definitely be among the proposed destinations.
Many cities and regions have been trying to win the title of the Summer Capital of Poland, and this competition will probably never end. However, Warmia and Masuria has always been a major tourism spot on the map of Poland.
This region is called the Land of a Thousand Lakes and takes its name after the enormous number of lakes (it boasts over 2000 of them!), which made it a perfect place to spend free time.

POLISH TOURIST PARADISE
Water sports enthusiasts definitely won’t get bored in Warmia and Masuria. They can sail across the largest lakes, go kayaking, diving, go on a short cruise by boat or take a slow paddle boat ride.
If you like cycling, this region offers a range of routes of varying levels of difficulty, from short trips to multi-day tours across the land of Warmia and Masuria.
Those who dream of doing nothing can enjoy the beaches at the warm and clean lakes.
And if someone is craving for international sports experience, they should go to Stare Jabłonki and see the beach valeyball tournament.

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WARMIA AND MASURIA’S CASTLE TRAIL
Warmia and Masuria, however, is not only all water and sports, but it’s also turbulent history expressed in its architecture.
This is where the most impressive system of medieval castles in Europe is located. Their condition varies, some of them have been restored and turned into museums or hotels, and thanks to that they have been restored to their former glory, others have fallen into ruin.
They are all worh visiting, both the castles and the ruins. You can spend the night with the ghosts that haunt them (the castle in Morąg offers such an attraction, for instance), and learn about their history. It’s a good idea to learn the history of the town nearby, which may now be tiny and unimportant, but several centuries ago it was an important political, defensive and cultural centre. The castles of Olsztyn, Frombork and Lidzbark Warmiński definitely deserve a mention. Obviously, the Malbork Castle is the most famous of them, but it is located in a completely different geographical region .
At the end of the trip you should go to one of the local restaurants and try some local specialties, among which the most popular are freshwater fish.
So, should you have no idea how to spend your next weekend, go to Warmia and Masuria, it will also be a great opportunity for you to use the expressions you’ve learned in your Polish courses.

KANIKUŁA (DOG DAYS), OR THE SUMMER WEATHER VOCABULARY IN POLISH

WHAT DOES SŁOŃCE (SUN) DO?
This post can’t be too long. In such heat (upały), when żar leje się z nieba (literally: heat is pouring from the sky), even the diligent participants of Polish courses need respite. These are the days when when the sun is not simply shining (świeci), or blazing down (grzeje literally: heating/spreading heat), but… schorching (praży). That’s right, the heat wave has been sweeping across Poland (przechodzi fala upałów). It’s the time once called kanikuła (dog days). Nowadays this word is hardly ever used, it’s been replaced by a more trivial word upał (heat).

HOW DOES THE VERB  POCIĆ SIĘ (TO SWEAT) CONJUGATE?
On such scorching days (upalne dni), when the temperature reaches 35C in the shade (w cieniu), we’re always looking for ways to keep cool (szukamy ochłody). How can we cool down (ochłodzić się)? Some people find relieve in the shade of trees (cień drzew), in a hammock, with a good book and a glass of lemonade or ice tea (mrożona herbata). Others, hoping for a breeze (bryza), go to the seaside and spend their time sunbathing on the beach and biorą morskie kąpiele (going in the water; literally: taking sea baths). Unfortunately, some people need to work. If they don’t have air conditioning, they are sweating (pocą się ) behind their desks, and even on their way to work, sweat (pot) running down their back. The only thing they can think of is a long cool shower (chłodny prysznic).
Sultry evenings (parne wieczory) only make things worse, since there seems to be no air to breathe, and humidity (wilgotność powietrza) is very high. It’s stuffy (duszno) everywhere, and those at the seaside, those who have just got out of their hammocks and those who have come back home after a long day at work, they all feel that, too.

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PROS AND CONS OF SUMMER
Hot summer days may be a pretty bad time also for farmers (persistent drought – susza – may damage the crops), and foresters (hot air, sun, spark and… fire in consequence). But let’s do not complain, because we all actually like the long summer days (letnie dni), outdoor events organised in the city in summertime, the abundance of blueberries, blackberries and chanterelle mashrooms in woods, ice-cream, which we can buy simply everywhere, and a cool breeze (chłodna bryza) in the sails when we’re sailing across the Masurian lakes. We’ll have something to remember and talk about during the looong, freezing and dark winter nights :)

NAMES OF VEGETABLES AND FRUIT IN POLISH

WHERE DOES THE WORD ZIEMNIAK (POTATO) COME FROM?

With spring in bloom it’s time to talk about fruit and vegetables, which effectively diversity our diet. Participants of Polish courses are pleased to hear that many of the names of fruit have been incorporated into the Polish language with virtually no changes: awokado, ananas, banan, figa, kaki, kiwi, just to name a few. However, as you can see, those are exotic fruit (from the Polish point of view), which are not grown in Poland. The well known and generally liked ziemniaki are a different case, though. Their Polish name is nothing other than the translated German "der erdapfel" (apple of the earth), or the French "pomme de terre". In both versions the noun ziemia (earth) appears. We’d like to remind you that depending on the part of Poland you are in, you eat ziemniaki  (nationwide), kartofle (the form often used in the south of Poland), or pyry (Wielkopolska or Silesia).

IMMIGRANTS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

Some of the vegetables are successfully grown in Poland now, and when using their names we don’t even realize how far they came here from. Who would have thought that melon is derived from the Greek "melopepon" (soft apple) and arbuz comes from the Turkish word "karpuz" (which was borrowed from the Persian language – "charpuz"). Bakłażan is a similar case, it is derived from the Turkish word "badenjan". It’s worth noting that in the past another word was used to name this tasty vegetable: oberżyna (from the Catalan "alberginia", which, in turn, was borrowed from the Arabic "al badinjan").

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ITALIAN FRIENDS, OR NAMES OF VEGETABLES OF ITALIAN ORIGIN

It is our Italian cousins , however, that make up the largest family. Students of Polish, especially those from Italy, are astonished to see how many Polish names of vegetables sound almost the same as their Italian equivalents. Kalafior – cavolfiore, fasola – fagioli, karczoch – carciofo, pomidor – pomodoro, szpinak – spinacio, cukinia – zucchina, brokuł – brocco, i.e. sprout, etc. We owe the existence of those words in Polish to an Italian aristocrat Bona Sforza, who became the queen of Poland in the 16th century, and introduced the custom of planting vegetables that had been unknown in Poland before. It soon turned out that they easily adapted to the cool climate we have here. And that is probably the reason why a bunch of vegetables (carrot, celery root, leek, parsley) used to make homemade broth is commonly known as ... włoszczyzna (from Włochy, Polish word for Italy).