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).

INSTRUMENTAL, ONE OF THE MOST REGULAR CASES IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE

POLISH LANGUAGE AND DECLENSION – INSEPARABLE?

In our recent posts (if you don’t remember them, look here and here) we have said that the declension is not as terrible and scary as it may seem. We have shown that many words do not inflect. However, whether we want it or not,  declension plays a vital role in the Polish language and not only foreigners should get familiar with it if they want to speak correctly.

Today we would like to show you the instrumetal case in a nutshell J

It’s the most regular of the cases, very commonly used, so it appears quite early in courses of Polish as a foreign language.

POLISH INSTRUMENTAL CASE WITHOUT PREPOSITIONS

We use it when we want to say what our job is. We say: jestem nauczycielką, a on jest policjantem. Instrumental is also useful when we mention the functions (professional, in the society, etc.) people perform: ten pan jest nowym sąsiadem (this man is a new neighbour), ta pani jest moją matką (this lady is my mother), ten chłopiec jest moim dzieckiem (this boy is my child), a ci panowie są kierownikami działów (these men are department heads). As the name suggests, the instrumental case describes a tool, an instrument, which we use to perform a task, do a job, therefore we say: wyślę ci to mailem (I’ll sent it to you by email), naprawiłem młotkiem (I’ve repaired it with a hammer), strażacy ugasili pożar wodą (the firefighters put out the fire with water).

Thanks to the instrumental case we don’t need to bother about prepositions when we tell someone what means of transport we use, because we say jedziemy autobusem, taksówką, tramwajem, metrem...

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 PREPOSITION IS NOT ALIEN TO THE INSTRUMENTAL CASE

It does not mean, however, that the fifth case is not used with prepositions. Most of the time it combines with pod, z, nad, przed, za and między. When we’re doing something together with another person it’s the instrumental case that we need to use: idę z koleżanką, bawię się z dzieckiem, spotykam się z kolegami. Analogously, we use instrumental to emphasize that that something occurs together with something else: jem ciasto z owocami, lody z bitą śmietanę i piję kawę z mlekiem (I’m eating fruit pie, ice cream with whipped cream and drinking coffee with milk).

If we use pod, nad, przed, za and między to determine location of objects, we’ll need to use the instrumental case, too: jestem nad morzem, rzeką, jeziorem, leżę pod drzewami, parasolem (I’m at the seaside, river, lake, I’m lying under the trees, umbrella), and in my house lampa wisi nad stołem (the lamp is above the table), pies leży pod stołem (the dog is lying under the table), za stołem stoi krzesło (the chair is behind the table), między krzesłem a fotelem siedzi mój kot (my cat is sitting between the chair and the airmchair). J

DECLENSION

As you have probably noticed, the instrumental case has very regular endings: feminine nouns end in –ą, the masculine and neuter ones end in –em, and the plural forms end in –ami. You’ll probably ask whether there are any exceptions and won’t be surprised to hear that there are. But you’ll definitely be surprised by the small number of irregular instrumental forms, and you’ll memorise them easily: idę z przyjaciółmi, z dziećmi, i ludźmi, a w kieszeni mam portfel z pieniędzmi (I’m going with friends, children, people, and I have a wallet with money in my pocket).

We hope that after reading this post you’ll warm to the instrumental case .

INFLECTION OF NOUNS ENDING IN –UM

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

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

TRAVELLING TO THE NORTH OF POLAND

WHICH REGION OF POLAND TO CHOOSE FOR A WEEKEND TRIP?
After the first majówka (we mentioned it in our post here), when it starts to get warmer and warmer and days are getting longer, staying at home for the weekend is a waste of time. Therefore, many foreigners ask their teachers in Polish classes where to go away for the weekend and what to see in Poland. Obviously, the first answer that springs to mind is „Everything!“, since Poland is a country that boasts beautiful cities,  forests, lakes, mountains and the sea...

LETS SPEAK POLISH IN TRÓJMIASTO (TRICITY)
It’s a good idea to visit Tricity in warm weather. The old city of Gdańsk is a must for every tourist, with its over a thousand years of history, which is closely connected with the fate of Poland. It is reflected in the architecture of the city. You definitely need to visit the Old Town, see St Mary’s Church (Bazylika Mariacka), Artus‘ Court, which reminds us about the wealth and might of Gdańsk. Another must-see is Żuraw (medieval port crane), and you should take a picture of the statue of Neptune. And in the summer you can do the shopping at St Dominic’s Fair (Jarmark Dominikański), sit in one of the cafe or restaurant gardens and order something to eat and drink in Polish (you can learn how to do that in the courses of Polish at Po Polsku).

WALKING AROUND GDYNIA
In Gdańsk take the SKM (Szybką Kolej Miejską, suburban train, which is the best means of transport in Tricity) and go to Gdynia. You’ll be delightd by the fountain in the very centre of the city. And after you’ve taken a photo there, definitely go to Akwarium, where you can see the inhabitants of waters from all over the world. Later, you should go for a walk along the beach and Bulwar Nadmorski (Seaside Boulevard), where you will enjoy a wonderful view of the sea and can feed the swans.

        Marina in Gdynia. If you want to get to know other beautiful places in Poland, check out our FB profile

SUNSET IN SOPOT
Finally, take the SKM again and go to Sopot to see the sunset, admire the beautiful yachts moored alonside the Sopot Marina. And those who like sea travel can take the evening cruise.
And after that you can share your impressions with your colleagues or the classmates from the course of Polish, speaking in Polish, of course.

PIJĘ KAKAO W CARACAS, OR ON UNINFLECTED NOUNS IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE

DOES THE NOUN KAKAO INFLECT?
We have good news for students of Polish struggling with declension! There are nouns in the Polish language that do not inflect! Those are loanwords that end in – ao, - oa, - i, -u, among which the most common ones are kakao, euro, awokado, alibi, salami, graffiti, kiwi. There are also some, such as boa, rodeo, makao, igloo, okapi, tabu, guru, emu, kakadu or karibu that do not appear that often in everyday conversations. As you can see, they are mostly names of exotic (from the Polish perspective) plants and animals, and their endings do not have analogical forms in Polish declensions. The word kakao is especially worth mentioning, since, unfortunately, the Poles quite often try to inflect it. Let us repeat: the noun kakao DOES NOT inflect (nie piję kakao, marzę o gorącym kakao, tiramisu z kakao etc.).

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UNINFLECTED WORDS BORROWED FROM FRENCH
The words borrowed from French stressed on the last syllable, such as jury, menu,tournée, attaché, atelier or etui make up a separate category of uninflected nouns. Consequently, we say: Rozmawiamy o menu na przyjęcie (We are discussing the menu for the reception); Przez wiele lat zasiadał w jury (He was a member of the jury for years); Napisaliśmy list do attaché wojskowego (We wrote a letter to the military attache); Pracuje w swoim małym atelier (He works in his small atelier); Wrócił z tournee dookoła świata (He has returned from the tour around the world); Okulary były w etui (The glasses were in the case).

UNINFLECTED NAMES OF CITIES AND COUNTRIES
Geography also pleasantly surprises us in terms of uninflected nouns, since there is a fairly large group of names of cities, countries and regions which are not subject to Polish declensions. Baku, Oslo, Caracas, Los Angeles, Ułan Bator, Kilimandżaro, Ohio, Bordeaux and Kongo are examples of those. So, the next time you eat awokado, perhaps somewhere in Baku, think warmly of the Polish declension :)