Archive for May, 2008
100 Polish Words in 10 Seconds Posted by Anna on May 22, 2008
We’ve already established that Polish is not an easy language, and anyone who has ever tried to master the seven cases of nouns, pronouns and adjectives surely can agree. So, imagine my surprise, when a friend announced he could teach 100 Polish words to anyone in less than 10 seconds. Anyone. Less that 10 seconds…
Is It Still Polish? Posted by Anna on May 20, 2008
Compared to other European languages, Polish is a rather homogenous language. For that, oddly enough, you can thank the Soviet Union. When the USSR annexed large chunks of formerly Polish territories during World War II, millions of Poles from those areas trekked west. They brought with them their own dialects and speech patterns, which after…
You like Warsaw? Thank an Italian! Posted by Anna on May 18, 2008
Bernardo was not a happy guy. His life stunk, but then again, so did the lives of all the other court painters in his days. Kissing up to the local princelings to get a new contract every few years wasn’t exactly all fun and games. And then, there was his uncle – Canaletto – also…
Polish Nouns: Gender Posted by Anna on May 11, 2008
Polish nouns, like all Slavic nouns, are a bit funky. Not only are they marked for gender, they also have cases. Seven of them, in fact, which makes for an interesting learning experience. But let’s start with the easy bit – gender. There are three: feminine, as in kobieta (a woman) masculine, as in mężczyzna…