Polish Language Blog

Each language has some sentences/phrases/rhymes that contain really hard to pronounce words, especially when they are put together with other words.

In Polish we call it “Łamanie języka“, which translated would be literally “breaking tongue”.

Here are 3 different ones that you can “practice” with…And don’t worry if you are having hard time with it, a lot of native Polish speakers can not say it correctly. I’m attaching a video which shows you how to pronounce it. I will try to translate it for you as well. It may not be “100% accurate” translation though. A lot of words that are used here can not be found in books or dictionaries, but I will do my best.

CHRZĄSZCZ (Beetle)

Trzynastego, w Szczebrzeszynie 

chrząszcz się zaczął tarzać w trzcinie.

Wszczęli wrzask Szczebrzeszynianie:

- Cóż ma znaczyć to tarzanie?!

Wezwać trzeba by lekarza,

zamiast brzmieć, ten chrząszcz się tarza!

Wszak Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie,

że w nim zawsze chrząszcz BRZMI w trzcinie!”

A chrząszcz odrzekł nie zmieszany:

- Przyszedł wreszcie czas na zmiany!

Dawniej chrząszcze w trzcinie brzmiały,

teraz będą się tarzały”.

On the 13th in Szczebrzeszyn (name of the town) 

beetle began to wallow in the reeds

raised the shout Szczebrzeszynianie (people who live in Szczebrzeszyn)

what is this all rolling/wallowing about?

One would have to call the doctor

instead of making a sound, this beetle is wallowing

After all, Szczebrzeszyn is known for 

the beetle always makes a sound  in the reeds

A beetle said, not abashed:

Finally came time for a chanage

In the past beetles sounded in the reeds,

Now they will be wallowing!

KRÓLIK (rabbit,bunny)

Kurkiem kranu kręci kruk,

kroplą tranu brudząc bruk,

a przy kranie, robiąc pranie,

królik gra na fortepianie.

Raven turns the tap tap/faucet

Getting the pavement dirty with the drops of cod-liver oil

And at the tap, doing laundry

Rabbit is playing the piano

BĄK (bittern)

Spadł bąk na strąk,

a strąk na pąk.

Pękł pąk, pekł strąk,

a bąk się zląkł.

Bittern fell on the pod

and pod on the bud

bud burst, pod burst

and the bittern got scared

They are a little silly and may not make too much sense, unless you know Polish really well…

Good luck with it:)

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

Any time you learn a new language it takes a lot of time and patience to memorize everything and get all the rules. In today’s blog I wanted to give some examples of sentences, questions you may have while learning foreign language.

Potrzebuję pomocy z wymową liter - I need help with letters pronunciation

Muszę poświęcić więcej czasu na ćwiczenia gramatyczne - I need to spend more time practicing grammar

Chciałbym (m)/Chciałabym (f) spotkać polską grupę dyskusyjną - I would like to meet polish discussion group

Potrzebuję pomocy w poprawnym/prawidłowym budowaniu zdań – I need help with building sentences correctly

Muszę poznać więcej słówek biznesowych – I need to learn/know more business related words

Jak się to wymawia? - how do you pronounce this?

Gdzie pada akcent? - where the accent falls?

Jakiego czasu należy użyć w tym zdaniu? - What time should I use in this sentence?

Mówię płynnie/biegle po polsku – I speak fluent Polish

Potrzebuję pomocy w nauce słownictwa medycznego - I need help in learning medical vocabulary

Mam problem z wymową tego słowa/wyrazu - I’m having problem with pronunciation of this word

Muszę zapamiętać tę regułę - I have to memorize this rule

Mam pamięć obrazkową więc wolę uczyć się z książek niż taśmy - I have picture memory, so I prefer learning from books than tapes

I will think about more sentences like this, but if you have some in your mind, please let me know.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

Thousands of illegal immigrants will be allowed to stay and work in Poland under an amnesty unveiled today that highlights the country’s transformation into a regional economic powerhouse from communist-era basket case.

Traditionally a country of emigration, Poland has become an increasingly attractive magnet for immigrants, especially from neighboring former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Belarus, as it notches up high rates of economic growth.

Under the amnesty, economic migrants and unsuccessful asylum seekers will be able from January 1 to receive a resident card for two years that will allow them to work legally in Poland. Legalizing the immigrants will benefit the Polish economy by turning them into taxpayers.

The amnesty will apply to undocumented immigrants who arrived in Poland before December 20, 2007, and to asylum seekers who were denied refugee status before January 1, 2010, provided that they have continuously resided in Poland. The idea is to reach the largest number of foreigners in order to regularize this situation in the widest possible manner.

Most economic migrants entered Poland legally but overstayed their visas, officials say.

More than two thirds of the illegal immigrants in Poland are believed to live in Warsaw and the surrounding Mazowsze region. Some 7,000 of these people probably fulfill the criteria of the amnesty.