Archive for August, 2008
Actually & Eventually Posted by Anna on Aug 29, 2008
Interesting things can happen when your car breaks down. For one, you have to ride the bus, which in itself is not that interesting, I admit. But staring at people and listening to their conversations is always fun. And sometimes, when you are sandwiched between two individuals talking loudly on their cell phones, you don’t…
Polish Pessimism Posted by Anna on Aug 27, 2008
A friend sent me this link and asked me what I thought about it. Go ahead, read it, it’s in English. So, apparently, Poles are pessimistic about the future. And how exactly is that news? Poles think that the country is heading in the wrong direction. Yeah, what else is new? Complaining about the future…
Where is Stanisławów? Posted by Anna on Aug 25, 2008
One of our readers, Debbie, had a question about a town, which she thought might have been in Galicja (“Galicia” in English). And because this is a blog about all things Polish, we’re talking here about the Polish Galicia, not the one in Spain. Debbie wasn’t sure of the spelling, but luckily, I knew exactly…
This and That in Polish Posted by Anna on Aug 21, 2008
The distinction between “this” and “that” is more or less clear in English. Or at least I’ve always thought so. But as one of our readers has pointed out, while “this” is easier to grasp when translated into a foreign language, things can get really goofy with “that”. Fortunately, I can assure you that people…
Genitive Case, part 3 Posted by Anna on Aug 18, 2008
I just realized that we’ve never really finished talking about the genitive case (dopełniacz in Polish). My bad. We had too much fun with all the other things, lazy males and beetle tongue-twisters, and we totally forgot about the declensions. So, let’s get it done and over with this genitive. I told you that in…
Required Reading – Jan Brzechwa Posted by Anna on Aug 15, 2008
Today is a public holiday in Poland, the Feast of the Assumption, which is an important Catholic celebration, I presume. Though when I asked my friend this morning about the reason for a day off, she mumbled something about the Battle of Warsaw instead. That battle, also known as the Miracle at the Vistula, took…
Lazy Male? Posted by Anna on Aug 12, 2008
After all the grammar stuff last week, I don’t know about you, but I think we‘re long overdue for something more entertaining. Yes, I know that grammar is essential when learning a new language properly, though personally, I’ve never been the kind of student who sits down and dutifully memorizes different verb endings. In whatever…