Archive by Author
Polish Drivers License? Posted by Anna on Sep 5, 2009
So… a friend of mine (yes, I know, I know… I seem to have an awful lot of friends, but when I say “friend” I mean it in the American way, OK?) is moving to Poland. Why? She married a Polish dude (what a refreshing change from all those foreign dudes marrying Polish girls!) and…
Druga Wojna Światowa – World War 2 Posted by Anna on Sep 2, 2009
Yesterday Poland observed the 70th anniversary of the start of WW2. I wasn’t going to write about it initially, but then I realized it would look very stupid and almost un-Polish if I didn’t mention it at all. Yet on the other hand, talking about WW2 makes me a bit uncomfortable. Why? I feel this…
Famous Cartoon Goat Posted by Anna on Aug 31, 2009
I was talking with somebody yesterday and she mentioned that a few years back when she was flying to Poland from Chicago, the in-flight entertainment included cartoons about a goat and two stick figures. It was a LOT flight, she added. A goat? Two stick figures? (That one I very quickly determined to be Bolek…
Adventures in Reading po polsku – a guest post Posted by Anna on Aug 26, 2009
Remember how a few posts back I said all kinds of fun things about Joanna Chmielewska and recommended her books as an easy and painless choice for a beginner Polish reader? Hmmm… Not so, apparently. This is what our fabulous guest blogger, Barb from Canada had to say about her experiences of reading Chmielewska. But…
Not so Miserable Mizeria Posted by Anna on Aug 23, 2009
I was talking about my favorite Polish dishes the other day, and while all I could think of was “yummy” and “I’m so hungry right now”, the comment my friend made was “that name sounds absolutely miserable.” Of course, she was referring to “mizeria”, which is definitely, hands down my most favorite Polish thing to…
Do Poles Like It when Foreigners Learn Polish? Posted by Anna on Aug 20, 2009
I was totally misty-eyed reading your comments. Thank you so much for being so supportive! And thank you for your constructive criticism. The blog and my grammar explanations will stay as they are. There was a single, lone email in favor of more sophisticated Swan-like approach, but unfortunately, my dear reader, you’ve been outvoted and…
Polish Grammar – what’s the best way to explain it? Posted by Anna on Aug 16, 2009
Every so often I am being accused that my grammar explanations are too simplistic, too crude and too “for dummies.” That I don’t use proper linguistic, or grammatical, (or whatever those long and useless terms in “serious” grammar books are called) terminology in my blog posts and that basically, it looks like I mock the…