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Andrzejki – The Night Before St. Andrew’s Day Posted by Anna on Nov 29, 2008
One of my friends asked me if I knew any fortune-telling games for Andrzejki and my answer was “What on earth are you talking about?” Actually, it was much more to the point than that, but since this is a PG blog, I will refrain from quoting directly. And she said, “You know, hot wax…
Dzień Dziękczynienia – Thanksgiving Posted by Anna on Nov 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends! To those of you who are in Poland, are you doing anything special? Are you preparing the whole nine yards of turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and pies and ham and green beans and corn and freshly baked rolls? And speaking of pies, how would you translate “pie”…
Perfective vs Imperfective Posted by Anna on Nov 25, 2008
One of you sent me an email wanting to know more about the verbs I listed in the Dative part 3 blog post. “What’s the deal with those two forms?” was the question. Well, I’m glad you asked. And here are the verbs in question: dać/dawać – to give oddać/oddawać – to give back/ to…
Polish in the Kitchen Posted by Anna on Nov 22, 2008
Last week I went food shopping with my dad. We went to one of the Carrefours in Gdańsk. Don’t ask me which one, I don’t know, I have absolutely no sense of direction. Anyway, while walking around that Carrefour and looking for balsamic vinegar (ocet balsamiczny), I ended up in their “foreign foods” section. And…
The Dative in Polish, part 3 Posted by Anna on Nov 19, 2008
It’s been a while, a looong while actually, since our last post about nouns and cases. I think I started telling you about the dative case and then promptly began to practice avoidance. So where were we last? Oh yes, personal pronouns and indirect objects, me thinks. So, let’s quickly go back and review. I…
Which Polish Grammar Book? Posted by Anna on Nov 17, 2008
I really don’t understand why it’s so hard to find a grammar book. A Polish grammar book, that is. In English. I spent the entire weekend schlepping from one bookstore to another, sometimes in the rain, and the only result was sore feet. My sore feet, that is. I went to normal bookstores and to…
Polish Independence Day Posted by Anna on Nov 12, 2008
Yesterday (November 11th) was the Polish Independence Day (Dzień Niepodległości), but according to my contact in Gdańsk, the celebrations were mostly invisible. The white and red flags appeared on street corners, but I was told that was about the extent of it. Most people were just happy to get an extra day off. And what…