Polish Language Course or Self-Study? Posted by Anna on Apr 15, 2009
It’s official! I have the best readers in the world here. And this is no exaggeration. Your comments make my life so much easier. Not to mention – making my blog posts easier, too. I wanted to thank all of you for taking the time to comment. Sometimes your comments are very extensive and contain…
Polish Easter Monday Posted by Anna on Apr 11, 2009
So, Easter day is almost here. And before you start celebrating (if you do Easter), here are a few things to remember about Wielkanoc in Poland: 1. It’s a two-day holiday and people go to church on both days. 2. Food is a major Easter feature (but I guess the same can be said about…
Polish Diminutives – one more time Posted by Anna on Apr 7, 2009
I think I should add a brief explanation regarding my previous post on diminutive proper names. I am fully aware that if you really want to you can create zdrobnienia of just about any name out there, including Agnieszka, for example. The difference between some names and others is this: while very few perfect strangers…
Diminutives of Proper Names Posted by Anna on Apr 3, 2009
Are you ready for more zdrobnienia (diminutives)? I’m not… But I thought I’d give them a shot anyway. I told you already that I’m not particularly fond of diminutives. And if there is a thing I dislike even more, that will be diminutive forms of proper names. Hate the stuff. Really. Lucky are the people…
Polish Biometric Passports Posted by Anna on Mar 31, 2009
Tomorrow is the first of April and we all know what that means. Prima aprilis! The news will be even more full of bologna than on an ordinary day. Personally, I’m not a fan of April Fools’ Day. As far as I’m concerned, this silly tradition should be abolished. And I’m sure many people share…
Gender and Occupations, continued… Posted by Anna on Mar 28, 2009
Remember when I mentioned that the EU head honchos in Brussels want us to stop using gender specific names for professions? I also said that it was something I agreed with. Wow! I never thought that that particular post would provoke so many emails. Both for and against. But you see, we already have many…
When Polish Diminutives Aren’t Diminutive Posted by Anna on Mar 24, 2009
This is odd, but during the last two weeks two different readers, in two different countries, in two different ways mentioned the issue of Polish diminutives. So, who am I to argue with such a coincidence? And because I don’t want any bad karma hanging over my head (those “sexist” occupation nouns can wait), we…