Mikołajki – Polish Mini-Christmas Posted by Anna on Dec 5, 2008
Until last week, when Pinolona kindly reminded me about it, I had totally forgotten about Mikołajki. Maybe because it wasn’t really a big occasion at our house when I was little. Or rather, it was a non-occasion. I vaguely recall getting chocolates from my grandma, or maybe a new toy, or a book, and I…
Mazurek Dąbrowskiego – Polish National Anthem Posted by Anna on Dec 3, 2008
Yesterday I had a very interesting, if a bit odd conversation with one of my friends. The friend in question is also very interesting, if a bit odd, and I suppose that goes a long way towards explaining her strange musical hobbies. Anyway, she walked up to me, hugged me and said: “I really love…
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…