School’s out for the lato (summer), but the learning shouldn’t stop! I have been keeping these posts light and friendly lately, however, learning Polish is serious business. There is room for fun and history and culture, but it is necessary to know some basics to be able to speak the language. The focus? Read on.

Mistrzostwa Świata (World Cup) fever is in full force, and we have not even drilled down to the sweet sixteen of the tournament yet. The matches have been fantastic, with several ending in a remis (draw). Here in the United States, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers gave us an NBA Finals that went to a nail-biting game seven.  And Major League Baseball and  in full swing… full pun intended. And I do mean in full swing. Just last weekend, Daniel Nava belted a grand slam homerun in his first major league at-bat to help the Boston Red Sox top the Philadelphia Phillies. This past Thursday, the US Open teed off at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in California. Last weekend, the Estoril Open de Portugal was held at the Penha Longa Golf Course in Estoril, Portugal with Dane Thomas Bjorn shooting a sixty-eight to best his competition. For tennis fans, the Bytom is in progress in Poland, the Unicef Open is underway in the Netherlands and there are tournaments and qualifiers for Wimbledon happening now in England. Our world is full of activity, and it’s hard not to get caught up in the competition and, mostly, good sportsmanship.

Hopefully most of our readers are enjoying some good weather and are getting out and enjoying some activity. It may be as simple as getting out in the evening for a nice spacer (walk) after dinner. I have happily traded in my morning run on the treadmill for a quick występ (jog) outside through the neighborhood. There are many activities to enjoy out there, and there are several Polish czasowniki (verbs) you would use to describe the actions you are doing.

Since it is summer, water activities are a favorite way to cool off during the hot summer days. If you are lucky enough to be near an ocean, perhaps you like to jeździć na fali (surf, literally ride on a wave).  If getting up on a deska surfingowa (surfboard) is not your thing, you may opt to pływać (swim) or nurkować (dive). There are ways to enjoy the water without getting wet, at least not too much. Living near larger bodies of water like lakes and seas, you can decide  to jechać łódką (boat). And whether you go boating on a powerboat or a leisurely sail on a żaglówka (sailboat), your certain to have a good time. Unless you get choroba lokomocyjna (motion sickness). And in those cases, you may want to stay on dry and and enjoy other sports.

There are plenty of sports you can do on land. In summer, it is petty popular to me on a softball or baseball league.  You’ll practice many skills including how to rzucać (throw), uderzać (hit) and lapać (catch). If you’re caught up in World Cup action, it won’t be long before you grab a ball and practice kopać (to kick). As you dribble, running quickly and kicking along, your first instinct is not to padać (fall). However, once you have the groove and you’re taking the ball down the field, you may have no choice but to podawać (pass).

What are some other verbs you might come across in your summer games?

serwować ~ serve     As in tennis, volleyball
odbijać ~ bounce    As in tennis, basketball
strzelać ~ shoot     As in basketball, archery
skakać ~ jump     As in basketball, sometimes soccer, running hurdles
biec ~ run      Needs no explanation, most sports include this one

Regardless of what activity you’re doing, the most important thing is to dobrze się bawić (have fun, literally play well).

Do następnego czytania…