Everyone likes to have a backup when it comes to languages; a reliable plan B for when a conversation takes a turn you aren\u2019t expecting. It\u2019s a great fall back when a native speaker starts talking like lightning, sentence after incomprehensible sentence. If you let them know you\u2019re a learner, not only will most people speak more slowly, but they\u2019ll be happy to help whenever you are stuck. For the more advanced speaker, being able to say that you\u2019re learning Polish, or if your studying any other languages, is a great way to make conversation with local Poles, many of whom are foreign language learners themselves.<\/p>\n
To say you are learning any language you must use the verb uczy\u0107 si\u0119<\/strong> (to learn), in the first person present tense: Ucz\u0119 si\u0119<\/strong> (I am learning).<\/p>\n \n This particular verb is a little bit unusual because it is one that forces its objects to always take the genitive case, so when we add the language we are talking about, it must be in the genitive. Furthermore, the words for languages like \u2018Polish\u2019, \u2018English\u2019, and \u2018German\u2019 are all masculine adjectives. If you\u2019re not sure what endings to use for masculine adjectives in the genitive, it\u2019s a good idea to recap before using the verb \u2018to learn\u2019. Let\u2019s look at some examples:<\/p>\n Ucz\u0119 si\u0119 polskiego<\/strong> (I am learning Polish)<\/p>\n Ucz\u0119 si\u0119 niemieckiego<\/strong> (I am learning German)<\/p>\n Ucz\u0119 si\u0119 w\u0142oskiego<\/strong> (I am learning Italian)<\/p>\n There are alternative ways to say you are learning a language that are just as useful and don\u2019t require you to know genitive adjective endings. For example, you can say \u2018znam\u2026\u2019<\/strong> (I know\u2026) a particular language, and this, being a transitive verb, requires the accusative case.<\/p>\n Znam polski<\/strong> (I know Polish)<\/p>\n Znam angielski<\/strong> (I know English)<\/p>\n Znam francuski<\/strong> (I know French)<\/p>\n Notice how the words for languages in Polish do not take capital letters as they do in English.<\/span><\/p>\n Sometimes you may want to say you can read or write, or just understand a language, and for this there are other verbs in Polish. Rozumiem po polsku<\/strong> (I understand Polish)<\/p>\n M\u03ccwi\u0119 po angielsku<\/strong> (I speak English)<\/p>\n Czytam po niemiecku<\/strong> (I read German)<\/p>\n The important thing to notice is how with the verb the endings of their objects (the languages you are talking about) change.<\/p>\n Here are some other phrases that will no doubt come in handy when explaining your own language learning in Polish.<\/p>\n \n M\u03ccwi\u0119 troch\u0119 po rosyjsku<\/strong><\/span> (I speak a little bit of Russian)<\/p>\n Nie m\u03ccwi\u0119 zbyt dobrze<\/strong><\/span> (I don\u2019t speak it too well)<\/p>\n M\u03ccwi\u0119 biegle<\/strong><\/span> (I speak it fluently)<\/p>\n M\u03ccwi\u0119 bardzo dobrze<\/strong><\/span> (I speak it very well)<\/p>\n The great thing about Polish verbs is it\u2019s very easy to change the subject of the sentence. If you know the verb endings for the first, second and third person, you can say \u2018you speak Polish\u2019, \u2018they speak Polish\u2019 and other similar variations with only a small change:<\/p>\n Znasz polski<\/strong><\/span> (You know Polish)<\/p>\n Ona m\u00f3wi po angielsku<\/strong> <\/span>(She speaks English)<\/p>\n Oni rozumiej\u0105 po polsku<\/strong><\/span> (They understand Polish)<\/p>\n This type of vocabulary is very dynamic and is important for learners and fluent speakers alike, either when explaining their own language level or making conversation with native speaking Poles.<\/p>\n Do nast<\/b>\u0119pnego razu… <\/b>(Till next time…)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Everyone likes to have a backup when it comes to languages; a reliable plan B for when a conversation takes a turn you aren\u2019t expecting. It\u2019s a great fall back when a native speaker starts talking like lightning, sentence after incomprehensible sentence. If you let them know you\u2019re a learner, not only will most people…<\/p>\n
\nHere are some examples:<\/p>\n