{"id":582,"date":"2009-07-10T23:55:10","date_gmt":"2009-07-11T03:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=582"},"modified":"2009-07-10T23:55:10","modified_gmt":"2009-07-11T03:55:10","slug":"hello-my-name-is-barb-and-im-a-polskie-seriale-addict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/hello-my-name-is-barb-and-im-a-polskie-seriale-addict\/","title":{"rendered":"Hello! My Name Is Barb and I’m a Polskie Seriale Addict"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today you get a very special treat – a guest post by one of our favorite commenters – Barbara from Canada.
\n<\/em>
\nAbout a year ago, I decided to make a commitment to \u201cre-learn\u201d Polish…it was the language I had spoken at home as a child.\u00a0 Like many children in the neighbourhood, I also attended Polish school.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the fluency I had acquired as a child fell into disuse when I moved away from home.<\/p>\n

Fast forward about 25 years.\u00a0 My Polish language skills had deteriorated \u201ca little\u201d but nothing that a quick browse through a 500-page Polish grammar book (Swan) couldn\u2019t fix.\u00a0 I needed to polish (szlifowa\u0107<\/strong>) my language skills.\u00a0 I certainly didn\u2019t need to actually learn anything anew.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you can imagine the humbling blow to the ego that followed.\u00a0 I think all bets were off by the middle of Swan\u2019s second lesson (lekcja<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

So, I have been slogging through various grammar books ever since.\u00a0 Repeatedly reading over chapters and doing exercises (I admit to having the retention of a flea).\u00a0 Being the compulsive-obsessive person that I am, I realized that I had to broaden the scope of my efforts to include reading, writing and listening.<\/p>\n

Since listening seemed like the least painful place to start, I phoned up our local cable provider and subscribed to TVP Polonia<\/strong>.\u00a0 I imagined myself absorbing Polish dialogues (by osmosis) in the comfort of my living room.\u00a0 Brilliant.\u00a0 When the magic moment finally came, I tuned into a weekly talk show (\u015aniadanie na Podwieczorek<\/strong>) and prepared for the transformation.<\/p>\n

The hostess greeted the viewers warmly and then launched into something that sounded like this:
\n\u201cNo w\u0142a\u015bnie, … <\/strong>(a jumble of sounds spoken at breakneck speed)<\/em>\u2026 co nie?\u201d<\/strong>
\nRepeat.<\/p>\n

I blinked twice, cleared my throat and glanced over at my husband, trying hard not to show my total lack of comprehension.\u00a0 He casually asked if I thought people were speaking a tad quickly. \u201cA little\u201d, I conceded.\u00a0 My superiority vanished like a puff of smoke.<\/p>\n

Over the next few weeks I experimented with various programs until I struck the mother lode: polskie<\/strong> seriale<\/strong>.\u00a0 Hmmm, does the term daytime television help? Okay, what I really mean is \u201csoap operas\u201d.\u00a0 The shows are excellent for people learning the language because the dialogues are simple, reflect current situations and have subtitles! (napisy dialogowe).\u00a0 I tried to pretend that my interest was purely academic, but I soon became a fan of two long running shows: \u201cKlan\u201d (z napisami)<\/strong> and \u201cBarwy Szcz\u0119\u015bcia\u201c (bez<\/strong> napis\u00f3w)<\/strong>.\u00a0 I believe Anna has a similar confession to make btw.*<\/strong><\/p>\n

The exposure to TVP has helped a lot.\u00a0 I can now tune into almost any program and follow what is being said.\u00a0 I have slowly developed an \u201cear\u201d for the language – all thanks to polskie seriale<\/strong>.
\nPolecam.<\/strong><\/p>\n

*)<\/strong> Since Barbara has outed me here, yes, I confess that I am a huge fan of \u201cPlebania\u201d<\/strong> (and please, no laughing at me, OK?)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today you get a very special treat – a guest post by one of our favorite commenters – Barbara from Canada. About a year ago, I decided to make a commitment to \u201cre-learn\u201d Polish…it was the language I had spoken at home as a child.\u00a0 Like many children in the neighbourhood, I also attended Polish…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7433,7534,7538],"class_list":["post-582","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","tag-guest-post","tag-polish-tv","tag-polskie-seriale"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t