{"id":6,"date":"2008-05-22T11:02:58","date_gmt":"2008-05-22T15:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=6"},"modified":"2014-06-10T13:37:02","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T13:37:02","slug":"learn-100-polish-words-in-1-minute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/learn-100-polish-words-in-1-minute\/","title":{"rendered":"100 Polish Words in 10 Seconds"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve already established that Polish is not an easy language, and anyone who has ever tried to master the seven cases of nouns, pronouns and adjectives surely can agree.<\/p>\n

So, imagine my surprise, when a friend announced he could teach 100 Polish words to anyone in less than 10 seconds.<\/strong> Anyone. Less that 10 seconds. Yeah, I really wanted to see this.<\/p>\n

To prove that no magic was involved, I was assigned the task of locating a suitable test subject. We stopped for coffee (but since this was Belgium, it wasn\u2019t really coffee, but hot chocolate and beer), and in one of the local watering holes, found a willing victim. I mean, a volunteer. Ready to learn 100 Polish words in 10 seconds.<\/p>\n

The trick turned out to be surprisingly easy. So easy that in fact, you too, will learn 100 Polish words before you finish reading this story. I guarantee it!<\/p>\n

Like most European languages, Polish assimilated a whole bunch of words from all kinds of foreign sources. Some from Yiddish, some from French, and the bulk of the load \u2013 from Latin. Luckily, the same Latin words also migrated into Spanish, and French, and English\u2026<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the trick? Those Latin loan-words end in \u2013tion<\/strong> in English and in a few other languages. In \u2013cion<\/strong> in Spanish. In \u2013tie<\/strong> in Dutch.<\/p>\n

And in \u2013cja<\/strong> (pronunciation \u201ctsya\u201d<\/em>) in Polish.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n