Bloggy Polish

We're moving to our own website!

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:22:00 +0000

Due to the popular demand we've decided to build our own website - just to make sure we'll stay online forever :)
Our new address is simply:

bloggypolish.co.uk

We will be back soon

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Or rather as soon as possible. Our team has got a bit bigger and the new member seems to be more interested in other things now. But as soon as we manage to make her take part in the podcast we will be back.
And here is our Zofia:

Polish to Begin with: Lesson 26 (plural forms of nouns and adjectives)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:31:00 +0000

In short:

if it's a neuter noun then the ending in plural form is -a (1 piwo - 2 piwa)
if it's a masculine or feminine noun:
- and the last consonant is -k- or -g- then the ending in plural form is -i (1 wódka - 2 wódki)
- and the last consonant is ń, ni, sz, cz, rz/ż, l, j, c, dz, ś, ć or ź than the ending in plural form is -e (1 tokaj - 2 tokaje)
- and the last consonant is any other letter then the ending in plural form is -y (1 miód - 2 miody)

And here are examples.

Polish to Polish: Lesson 13 (Przesądy)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Lesson 13 couldn't be on time obviously! So we talk today about superstitions in Polish culture.

Polish to Begin with: Lesson 25 (past tense)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:18:00 +0000

Here is a short explaination of past tense in Polish.

Wesołych Świąt, smacznego jajka i mokrego śmigusa-dyngusa!

A really funny way to learn some Polish

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:12:00 +0000

I know it's a bit strange but it's fun anyway: Misja Kraków.

For those who will be in London in May

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:06:00 +0000

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/festivals-series/nigel-kennedy-s-polish-weekend

Polish cases in poetry :)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:44:00 +0000

Here is the best (and the only) poem we have ever read about Polish cases:

In Case of Polish

The Polish language is quite curious.
Seven cases! Yes, they’re serious.
The Nominative Case is so exquisite.
Answers the question: who or what is it?

If there’s few or even many,
Or you tell me there’s not any,
Look for something that’s a possession.
Carefully listen for a preposition
Od, ze, do, dla, or koło
Genitive case does a solo.

Now I know it sounds amusing
To what, to whom – it’s just confusing!
But if you listen to the help I give,
I lend to you this case of Dative.

I see I need to get going soon
Of course, I’d like to fly to the moon
Just remember when passing through
That any old direct object will do
And action or motion to anyplace
Always results in the Accusative case.

Whether in front or behind, above, under or below
There’s one more thing that you need know
Transportation is fundamental
When the case is Instrumental

Although it may seem quite apparent
About “on”, “in”, “by”, or “after” it is inherent
That these are prepositions of locations.
(I thank you now, for your patience.)
We’ve arrived at the case called Locative
And all that’s left – hey you! Vocative!

By Polish learner
Frances Turner

We took it from here

Polish to Begin with: Lesson 24

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Complain a bit about your health and get a nice sympathetic reaction from your Polish friends!

Listen how to do it.

Polish to Begin with: Lesson 23 (New Year's resolutions)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:49:00 +0000

As it's high time for New Year's resolutions we talk a little about future tense in Polish.
For imperfective verbs you need these forms to create future tense:
będę
będziesz
będzie
będziemy
będziecie
będą

(And we are thinking about some nice way to make the transcripts available - just give us some time!)

Polish to Polish: Lesson 12 (Andrzejki)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:55:00 +0000

A week ago was 29th of November - Andrzejki. Do you know what Andrzejki is all about?

Polish to Begin with: Lesson 22 (Weekend)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Today we talk about our weekend. It's not very exciting, really. Actually, our weekends are quite boring. Surely yours are much more interesing, so tell us all about what you do on weekends... in Polish :)

Polish to Begin with: Lesson 21

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:17:00 +0000

Where you can learn all about Polish verbs in present tense.

Polish to Polish: Lesson 11 (Przeciętny Polak)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:04:00 +0000

Today we talk about avarage Poles. What do they eat? What's their favourite colour? And other really strange statistics.

Download from here.

Polish to Polish: Lesson 10 (Kuchnia polska)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:21:00 +0000

Today we talk about Polish cuisine.

To download click here.

Here are some interesting links with Polish recipes. And below you will find Anna’s recipe for „Pierogi ruskie”.

http://www.dobrakuchnia.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=161&Itemid=98

http://www.barszcz.pl/przepisy.html

http://ugotuj.to/przepisy_kulinarne/2,87561,,Kotlet_schabowy,,52084007,9495.html

Pierogi ruskie
Pierogi ruskie are dumplings everyone in Poland knows. It takes some time to prepare them. Actually, I have an impression that in Poland you make them to keep children busy. Ask your friends – wasn’t “lepienie pierogów” the first thing they were allowed to do in the kitchen? It was for me.
There are probably as many recipes as many Polish families, but I prepare them the way my grandma taught me, which is:
Ingredients:
for the pastry:
• Flour (one glass)
• Egg (1)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or even less
• Warm water (1/3 of a glass or even less)

for the filling:
• One onion
• Mashed potato (cold)
• Butter
• Salt and pepper
and
• Twaróg (now, if you have any Polish shop nearby, just go there and ask for “twaróg” or “biały ser” – two names for the same thing; but I have recently discovered that it’s actually called “curd cheese” in English and you can buy it in any supermarket)

Cut onion and fry it in butter until soft. Add to potatoes and cheese, season and mix well.
Mix flour and salt.
Add egg and water to make dough that won’t be too soft, too hard, too sticky…
Knead. Keep dough soft. Do it quickly before it dries. When you think it’s ready cut it with a knife – if it has tiny bubbles of air inside it’s fantastic. If not, sigh and continue (my grandma’s dough would always have them, so I keep checking if mine has, but it tends not to have them. Well – pierogi are still fine without them. But the dough just SHOULD have those silly bubbles in it).
Roll dough thin (very thin in my granma’s version, and not so thin at all in mine, but I keep trying)
Cut out round pieces with open end of glass.
Put some filling in the middle and fold in half to make a semi-circle.
Press edges together firmly ensuring no holes or filling are at the edges. If you dough is too dry, you can cheat a bit and touch edges with water, so that they are more sticky.
This part is called “lepienie pierogów” and it takes ages and it’s fun!
Put them into rapidly boiling salted water (don’t put too many as they tend to stick and it’s a disaster then).
Cook them for 3 minutes counting from the moment they all float (!!!).
You can serve them with butter or a little bit of fried bacon or fried onions or any sauce you want or… with sugar and cream (I do know people who eat them this way!). You can also fry them, so that they are more crispy.
And – although I would prefer not to tell you – there are people who add mint to the filling (the same people who eat pierogi with sugar). I personally think it’s just STRANGE, but well… just to keep you informed. But if you feel like checking the version with mint don’t tell me I didn’t warn you: It is really strange.

About Polish in English

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:57:00 +0000

To read about Polish and Poland in English you can go here.

Polish to Begin with: Lesson 20

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:47:00 +0000

Here you can learn how to pay compliments in Polish

You look great today. = Świetnie dziś wyglądasz.
Thanks and the same to you. = Dzięki nawzajem.
Really? = Naprawdę?
This colour really suits you. = Naprawdę do twarzy ci w tym kolorze.
What a fantastic haircut. = Ale świetna fryzura.
Seriously? = Serio?
obviously = jasne
It really suits you. = Bardzo ci pasuje.
Well done. = Dobra robota.
Keep up the good work! = Tak trzymaj!
Your eyes are like stars. = Twoje oczy są jak gwiazdy
Oh, you are so cleaver. = Ach, jaki ty jesteś mądry.
Oh, well, darling, that’s what I’m. = Ech, drobiazg kochanie, to dla mnie nic.

Polish to Polish: Lesson 9 (Wakacje)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:18:00 +0000

In this Bloggy Polish to Polish podcast we are talking about holidays.
As we are planning holidays ourselves there will be some silence at Bloggy Polish for a while :)

Click here to download.

Polish to Polish: Read to Learn (Kochanowski)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:49:00 +0000

Jan Kochanowski urodził się w 1530, a zmarł w 1584 roku. Jest najbardziej znanym polskim poetą epoki renesansu. Bywa nazywany „ojcem poezji polskiej”, co jest dużym uproszczeniem, ponieważ polska poezja istniała już w czasach średniowiecza. Na pewno jednak był świetnym twórcą, jednym z najlepszych polskich poetów.
Jan Kochanowski znany jest chyba najbardziej ze swoich Trenów, Pieśni i Fraszek.
Treny Kochanowskiego to utwory opłakujące jego córeczkę, Urszulę, która zmarła jako dziecko.
Pieśni to tom utworów nawiązujących do Carmina Horacego.
Fraszki to zbiór krótkich wierszowanych utworów, zwykle żartobliwych i ironicznych o celnej puencie. Kochanowski pisał też jednak fraszki na poważne, filozoficzne tematy takie jak śmierć czy sens ludzkiego życia.
Jedną z bardziej znanych fraszek Kochanowskiego jest fraszka: Na zdrowie, której pierwszy fragment zna chyba każdy:

Szlachetne zdrowie,
Nikt się nie dowie,
Jako smakujesz,
Aż się zepsujesz.

Polish to Begin with: Lesson 19

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:26:00 +0000

Today we are talking about family.

Here is the link.

And here is the vocab:

family = rodzina
sister = siostra
brother = brat
mother = matka
father = ojciec
mum = mama
dad = tata
bye-bye = pa pa

Polish to Polish: Read to Learn (Chopin)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:53:00 +0000

Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin jest jednym z najbardziej znanych Polaków na świecie. Urodził się w 1810 roku w Żelazowej Woli, a zmarł w 1849 roku w Paryżu. Był synem spolonializowanego Francuza i zwykle posługiwał się francuską wersją nazwiska „Chopin”, jednak czasami używał też polskiego zapisu tego nazwiska „Szopen” i w Polsce nadal czasami używa się tej potocznej formy nazwiska.

Jego przyjaciółka George Sand mówiła o Chopinie, że był jeszcze bardziej polski niż sama Polska. Chopin przyjaźnił się z wielkimi polskimi poetami okresu, między innymi z Norwidem. Niezwykle przeżywał też wydarzenia polityczne w Polsce, które były wtedy dość smutne. Bardzo przeżył tragedię Powstania Listopadowego i uważa się czasem, że to po tym wydarzeniu jego utwory stały się bardziej dramatyczne i emocjonalne.

Nazywany bywa „poetą fortepianu”, ale wydaje się, że nie zdawał sobie sprawy ze swojej wielkości. Gdy gazety pisały o nim, że jest polskim Mozartem, podobno uważał, że to nonsens.

Polish to Begin with: Lesson 18

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:08:00 +0000

This podcast is for you to check how much you have already learnt. You should be able to understand most of it – if not, go back to our previous lessons and see which parts you have missed.

Co za dziwny zbieg okoliczności = What a strange coincidence!

Download it from here!

Watch to Learn (Marriage)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:41:00 +0000

Polish Lesson in Marriage for Beginners is a gift for our friends who are, well, beginners in marriage.

Polish Lesson in Marriage for Beginners from Bartek Dziadosz on Vimeo.

Polish to Polish: Read to Learn (Rej)

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:52:00 +0000

Mikołaj Rej – urodził się w 1505, a zmarł w 1569 roku. Tradycyjnie (choć niezgodnie z prawdą) jest uznawany za ojca literatury polskiej i za pierwszego twórcę w tym języku. Najbardziej znany cytat z jego twórczości brzmi:
Polacy nie gęsi, iż swój język mają.
Cytat ten według tradycji ma świadczyć o tym, że Rej chciał pisać po polsku i pokazać, że jest to język literacki. Tak naprawdę jednak język polski był już wcześniej wykorzystywany jako język literacki, a pierwsza książka wydrukowana w języku polskim nie była autorstwa Reja, tylko Biernata z Lublina. Był to modlitewnik pod tytułem Raj duszny wydrukowany w 1513 roku w Krakowie.
Rej był twórcą renesansowym, głosił potrzebę edukacji połączonej z życiem w zgodzie z naturą. Jego teksty pełne są błędów i wulgarnych słów, ale nie wiadomo, czy rzeczywiście był tak nieuczony, czy też udawał, starając się stylizować na człowieka prostego.

BBC - A Touch of Polish

noreply@blogger.com (Bloggy Polish) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:05:00 +0000

Your Polish online soap

Read the story of Polish ex-pat Bogdan and English divorcee, Sarah, which has been written by you. For 17 weeks you decided on the next line or twist of plot.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/polish/soap/