Posts from July 2009

Wredna gramatyka – evil grammar

Posted by Anna 14 Comments
Jul 16 2009

When learning a new language, grammar is one of those hideous things that you’re stuck – with regardless of how much you may despise it (or not). Kind of like taxes, as my friend sometimes says.

And it seems that when it comes to foreign grammars, Polish rates quite high on the hate-o-meter. I’m not all that surprised. While it may come more or less intuitively to the natives (I mean grammar, not hate), even we tend to make plenty of embarrassing mistakes when speaking our mother language.

So, what’s a foreigner supposed to do? Olać gramatykę (literally: piss on grammar) and concentrate on memorizing as many words as possible hoping that somehow it will all get nicely sorted out in the end? I tried that approach once when learning another language and found out the hard way that it didn’t work. At all.

Which brings me to today’s question for you. How do YOU deal with grammar? Do you simply chain yourself down and slowly plow through the Swan book while drinking copious amounts of żubrówka to make the whole ordeal less traumatic? Or do you effortlessly memorize various declension tables or absorb that knowledge through osmosis? And if yes, then do you know when and how to apply it in your everyday conversations?

I know I’ve asked you before about how you learn Polish in general. But that was easy. What I want to know now is – how do you deal with Polish grammar?

This question is inspired in part by Barb’s confession about her own Polish learning experiences detailed in her guest entry on this blog. And in part by my own inability to master certain plural noun cases.

So I think that sharing what works and what doesn’t, plus other tips and advice, can be simply invaluable for us all. Yes, even for me.

Polish Telenovelas – “Plebania”

Posted by Anna 10 Comments
Jul 13 2009

I had no idea there were that many fans of Polish soaps out there. One of them (fans, not soaps, naturally) turned out to be even my own dad. And then when Barb admitted her polskie seriale addiction, more and more fans started to come out of the woodwork. Some, who emailed me privately, wanted me to keep their identities private. Sure thing. No worries. Your secret is safe with me, even though you lot prefer “Klan” to “Plebania“. LOL!

And on the other hand, I got emails from people who thought that Polish soaps are simply dreadful and a total waste of time. And guess, what? I agree with you, too! They are dreadful. They’re closer in style, content and tackiness levels to Latin American telenovelas than to American soaps. But you know what? Most Poles I know simply adore South American telenovelas, even if they would never admit to it in public. Does “W Kamiennym Kręgu” ring a bell? Or “Niewolnica Isaura”?
So, you can be 100% certain that Polish daytime drama productions of today are indeed worthy followers of the best Latin American soap traditions.

Like I said before, I’m a fan of “Plebania”. Why “Plebania” and not “Klan” for example? Dunno. I guess I like nuns. And “Plebania” is so pedestrian it speaks to my most basic sensibilities – of sitting on my bum in front of the TV and switching off my brain for 30 minutes a day. Pure bliss, I tell ya! It also helps that most of those young priests are easy on the eyes.

But what does “plebania” mean in the first place? I think that different Christian denominations have their own words for it. But basically, it’s the building where priests live. And I think when it comes to Roman Catholic priests, this building is called a rectory.

So yeah, there’s a Polish soap that’s, among many other things, also about priests (and some of them are even hunky). But actually, “Plebania” has just about everything. The only thing that’s missing so far are visitors from outer space and a guest appearance by Niewolnica Isaura. But just give it a few more years… Seriously.

Too bad that the series’ official website is only in Polish.

Image courtesy of the Plebania‘s Official Website. Link above.

Hello! My Name Is Barb and I’m a Polskie Seriale Addict

Posted by Anna 15 Comments
Jul 10 2009

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 “re-learn” Polish…it was the language I had spoken at home as a child.  Like many children in the neighbourhood, I also attended Polish school.  Unfortunately, the fluency I had acquired as a child fell into disuse when I moved away from home.

Fast forward about 25 years.  My Polish language skills had deteriorated “a little” but nothing that a quick browse through a 500-page Polish grammar book (Swan) couldn’t fix.  I needed to polish (szlifować) my language skills.  I certainly didn’t need to actually learn anything anew.  I’m sure you can imagine the humbling blow to the ego that followed.  I think all bets were off by the middle of Swan’s second lesson (lekcja).

So, I have been slogging through various grammar books ever since.  Repeatedly reading over chapters and doing exercises (I admit to having the retention of a flea).  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.

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

The hostess greeted the viewers warmly and then launched into something that sounded like this:
“No właśnie, … (a jumble of sounds spoken at breakneck speed)… co nie?”
Repeat.

I blinked twice, cleared my throat and glanced over at my husband, trying hard not to show my total lack of comprehension.  He casually asked if I thought people were speaking a tad quickly. “A little”, I conceded.  My superiority vanished like a puff of smoke.

Over the next few weeks I experimented with various programs until I struck the mother lode: polskie seriale.  Hmmm, does the term daytime television help? Okay, what I really mean is “soap operas”.  The shows are excellent for people learning the language because the dialogues are simple, reflect current situations and have subtitles! (napisy dialogowe).  I tried to pretend that my interest was purely academic, but I soon became a fan of two long running shows: “Klan” (z napisami) and “Barwy Szczęścia“ (bez napisów).  I believe Anna has a similar confession to make btw.*

The exposure to TVP has helped a lot.  I can now tune into almost any program and follow what is being said.  I have slowly developed an “ear” for the language – all thanks to polskie seriale.
Polecam.

*) Since Barbara has outed me here, yes, I confess that I am a huge fan of “Plebania” (and please, no laughing at me, OK?)

“Sami Swoi”

Posted by Anna No Comments
Jul 7 2009

I was thinking about our last post about “swój” and realized that no discussion about this particular possessive pronoun would be complete without the mention of “Sami Swoi.”

Yeah! If you’re Polish, regardless of your age, gender or education, I am SURE you’ve heard about this film. And chances are, you’ve seen this film too. More than once. If you are of Polish origin, maybe you haven’t seen the film, but you should have heard about it something. Anything. Why? It’s a classic.

The title “Sami Swoi” has been translated into English in several different ways, actually, but it seems that “Our Folks” is the most popular version. Still, it doesn’t fully reflect the Polish meaning, at least in my opinion.

The internet says that one alternate title is “All Friends Here”, but I’ve seen it also referred to as “Only Friends” and “Between Friends” and “The People You Know” and “Our Kind of People”. And if you put all these versions together, you can get a pretty good idea of what “Sami Swoi” means in Polish.

I know that there are some people out there who are not so fond of “Sami Swoi”. They say the film shows only the worst Polish character traits, and that it tries to turn into comedy issues that are no laughing matters. Well, that’s Polish comedy for you.

And what do you think? Have you seen the movie? In Polish? Or with English subtitles?

Here’s a selection of the best scenes from “Sami Swoi” but unfortunately, without English subtitles.

YouTube Preview Image

However, if you are interested, subtitled versions are also available.

The film was made in 1967 and originally, it was a black and white picture. It was digitally colorized only in 2000, if I remember correctly. It’s also the first part in a trilogy of movies about these two crazy families: Kargule and Pawlaki, and in my opinion – the best.

The film is such a cult classic that it even spawned a Polish idiom of sorts. If you hear someone say that two neighbors behave like “Kargul i Pawlak” you know exactly what it means – that they’ve been feuding since the beginning of time over a very petty issue.

And now, if you excuse me, I need to demonstrate my worst national traits to my very own evil neighbor. I still can’t decide whether she’s more of a Kargul or Pawlak. LOL!

Swój or mój? – possessive pronouns continued

Posted by Anna 7 Comments
Jul 3 2009

Ha! I see that “swój” and its different forms are not going to win any popularity contests when it comes to Polish grammar for foreigners. And honestly, I can’t blame you guys. Those little buggers are really annoying.

I’ve seen some really convoluted explanations of ”swój” and so I’m not all that surprised by your comments regarding this particular possessive pronoun. On the other than, I am not sure if my explanations can be any better.

But let’s give it a shot and see what happens. And first things first:

  • swój (masculine), swoja (feminine), swoje (neuter), swoi (plural masculine personal), swoje (plural, all others)

Now, take a look at these two examples:

  • Dała to jej rodzicom. – She gave it to her parents.
  • Dała to swoim rodzicom. – She gave it to her own parents.

Do you notice the difference? From the first example, we can deduce this thing:
that a female gave something to parents of another female.

Compare it with the second sentence. Here, it’s clear that a female gave something to her own parents.

At its most basic that is the difference between a “regular” possessive pronoun and this “swój” business. – It is used when a 3rd person possessive pronoun refers to the subject of the sentence. In our case – the parents of this mysterious woman who was the subject in our example.

It gets all goofy, however, when “swój” is used in the first and second person. Like this, for example:

  • Mam swoje powody. – I have my (own) reasons.
  • Przyniosłaś swoja książkę? –Did you bring your (own) book?

See what I mean? Why can’t we say “mam moje powody” and “przyniosłaś twoją książkę”? Technically, the grammar is correct, and technically it shouldn’t be wrong, yet, for a native speaker “swój” is the only proper choice in those sentences. And that is regardless of what Polish textbooks written by foreigners tell you.

I would say that in the beginning it’s probably best to remember that “swój” refers to one’s own something-something.
And the easiest way to remember it for a long time is through this:

  • On kocha swoją żonę. – He loves his (own) wife.
  • On kocha jego żonę. – He loves his wife. (which in this instance would be not his own but some other guy’s wife)

That should help you (or at least my male readers) remember when you should use “swój” and when it’s time for a different possessive pronoun.

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