Posts tagged with "polskie seriale"

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?)

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