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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6108 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 81 of 95 03 July 2015 at 8:36pm | IP Logged |
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I came across Czesław Śpiewa just once before when I listened to W sam raz and was both moved and disturbed by the traumatic themes. He goes to some dark places for sure.
I still do a bit of dabbling (but keep that to yourself!) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6108 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 82 of 95 18 July 2015 at 5:58pm | IP Logged |
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Anki = 5475
Hours studied = 34 (Total this year : 595) Pages read so far this year = 1615 My study level has dropped this month as is usually the case during the summer when outdoor activities and annual trips to see family and friends compete for my time. Reading continues to become more comfortable and enjoyable, although I'm a few million words away from getting into a sustainable 'flow'. I've started another travel book 'Roześmiana Wyspa' by G.Uspienski. Despite my concentration on reading and Anki, I need my regular dose of listening to bring the language 'alive'. Like coffee, I need my daily Polish listening - else I get cravings. I find listening both soothing and stimulating. It scratches an itch in my brain, thens massages it. For a prolonged session I might visit Radio Trójka and immerse myself in a 30 minute podcast. For a quick fix, I can snatch 5 minutes of live radio e.g Radio Kraków. Words of the Month naleśnik - 'pancake'. Pancakes are probably one of the simplest meals to do ('naleśniki to chyba jedno z najprostszych do wykonania posiłków'). zamienny - 'interchangeable', 'replaceable'. Spare parts ('części zamienne'). ładować Imp. - 'to charge', 'to recharge', 'to load'. The battery isn't charging ('nie ładuje baterii'). wplątać Per. - 'to embroil', to entangle' + się - 'to get caught up (in)'. He got caught up in a political war ('wplątał się w wojnę polityczną'). skoro tak - 'if so', 'as it happens'. If you say so... ('skoro tak mówisz...') July's Track Lato - enjoy the summer! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6108 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 83 of 95 14 August 2015 at 8:18pm | IP Logged |
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Anki = 5515
Hours studied = 71 (Total this year : 646) Pages read so far this year = 1992 This (14th August) is an important day. Exactly five years ago, I committed myself to the pursuit of Polish. Every day since then, I've engaged with the language, even if only to listen to a 3 minute song. Even in hospital a few years ago, I took with me '301 Polish Verbs', to ease/aggravate my recovery. Slow, plodding, tantalising, exasperating - but the journey has been fun. Polish has taken a longer-than-expected time to root in my English garden, but it is beginning to seem like it belongs there. I went on a trip to see family and friends in July, and free from the computer, I managed to get a lot of reading done. I've now started yet another travel book, 'Zdobywamy Amazonkę' by Arkady Fiedler. My aim of reading 4000 pages (one million words) by the end of this year is just about on track. Listening and grammar studies are limping along in the background. Active skills are on perpetual hold, although maybe not for much longer as I am going to Kraków at the end of September. I've booked the flights, and am searching for a place to stay. I'm tempted by an out of town guesthouse which got great reviews for its friendly staff who 'don't speak much English' - ideal! I stumbled across 5-Minute Language founded by Agnieszka Karch (here she is talking about her languages), and enjoyed reading her piece on Is Polish difficult to learn? in which she points out that: '..... if you already speak one foreign language, you’re less likely to think that Polish is difficult than somebody who doesn’t speak any foreign languages at all.' As a first langauage learner, I can vouch for that! Words of the Month jeniec - 'captive'. Prisoner of war ('jeniec wojenny'). włazić Imp. - to crawl in', 'get in', 'climb in'. I'm crawling into bed ('włażę do łóżka'). rtęć - 'mercury' the metal. abażur - 'lampshade'. The lamp with a red lampshade ('lampa z czerwonym abażurem'). uchodzić Imp. - 'to pass for', 'be known as', 'be regarded as'. He was known as a critic of the Kremlin ('uchodził za krytyka Kremla'). August's Track 'In a foreign city' w obcym mieście. Edited by Mooby on 14 August 2015 at 11:19pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6108 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 84 of 95 19 August 2015 at 7:30pm | IP Logged |
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I recently dug out some used exercise books given to me by a Polish friend, whose daughter no longer needed them. The series is "Już w Szkole" and my set were Part 1 for first class. Of course, all the exercises have already been completed, but they're useful to flick through and glean vocabulary (it's amazing what young children get to know so early). With so many simple instructions, I got useful exposure to a variety of imperatives, such as:
uporządkuj wyrazy i napisz zdania 'order the words and write sentences'. przyklej ilustracje w takiej kolejności... 'glue the illustrations in this order ...' nazwij te figury 'name these figures' uzupełnij brakujące liczby 'complete the missing numbers'. I must have learned many nursery rhymes when I was growing up, and although I can't recite many off the top of my head, they must have imprinted English grammar and pronunciation in my little brain. Fun helps memory it seems, so I jotted down one of the Polish rhymes from the book: " Ślimak, ślimak, pokaż rogi, Dam ci sera na pierogi, Jak nie sera, to kapusty, Od kapusty będziesz tłusty " " Snail, snail, show your horns, I'll give you cheese on dumplings, If not cheese, then cabbage, From the cabbage you will be fat. " Edited by Mooby on 19 August 2015 at 7:33pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6108 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 85 of 95 20 August 2015 at 1:19pm | IP Logged |
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This article about verbal nouns is helping me clear up a few issues, particularly how they are used in the 'do' + genetive form instead of the infinitive. E.G. Co tu jest do jedzenia? What is there to eat?
I'm still getting my head round the use of verbal nouns derived from the two aspects of the verb. But as the article points out in the example of czytać / przeczytać: 'Both czytanie and przeczytanie are usually translated as ‘reading’, the first referring to the action, the second to the accomplishment'. Recognition of which verbal noun is derived from what aspect (imperfective - perfective) is not immediate to me at first glance, and the context doesn't always help. Sometimes they differ by a single letter. For example: wydalanie - 'excretion' from the imperfective [Wydalać] wydalenie - 'expulsion' from the perfective [Wydalić] It's easy to miss this in extensive reading, which is why I value short bursts of intensive reading plus Anki drills. I hope that writing, which I keep putting off, will force me to select (and subsequently recognise) the differences and appropriate usage. Edited by Mooby on 20 August 2015 at 1:21pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6108 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 86 of 95 16 September 2015 at 1:41pm | IP Logged |
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Anki = 5564
Hours studied = 113 (Total this year : 759) Pages read so far this year = 2778 Reading has again been my primary focus. Having read travel and adventure books recently, I thought I'd try 'romance fiction', not my usual material, but I saw a real bargain to buy a few cheaply. So far I've read 4 stories, all translated from English. It's been great! The vocabularly and syntax were so simple, I was reading 60 pages a day. I gleaned some useful expressions and interjections from the dialogue, and got into a great 'flow', to the extent that the language was less and less noticeable, so the story itself became clearer and and clearer. But there are limits - 600 pages of romantic slush was driving me daft. I therefore resorted to another travel book, 'Hobo' by Krzysztof Baranowski, documenting his life on the road in Canada and America in the '60's. I devoured that book in about two days. I've started the classic 'Lord Jim' by Joseph Conrad, and the richer language has slowed me down a bit, but not uncomfortably so. I'm off to Kraków next week. Being a major tourist city, I know I'll get lots of English thrown at me, but I hope to find a few patient souls who'll suffer my Polish. My stomach is already anticipating the sernik. Words of the Month kadłub - 'hull' (ship) / 'fuselage' (aircraft). szybciutko ! intj. - 'chop-chop!', 'make it quick!', 'in a jiffy!' popijać imp. - 'to sip', 'wash down'. The bus driver had been sipping beer ('kierowca autobusu popijał piwo'). krwotok - 'haemorrhage'. Nosebleed ('krwotok z nosa'). osobliwy - 'peculiar', 'strange', 'singular'. He behaved in a peculiar manner ('zachował się w sposób osobliwy'). September's Track Jej czarne oczy Edited by Mooby on 16 September 2015 at 1:42pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| pesahson Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5731 days ago 448 posts - 840 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 87 of 95 17 September 2015 at 8:22am | IP Logged |
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I have a silly question. Don't you in Britain have cheesecake? It's basically the same cake, isn't it.
I don't know about serniks in Kraków (I usually eat the one my mother bakes, eat your heart out Mooby) but for a quick snack, drożdżówki are the best. Great ones are poppyseed ones in Awiteks bakeries (there are many around Kraków) and any type you can get in a cafe/pattisserie on Jagiellońska 5 street (very near the Rynek). Cukiernia Michałek on Krupnicza 6 has the best everything really, it's very small, often with queues, but their stuff is delicious and the shop assistans speak very little English from what I noticed so it might be your kind of place and Piekarnia i Cukiernia Zaborowscy on Sławkowska 13/15 has good stuff as well. I wish I was in Kraków when you come, I'd happily go for a chat with you but I'm away for a while. Anyway, enjoy your stay in Kraków! I hope you will post some photos like you did from Wrocław. Edited by pesahson on 17 September 2015 at 8:22am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6108 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 88 of 95 17 September 2015 at 1:33pm | IP Logged |
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Cześć pesahson, many thanks for the fantastic recommendations - I'll definitely visit a cukiernia (or two). They look so tempting.
Most cheesecakes in the UK are too sweet and sickly for my taste. The ones sold in supermarkets are very sugary, cheap and horrid - no comparison to Polish cheesecakes. The continental-style with sultanas, poppyseed, fruit etc. are available, but not many bakeries around me sell them. Ahh, it's a real shame that you'll be away - I'll let you know next time I visit (please ask your mother to let me try her cheesecake). Photos will follow.... Do zobaczenia. Edited by Mooby on 17 September 2015 at 5:56pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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