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Mooby’s TAC2013 - Team Żubr - Polish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6106 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 33 of 134 07 April 2013 at 8:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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Polish is like... MALBORK CASTLE
Back in January I decided I needed a motivational treat, ideally something that would reward my progress in a satisfying manner. I started to look for puzzles and quickly dismissed the cliched landscapes, pictures of fluffy kittens and the like. Most of what I had seen were 1000 piece puzzles and I thought that figure represented a solid year's effort. I then stumbled upon a monster, in every way. Malbork Castle, near the port city of Gdańsk, is the largest brick building in Europe and the largest castle by surface area in the world. I simply couldn't resist buying a 3000 piece puzzle of this colossus. My plan is simple: Every 1 hour of study = 1 piece of the puzzle. So that's 3000 hours of Polish study, taking 3 years, unless I push myself harder. I sit down every Sunday and put down the number of pieces according to how many hours I studied the previous week. Today I added 26 more pieces; it's very nice to see a visual guide to my progress. The castle is so appropriate. The Polish language IS a huge challenge to 'conquer' and a seemingly impenetrable fortress, but I am determined to storm the innermost ramparts and plant my flag on the highest tower. I have started the seige and am 10% (315 hours) towards completion. I decided to start at the bottom of the puzzle (see picture below), among the tangled reeds which nicely represent my tangled understanding. Next I'll complete the borders and work on the sky, thus surrounding the castle. Finally I'll mount the ramparts and by this stage I certainly hope my corresponding knowledge of Polish will be clearer. I can't wait to place the 3000th piece down. I even know the exact spot on the exact tower I want to mark this momentous event. As a motivational tool, is it working? 'YES'! I'm already wondering to do when I finish it. Suggestions are welcome :)  Edited by Mooby on 18 July 2013 at 9:44am 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| pesahson Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5729 days ago 448 posts - 840 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 34 of 134 07 April 2013 at 8:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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That's a great motivational idea! I would use it if I had any patience with puzzles ;). I once asked for puzzle for Christmas and my mother kindly bought me a huge one but I don't think I spent more then 15 minutes on it. "Słomiany zapał" is what we call it in Polish.
I thought about other places in Poland that could be to your liking and during my Google search stumbled upon this article. It's not exactly what you wanted but it's a nice little feature that might be interesting. 50 places to visit in Poland Edit: I've just noticed that my hometown Bielsko-Biała is on the list. Nice. Edited by pesahson on 07 April 2013 at 9:06pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6106 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 35 of 134 07 April 2013 at 9:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Many thanks pesahon, I like the 50 places link. I hope to be visiting Poland this year, somewhere near Rzeszów. But the plans are not certain yet.
Out of curiosity I checked the meaning of "Słomiany zapał" - it means something like "Straw zeal" or "Straw enthusiasm". Nice expression! Edited by Mooby on 07 April 2013 at 9:26pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6106 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 36 of 134 12 April 2013 at 5:12pm | IP Logged | ||
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Anki = 3664
Hours Studied = 33 (Total: 337) I have finally done another overview of the seven noun cases, putting the main declensions with example sentences onto Anki. Really, it's for reference only, I won't try to religiously memorise the endings in isolation. The act of reviewing material and typing onto Anki has refreshed my understanding anyway. I plan to get back to Dana Bielec's grammar drills to consolidate things, and to pay close attention to all input. I've added nearly 60 new words and listened to Samo Życie daily. I also watched a couple of films: Komedia Małżeńska - light comedy from 1993 Siekierezada - psychological film from 1985. Somewhat depressing. I had conversation practise with Aga a couple of days ago, and my grammar has improved. But there are still a lot of long pauses. Plus, my pronunciation requires more work - Aga didn't go into detail, but she said she'd find some suitable reading material for me to try next week. I suspect that my pronunciation deteriorates during conversation, compared to when reading outloud from a book. The trip to Poland is looking more likely, although Aga's husband may not be able to make it due to his work situation. If that remains the case, I may fly to Kraków with Aga and her daughter and drive south-east to Rymanów where her mother lives. Having not been abroad since 1995, I am feeling both excited and nervous at the same time. I'll take my wheelchair as a back-up should my immune system really start to play up. And I need to renew my passport next week. I surfed around Rymanów using Google Earth. I was a little underwhelmed if I'm being honest, however there are lots of places to visit nearby and most importantly I'll get the opportunity to inflict my Polish on the locals. :) Words of the Week Przemęczony - 'overworked', 'burned-out','exhausted'. Schylić perf. - 'to bend'. Add się and we get 'to bend down'. She bent down and picked up the coin ('schyliła się i podniosła monetę') Namówić perf. - 'to coax', 'persuade', 'talk into'. The bank talked a sick 70 year-old into a long investment ('bank namówił chorego 70-latka na długą lokatę') Dorywczo Adv. - 'off and on', 'in snatches', 'from time to time'. Jad - 'venom' [Jadowity - 'venomous'] Edited by Mooby on 12 April 2013 at 9:09pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| pesahson Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5729 days ago 448 posts - 840 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 37 of 134 12 April 2013 at 8:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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It might be just a spelling mistake but it is jadOwity, not jadwity.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6106 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 38 of 134 12 April 2013 at 9:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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Cześć pesahon, bardzo dziękuję! Tak, myślę, że to literówka.
Naniosę poprawki do tekstu. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6106 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 39 of 134 20 April 2013 at 12:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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Anki = 3711
Hours Studied = 36 (Total: 373) I have about a dozen Polish course books, and whilst I've dipped into them all at some point, I've never actually completed one. So I decided to work through Colloquial Polish and I'm on Lesson 6 out of 20. I have both editions of this book, but I prefer the first one because it has clearer explanations and lots of short, useful dialoques that illustrate grammar useage very well. I don't mind going over basics again, because some things (such as use of co? v jaki?, na when it means 'on' v 'to') require lots of familiarisation before they become automatic. I'm coming to the conclusion that comprehension dawns (in a series of repeated exposures) rather than strikes (in a one-off bolt of lightning). Sure, my mind can mock me "What? Haven't you learnt that yet?!" The problem with this is the word 'learnt' as if it implies a binary, yes/no, hard fact type of understanding that arranges everything in neat rows and columns. Maybe that's the way it works for some people, or maybe all of us at some molecular level, but learning a language is a different thing from learning engineering or history. Rather than saying "I'm learning Korean" a better expression would be perhaps "I'm acquiring Korean" or "I'm familiarising myself with Korean". The former implies an academic skill, the latter a social/life-skill. Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Words of the Week Popsuć / zepsuć perf. - 'to spoil', 'to ruin' 'to break'. His behaviour spoilt the party ('jego zachowanie zepsuło przyjęcie') Mrugnięcie noun - 'blink'. In the blink of an eye ('w mgnieniu oka') Półtora number - 'one and a half'. An hour and a half ('półtorej godziny') Żebrak - 'a beggar'. Niepokoić imperf. - 'to worry', 'upset', 'bother', concern. Add się and we get 'to be worried' etc. I worry {am worried} about his mental state ('niepokoję się o swój stan psychiczny') Edited by Mooby on 20 April 2013 at 12:11pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5131 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 40 of 134 20 April 2013 at 1:47pm | IP Logged | ||
Yes, that's also my experience. Acquiring each individual aspect of a language (be it a word and its proper usage, phrases, grammatical features, connotations or even social rules, etc.) is a layered and gradual process and almost never a binary one. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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