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Polish - what do you enjoy about it? | ||
Tags: Reasons for study | Polish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Vos Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 5375 days ago 766 posts - 1020 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Polish | Message 1 of 50 21 June 2011 at 5:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've only very recently (a few days ago) begun the first few timid steps on the path to learning Polish. And as I'm
always curious as to why people learn the languages they do, I was wondering out of the people who have studied and learnt Polish to a high intermediate/advanced level, what is it that you really enjoy about knowing the language? Is it speaking with the people, being able to read the literature as a whole or simply the works of a specific author.. is it being able to follow the films or listen to the music.. or simply being able to travel through the country and connect with its people and history on a deeper lever? What is it about knowing Polish that fills you with that sense of enjoyment and satisfaction that keeps you motivated and enthused in its maintenance and continual growth? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| B-Tina Tetraglot Senior Member Germany dragonsallaroun Joined 5336 days ago 123 posts - 218 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Polish | Message 2 of 50 21 June 2011 at 8:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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I enjoy that it's possible to get to know a community that is usually quite self-contained and inaccessible for people who don't speak a slavic language.
I enjoy the hospitality which I feel is multiplied thanks to the fact that I care enough to learn the language. And I enjoy that I can return some of this hospitality whenever I meet people from Poland in Germany. I enjoy the faces Poles make when they realize how fluent I am. I enjoy discovering a new culture, which includes new films, series, books, music... I enjoy learning about European history (this comes automatically when learning the language). I enjoy the food! I enjoy talking in a secret language. I enjoy the mentality! I enjoy listening to Steffen Möller talking about Poland and thinking "oh yeah, that's right, oh, there he nailed it, again..." I enjoy the fact that the Polish nurse who takes care of my grandparents offered my parents to adopt me and feed me Polish chocolate cake as much and often as I want. _____________ Do you need more reasons for enjoying Polish? Because I could go on and on... 13 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Vos Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 5375 days ago 766 posts - 1020 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Polish | Message 3 of 50 22 June 2011 at 3:46am | IP Logged | ||
Hahah no no I think you gave many a fantastic reason. Thanks for sharing that Tina. I am curious though, what do you mean by the mentality exactly? The mentality needed to think in Polish, or the actual mentality of the Poles? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Vos Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 5375 days ago 766 posts - 1020 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Polish | Message 5 of 50 22 June 2011 at 10:01am | IP Logged | ||
Thanks for that, sounds like quite an influential and interesting writer. Have bookmarked him and will be sure to check him out in a few years time when my Polish is up to scratch. Dzięnkuję. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| B-Tina Tetraglot Senior Member Germany dragonsallaroun Joined 5336 days ago 123 posts - 218 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Polish | Message 6 of 50 22 June 2011 at 11:35am | IP Logged | ||
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Glad I could help :)
To me, polish mentality is best represented in the word "trudno" (actually meaning "difficult, troublesome", but often used in the sense of "c'est la vie"). Poland has the very same laws and regulations as any other country, but Poles are way more flexible when it comes to applying them. In Cracow I'd often see market women selling food right next to a big sign that said "Zakaz handlu" ("trade prohibited"). Additionally, mentality is about subtle polish humor. Take for instance the polish equivalent for "Happy birthday to you" that starts with Sto lat, sto lat, niech żyje, żyje nam! Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz, niech żyje, żyje nam! Niech żyje nam! This means something like "He shall live 100 years, again and again" Then, the text adds: Niech mu gwiazdka pomyślności, nigdy nie zagaśnie, A kto z nami nie wypije, niech go piorun trzaśnie. (He shall never get unlucky - and who doesn't drink with us shall drop dead right now!) 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 5914 days ago 707 posts - 1219 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 7 of 50 22 June 2011 at 12:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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I like the fact that there is still quite a formal aspect to the language.
In the UK this formality has diminished considerably since the '60's, and now you find shop assistants increasingly over-familiar. When I meet Poles I like the fact that I have words that I can occasionally use to show respect, especially to people older than me. For example: Pan = Sir, Mr Pani = Mrs, Madam Pana (genetive) = Master, Lord Panowie = Gentlemen, Sirs But Polish also has a lot of informal words when addressing people or things. It has the endearing quality of using diminutives for people's names, more so than I experience in English. For example: Thomas = Tomasz > 'Tomek' Katherine = Katarzyna > 'Kasia' Barbara = Barbara > 'Basia' Peter = Piotr > ' Piotrek' I like the affectionate, cosy, warm and homely sounds of: Babcia (grandmother) Mamusia (mummy) Poduszka (cushion) Siostra (sister) Wujek (uncle) I like the fact that I can actually use this language. There are plenty of opportunities to speak it as many Poles have settled in the UK over the past 7 years or so. I knew nothing about Polish when I started, I just wanted to get to know my Polish friends a bit better. Had I known about the complex grammar back then I may never have begun! But I've grown to like it and couldn't imagine life without it. Edited by Mooby on 22 June 2011 at 12:21pm 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5776 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 50 22 June 2011 at 1:24pm | IP Logged | ||
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I love the Polish birthday song! I need to learn this language - I've had it on my hit list for quite a while, but I think I'm really going to start it sometime next year. I'm glad to read that it's an enjoyable language to study because I've heard so many fearsome things about the difficulty of the grammar. So this is very encouraging!
1 person has voted this message useful |
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