Bloggy Polish

In short:

if it's a neuter noun then the ending in plural form is -a (1 piwo - 2 piwa)
if it's a masculine or feminine noun:
- and the last consonant is k or g then the ending in plural form is -i (1 wódka - 2 wódki)
- and the last consonant is ń, ni, sz, cz, rz/ż, l, j, c, dz, ś, ć or ź than the ending in plural form is -e (1 tokaj - 2 tokaje)
- and the last consonant is any other letter then the ending in plural form is -y (1 miód - 2 miody)

Today we talk about Polish cuisine. Here are some interesting links with Polish recipes. And below you will find Anna’s recipe for „Pierogi ruskie”.

http://www.dobrakuchnia.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=161&Itemid=98

http://www.barszcz.pl/przepisy.html

http://ugotuj.to/przepisy_kulinarne/2,87561,,Kotlet_schabowy,,52084007,9495.html

Pierogi ruskie
Pierogi ruskie are dumplings everyone in Poland knows. It takes some time to prepare them. Actually, I have an impression that in Poland you make them to keep children busy. Ask your friends – wasn’t “lepienie pierogów” the first thing they were allowed to do in the kitchen? It was for me.
There are probably as many recipes as many Polish families, but I prepare them the way my grandma taught me, which is:
Ingredients:
for the pastry:
• Flour (one glass)
• Egg (1)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or even less
• Warm water (1/3 of a glass or even less)

for the filling:
• One onion
• Mashed potato (cold)
• Butter
• Salt and pepper
and
• Twaróg (now, if you have any Polish shop nearby, just go there and ask for “twaróg” or “biały ser” – two names for the same thing; but I have recently discovered that it’s actually called “curd cheese” in English and you can buy it in any supermarket)

Cut onion and fry it in butter until soft. Add to potatoes and cheese, season and mix well.
Mix flour and salt.
Add egg and water to make dough that won’t be too soft, too hard, too sticky…
Knead. Keep dough soft. Do it quickly before it dries. When you think it’s ready cut it with a knife – if it has tiny bubbles of air inside it’s fantastic. If not, sigh and continue (my grandma’s dough would always have them, so I keep checking if mine has, but it tends not to have them. Well – pierogi are still fine without them. But the dough just SHOULD have those silly bubbles in it).
Roll dough thin (very thin in my granma’s version, and not so thin at all in mine, but I keep trying)
Cut out round pieces with open end of glass.
Put some filling in the middle and fold in half to make a semi-circle.
Press edges together firmly ensuring no holes or filling are at the edges. If you dough is too dry, you can cheat a bit and touch edges with water, so that they are more sticky.
This part is called “lepienie pierogów” and it takes ages and it’s fun!
Put them into rapidly boiling salted water (don’t put too many as they tend to stick and it’s a disaster then).
Cook them for 3 minutes counting from the moment they all float (!!!).
You can serve them with butter or a little bit of fried bacon or fried onions or any sauce you want or… with sugar and cream (I do know people who eat them this way!). You can also fry them, so that they are more crispy.
And – although I would prefer not to tell you – there are people who add mint to the filling (the same people who eat pierogi with sugar). I personally think it’s just STRANGE, but well… just to keep you informed. But if you feel like checking the version with mint don’t tell me I didn’t warn you: It is really strange.

Here you can learn how to pay compliments in Polish :)

You look great today. = Świetnie dziś wyglądasz.
Thanks and the same to you. = Dzięki nawzajem.
Really? = Naprawdę?
This colour really suits you. = Naprawdę do twarzy ci w tym kolorze.
What a fantastic haircut. = Ale świetna fryzura.
Seriously? = Serio?
obviously = jasne
It really suits you. = Bardzo ci pasuje.
Well done. = Dobra robota.
Keep up the good work! = Tak trzymaj!
Your eyes are like stars. = Twoje oczy są jak gwiazdy
Oh, you are so cleaver. = Ach, jaki ty jesteś mądry.
Oh, well, darling, that’s what I’m. = Ech, drobiazg kochanie, to dla mnie nic.

Today: all phrases you need when eating :)

bon appetite = smacznego
the same to you = nawzajem.
Have a nice weekend. = Miłego weekendu.
cheers = na zdrowie
Tea or coffee? = Kawa czy herbata?
Coffee, please. = Poproszę kawę.
Tea, please. = Poproszę herbatę.
Tea with milk but without sugar, please. = Poproszę herbatę z mlekiem, ale bez cukru.
Tea with lemon, please. = Poproszę herbatę z cytryną.
Do you take sugar? = Słodzisz?
No, thank you. = Nie, dziękuję.
One spoon of sugar, please. = Tak, poproszę jedną łyżeczkę cukru.
Two spoons of sugar, please. = Tak poproszę dwie łyżeczki cukru.

słówka:
addiction = uzależnienie
addicted = uzależniony
website = strona internetowa
pożyteczne = useful
browser = przeglądarka
check email = sprawdzać mejle
to have access = mieć dostęp

ciekawe strony:
gazety polskie:
http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/0,0.html
http://www.dziennik.pl/
http://olivia.pl/

biblioteka internetowa
http://www.pbi.edu.pl/index.html

śmieszne strony
http://users.v-lo.krakow.pl/~mumu/
http://www.kantata.fe.pl/

Today we are talking about food and we introduce the first case - Accusative.

We have lots of food. = Mamy dużo jedzenia.
fridge = lodówka
What’s in our fridge? = Co jest w naszej lodówce?
milk = mleko
jam = dżem
ham = szynka
meat = mięso
vegetables = warzywa
carrot = marchewka
radish = rzodkiewka
onion = cebula
cabbage = kapusta
potatoes = ziemniaki
fruit = owoce
apple = jabłko
banana = banan
orange = pomarańcza
orange juice = sok pomarańczowy
In the fridge we have vegetables and fruit. = W lodówce mamy warzywa i owoce.
In the fridge we have butter, meat and milk. W lodówce mamy masło, mięso i mleko.
In the fridge we have juice, jam and yogurt. = W lodówce mamy sok, dżem i jogurt.
In the fridge we have sausage, ham and carrot. = W lodówce mamy kiełbasę, szynkę i marchewkę.
I like. = Lubię.
I like radish. = Lubię rzodkiewkę.
I like meat. = Lubię mięso.
I like bread. = Lubię chleb.
I like vegetables. = Lubię warzywa.
I like eating. = Lubię jeść.

At last we have our 15th Bloggy Polish podcast for beginners. Here it is:

I love. = Kocham.
You love. = Kochasz.
Loves. = Kocha.
We love. = Kochamy.
You all love. = Kochacie.
They love. = Oni kochają.
to watch = oglądać
In the evening I watch tv. = Wieczorem oglądam telewizję.
to run = biegać
At the weekends I run in the park. = W weekendy biegam w parku.
to swim – pływać
On Saturday I swim at the swimming pool. = W sobotę pływam na basenie.
to ask – pytać
to eat – jeść
I eat = Jem.
You eat. = Jesz.
He eats. = On je.
She eats. = Ona je.
We eat. = My jemy.
You all eat. = Wy jecie.
They eat. = Oni jedzą.
In the morning we eat breakfast. = Rano jemy śniadanie.
We eat lunch at 12 o’clock. = W południe jemy lunch.
In the afternoon we eat dinner. = Po południu jemy obiad.
In the evening we eat supper. = Wieczorem jemy kolację.
usually = zwykle
cheese = ser
tomato = pomidor
butter = masło
sandwich = kanapka
tuna = tuńczyk
all the time = ciągle
It annoys me! = To mnie denerwuje!
why = dlaczego

Reading dates in Polish is not the easiest thing in the world. Have a look at our quick explanation, read and listen to the text about Polish history and you will see it's all doable :)

There are three basic situation:

1) w 1999 roku
(only year)
w tysiąc dziewięćset dziewięćdziesiątym dziewiątym roku

you keep first two words in Nominative (Mianownik) and last two you put into Locative (Miejscownik)

2) w 07.1981 roku
(month + year)
w lipcu tysiąc dziewięćset osiemdziesiątego pierwszego roku

put the month into Locative (Miejscownik), keep first two words of the year in Nominative (Mianownik) and last two you put into Genetive (Dopełniacz)

3) 10.09.1981 roku
(day + month + year)
dziesiątego września tysiąc dziewięćset osiemdziesiątego pierwszego roku

put the day, the month and last two numbers of the year into Genetive (Dopełniacz)

That's the theory. Now, listen to the text and see how it sounds

In this Bloggy Polish podcast for beginners we talk about some verbs in present tense and other useful things.

Here are some words to add to your Teach2000:

revision, review = powtórka
And now, revision, review. = A teraz – powtórka.
And now it’s time for revision. = A teraz czas na powtórkę.
I live in London. = Mieszkam w Londynie.
You live in London. = Mieszkasz w Londynie.
to read = czytać
I’m reading a paper. = Czytam gazetę.
He’s reading a text in the Internet. = On czyta tekst w Internecie.
They are reading a magazine. = Oni czytają magazyn.
to fall = padać
I’m exhausted. = Padam na nos.
It’s raining. = Deszcz pada.
It’s raining. = Pada.
Get lost! = Spadaj!

In this Bloggy Polish podcast for beginners we talk about grammatical genders in Polish.

When you learn a new noun in Polish, it’s good to remember what gender it is: męski (masculine), żeński (feminine) or nijaki (neuter). We put symbols in brackets to help you with that.

water = woda (ż)
mum = mama (ż)
coffee = kawa (ż)
tea = herbata (ż)
lemon = cytryna (ż)
computer = komputer (m)
phone = telefon (m)
boy, boy-friend = chłopak (m)
bread = chleb (m)
table = stół (m)
house, home = dom (m)
bus = autobus (m)
beer = piwo (n)
wine = wino (n)
question = pytanie (n)
breakfast = śniadanie (n)
chicken = kurczę (n)
centre = centrum (n)
time = czas (m)

In this Bloggy Polish podcast for beginners you will learn numbers up to 100.

Here are some words to add to your Teach2000 list:

30 = trzydzieści
40 = czterdzieści
50 = pięćdziesiąt
60 = sześćdziesiąt
70 = siedemdziesiąt
80 = osiemdziesiąt
90 = dziewięćdziesiąt
100 = sto
That’s too difficult. = To za trudne.
How old are you? = Ile masz lat?
I’m 26. = Mam 26 lat.
an apple = jabłko
You’re stupid. = Głupi jesteś
I think that… = Myślę, że…

In this Bloggy Polish podcast for beginners you'll learn lots of useful adjectives.

If you want to add them to you Teach200 lists here they are:

hungry = głodny, głodna
tired = zmęczony, zmęczona
beautiful = piękny, piękna
tall = wysoki, wysoka
handsome = przystojny
ugly = brzydki, brzydka
short (opposite to tall) = niski, niska
fat = gruby, gruba
slim = szczupły, szczupła
poor = biedny, biedna
rich = bogaty, bogata
old = stary, stara
young = młody, młoda
big = duży, duża
small = mały, mała
long = długi, długa
short (opposite to long) = krótki, krótka
What does it mean? = Co to znaczy?

In this Bloggy Polish lesson for beginners you'll learn the verb "to have" .

If you want some new phrases to add to your Teach2000, here they are:

To be or not to be. = Być albo nie być.
to have = mieć
I have = mam
I have a problem. = Mam problem.
I have some time. = Mam czas.
I don’t have much time. = Nie mam czasu.
you have = masz
Do you have a question? = Masz pytanie?
he has = on ma
He has a Polish girl-friend. = On ma polską dziewczynę.
she has = ona ma
She has a Polish boy-friend. = Ona ma polskiego chłopaka.
we have = mamy
We have a Polish lesson now. = Mamy teraz lekcję polskiego.
you have = macie
You have a nice house. = Macie ładny dom.
they have = oni mają, one mają

In this Bloggy Polish for beginners you'll learn the verb "to be".

Here is another list to add to your Teach2000:
to be = być
I am = jestem
you are = jesteś
he is = on jest
she is = ona jest
we are = jesteśmy
you are = jesteście
they are (masculine) = oni są
they are (feminine) = one są
ill = chory, chora
tired = zmęczony, zmęczona
hungry = głodny, głodna
a little bit = trochę

In this Bloggy Polish podcast for beginners you learn numbers 0 to 10. They look like that:

1 [ye•den] – jeden
2 [dva] – dwa
3 [tshi] – trzy
4 [chte•ri] – cztery
5 [pyench] – pięć
6 [sheshch] – sześć
7 [shye•dem] – siedem
8 [o•shyem] – osiem
9 [jye•vyench] – dziewięć
10 [jye•shyench] – dziesięć

Remember: when you learn numbers try not to think about them in you mother tongue but go straight to the number itself!

P.S. We also do a little bit of math today. After you listen to the podcast check if your equations look similar to these:
1+1=
2+2=
2+3=
5+2=
7+3=
10-1=
9-3=
6-4=
2+6=
8-8=

Noc Kupały - is it a Polish version of Valentine's Day?
In the picture - Mazury Lake District in June. Isn't it more romantic than 14th February?

Our first Bloggy Polish podcast for intermediate students is also our Valentine's podcast. We are discussing Valentine's Day and it's more Slavic version - Kupala Day. We are also talking about Valentine's cards and what you might need during Valentine's Day.

In this Bloggy Polish podcast you will learn how to say "I love you" and other things useful on Valentine's Day.

It's high time we all thought about a Valentine's Day card. So if you need one in Polish, here are some prompts as for the content:

1. Simple but the best:
Kocham Cię
(I love you. Note that the word "Cię" which means "you" starts with a capital "C". This is how we write all yous in Polish letters and it is meant to show respect for the addressee.)

2. Oldschool:
Na górze róże,
na dole fiołki,
a my się kochamy
jak dwa aniołki.
(This is a very old nursery rhyme. Probably all Poles know it and will smile with nostalgy when they see it again. The English translation of it is: Roses above, violets below, and we love each other as two little angels. Well? Isn't that sweet?)

3. Lots of kisses:
Setki buziaków,
tysiące całusów
i tyle uścisków, ile tylko chcesz
tylko dla Ciebie
- ode mnie

(Hundreds of kisses, thousands of kisses and as many hugs as you only want, only for you - from me.
It works in Polish as we have two different words for "kisses" - "buziak" & "całus".)

Hope these help a bit.