Today I will try to give you some examples of refusal in a different situations you may find yourself in Poland.

Shopping at the store, when you are approached by the sales representative asking if she/he can help you with anything, sometimes you just feel like just looking around and you do not help…What do you say then?

Nie, dziękuję – no, thank you

Narazie tylko się rozglądam – I’m just browsing right now

Dam pani/panu znać, jeśli będę potrzebować pomocy – I will let you (polite form pani(f)/panu (m)) know if I need help

Nie dziękuję, nie potrzebuję pomocy – No thank you, I do not need help

If you are purchasing something and sales person will ask you about additional insurance, you may use these phrases:

Nie, dziękuję, nie potrzebuję dodatkowego ubezpieczenia/gwarancji – No, thank you, I do not need additional insurance/warranty

Wezmę tylko podstawową gwarancję – I will take only basic warranty

While walking  in public, you may be approached by a person doing gallup poll (ankieta) for some company. You may not feel like talking to anyone, so you can just simply say:

Nie, dziękuję – no, thank you

Dziękuję, ale nie jestem zainteresowana (f)/zainteresowany (m) – Thank you, but I’m not interested

Well, there are a lot of homeless people everywhere in the world. Probably everywhere, while you walking ,you may see a person like this begging for money. In this case decision is yours. But if you want to refuse, just say:

Proszę zostawić mnie w spokoju – please leave me alone

Another situation is when you want to refuse someone who is trying to invite you on a date:

Dziękuję, ale nie jestem zainteresowana (f)/zainteresowany (m) – Thank you, I’m not interested

Jestem zajęta (f)/zajęty (m) – I’m taken

Mam chłopaka/dziewczynę – I have a boyfriend/girlfriend

Mój mąż nie byłby szczęśliwy z tego powodu - My husband would not be happy about it

Moja żona nie byłaby szczęśliwa z tego powodu – My wife would not be happy about it

…and hopefully they get it!

Click here to view the embedded video.

If there are other situations you may think of and I missed them, please let me know in comments below.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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In Polish we call it “Łamanie języka“, which translated would be literally “breaking tongue”.

Here are 3 different ones that you can “practice” with…And don’t worry if you are having hard time with it, a lot of native Polish speakers can not say it correctly. I’m attaching a video which shows you how to pronounce it. I will try to translate it for you as well. It may not be “100% accurate” translation though. A lot of words that are used here can not be found in books or dictionaries, but I will do my best.

CHRZĄSZCZ (Beetle)

Trzynastego, w Szczebrzeszynie 

chrząszcz się zaczął tarzać w trzcinie.

Wszczęli wrzask Szczebrzeszynianie:

- Cóż ma znaczyć to tarzanie?!

Wezwać trzeba by lekarza,

zamiast brzmieć, ten chrząszcz się tarza!

Wszak Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie,

że w nim zawsze chrząszcz BRZMI w trzcinie!”

A chrząszcz odrzekł nie zmieszany:

- Przyszedł wreszcie czas na zmiany!

Dawniej chrząszcze w trzcinie brzmiały,

teraz będą się tarzały”.

On the 13th in Szczebrzeszyn (name of the town) 

beetle began to wallow in the reeds

raised the shout Szczebrzeszynianie (people who live in Szczebrzeszyn)

what is this all rolling/wallowing about?

One would have to call the doctor

instead of making a sound, this beetle is wallowing

After all, Szczebrzeszyn is known for 

the beetle always makes a sound  in the reeds

A beetle said, not abashed:

Finally came time for a chanage

In the past beetles sounded in the reeds,

Now they will be wallowing!

KRÓLIK (rabbit,bunny)

Kurkiem kranu kręci kruk,

kroplą tranu brudząc bruk,

a przy kranie, robiąc pranie,

królik gra na fortepianie.

Raven turns the tap tap/faucet

Getting the pavement dirty with the drops of cod-liver oil

And at the tap, doing laundry

Rabbit is playing the piano

BĄK (bittern)

Spadł bąk na strąk,

a strąk na pąk.

Pękł pąk, pekł strąk,

a bąk się zląkł.

Bittern fell on the pod

and pod on the bud

bud burst, pod burst

and the bittern got scared

Click here to view the embedded video.

They are a little silly and may not make too much sense, unless you know Polish really well…

Good luck with it:)

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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Potrzebuję pomocy z wymową liter - I need help with letters pronunciation

Muszę poświęcić więcej czasu na ćwiczenia gramatyczne - I need to spend more time practicing grammar

Chciałbym (m)/Chciałabym (f) spotkać polską grupę dyskusyjną - I would like to meet polish discussion group

Potrzebuję pomocy w poprawnym/prawidłowym budowaniu zdań – I need help with building sentences correctly

Muszę poznać więcej słówek biznesowych – I need to learn/know more business related words

Jak się to wymawia? - how do you pronounce this?

Gdzie pada akcent? - where the accent falls?

Jakiego czasu należy użyć w tym zdaniu? - What time should I use in this sentence?

Mówię płynnie/biegle po polsku – I speak fluent Polish

Potrzebuję pomocy w nauce słownictwa medycznego - I need help in learning medical vocabulary

Mam problem z wymową tego słowa/wyrazu - I’m having problem with pronunciation of this word

Muszę zapamiętać tę regułę - I have to memorize this rule

Mam pamięć obrazkową więc wolę uczyć się z książek niż taśmy - I have picture memory, so I prefer learning from books than tapes

Click here to view the embedded video.

I will think about more sentences like this, but if you have some in your mind, please let me know.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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poniedziałek Monday, w poniedziałek on Monday

wtorek Tuesday, we wtorek on Tuesday

środa Wednesday, w środę on Wednesday

czwartek Thursday, w czwartek on Thursday

piątek Friday, w piątek on Friday

sobota Saturday, w sobotę on Saturday

niedziela Sunday, w niedzielę on Sunday

Compass Directions

północ north, na północy in the north

wschód east, na wschodzie in the east

południe south, na południu in the south

zachód west, na zachodzie in the west

Months

styczeń January, w styczniu in January

luty February, w lutym in February

marzec March, w marcu in March

kwiecień April, w kwietniu in April

maj May, w maju in May

czerwiec June, w czerwcu in June

lipiec July, w lipcu in July

sierpień August, w sierpniu in August

wrzesień September, we wrześniu in September

październik October, w październiku in October

listopad November, w listopadzie in November

grudzień December, w grudniu in December

Please note in Polish we do not use capital letters for the month name or day of the week name.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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Let’s name few different shapes:

circle - okrąg or koło

square – kwadrat

diamond – romb

rectangle - prostokąt

triangle - trójkąt

heart - serce

star – gwiazda

oval - owal

I’m attaching video with pronunciation, as well as describing shapes of some items using these common shapes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ten talerz jest okrągły – This plate is round

Ten talerz jest w kształcie okręgu – This plate is in the shape of the circle

Ta płyta jest kwadratowa - This cd is square

Ta płyta jest w kształcie kwadratu – This cd is in the shape of the square

Ten znak poczty ma kształt  rombu – This post office sign has the shape of the diamond

Ten pilot jest prostokątny – This remote is rectangular

Ten pilot jest w kształcie prostokąta – This remote is in the shape of the rectangle

Ten kamień jest owalny – This stone is oval

Ten kamień jest w kształcie owalu - This stone is in the shape of the oval

Ta rozgwiazda jest w kształcie gwiazdy – This starfish is in the shape of the star

To pudełko jest w kształcie serca – This box is in the shape of the heart

Ta linijka jest trójkątna – This ruler is trangular

Ta linijka jest w kształcie trójkąta – This ruler is in the shape of the triangle

Please let me know if you have questions.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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Near – blisko

Close - blisko

Between – pomiędzy

Behind – za

In front of – z przodu

Under – pod

Over – nad

On – na

In – w

Opposite - naprzeciwko

I’m attaching a little video with pronunciation:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Koło (circle) jest obok kwadratu (square).

Kwadrat jest blisko koła.

Koło jest pomiędzy dwoma kwadratami.

Koło jest za kwadratem.

Koło jest na kwadracie.

Koło jest pod kwadratem.

Koło jest nad kwadratem.

Koło jest przed kwadratem.

Koło jest z przodu kwadratu.

Koło jest w kwadracie.

Koło jest naprzeciwko kwadratu.

Kwadrat jest naprzeciwko koła.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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The character ó is named “u” kreskowane (more often) or “o” kreskowane in Polish.

The vowel u (spelt u or ó) is short (like all Polish vowels), but it resembles long English u in Luke. It sounds like Spanish or Italian u or like French ou but it is less intensive.

Here are some examples:

tu ‘here’, but ‘shoe, boot’ , Bóg ‘God’ ([buk]), Bug (name of a river in the eastern part of Poland), buk – type of tree, mój ‘my, mine’, kogut ‘cock, rooster’, usta ‘mouth’, wnuk ‘grandson’.

Have you noticed that Bóg, Bug, buk are homophones? It means the three words are pronounced in the same way, as [buk].

The sounds ł and u/ó like being together. In those instances you should read them very carefully. Try to say: łuk ‘bow, curve, arc, arch’, stół ‘table’, muł ‘mule’ and also muł ‘slime, mud, silt, sludge’, dług ‘debt, obligation’ ([dłuk]), długo ‘long, for a long time’, słój ‘jar, pot’, główka ‘small head’ (read [głufka], diminutive to głowa ‘head’), tułów ‘trunk, torso’.

The “ó″ is used if the different forms of the word switch between “o” and “ó″, for example please compare “sól” (salt) and “solny” (of salt),

If on the other hand the word, in all its forms, keeps the letter “u”, like “drut” (wire) and “druciany” (of wire) then we write it always a “u”.

To make things easier, the kids in school learn that “uje się nie kreskuje” (no apostrophe if the word ends on “uje”), thus learning a general rule that words like “pracuje” (he works) are always to be spelled with “u”.

Although there are some general principles you can follow when spelling, unfortunately, there is a number of exceptions that you only must learn by heart.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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Czy te kwiaty są dla mnie? Are those flowers for me? (for the benefit of)

To jest łatwe dla ciebie. That’s easy for you. (easy/hard for)

sztuka dla sztuki art for art’s sake (for the sake of)

Dziękuję za pomoc. Thanks for the help. Przepraszam za kłopot. Excuse me (I’m sorry) for the problem. (thank for, pardon for)

Miałem go za projektanta. I took him for a designer. (‘mistake for’)

Niech ja to zrobię za ciebie. Let me do that for (instead of) you. (in place of)

Nie odpowiadam za jej zachowanie. I’m not responsible for her behavior. (responsible for)

Ile zapłaciłaś za ten płaszcz? How much did you pay for that coat? (pay for)

Wyjeżdam na rok. I’m leaving for a year. (for a time yet to come)

Mam ochotę na coś słodkiego. I feel like having something sweet. (desire for)

bilet na samolot ticket for the airplane. (intended for)

Mieszkam w Krakowie od siedmiu lat. I’ve been living in Kraków for the past seven years. [for (a time just past)]

Przez ostatnie miesiące pracujemy pełną parą. We’ve been working at full steam for the last several months. (for a period of time)

Wyskoczę po piwo. I’ll go out for some beer. (go for)

woda do picia water for drinking, pasta do zębów (toothpaste) [for (of specific application)]

Ona pracuje u prawnika. She works for a lawyer. [for (be employed by a person)]

prosić o pomoc ask for help (ask for)

On jest znany ze swoich pięknych obrazów. He is known for his beautiful pintings. (known for)

Jeśli chodzi o mamę, to ona jest jeszcze w pracy. As for my mother, she is still at work. (as for)

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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First, let’s look at the seemingly simple forms of address such as “Pan/Pani” (Sir/Madam) and “ty” (you). The distinction between these two is very important when you converse with Polish people. If you do not use the words in an appropriate manner you might receive “weird looks” from people or, if you are lucky, perhaps a bit of a laughter. If you are not, you can expect to get into trouble. And if you think this is a joke, trust me it’s not. Here is why.

Imagine asking an elderly person a simple question, such as “Where do you live”? (Gdzie ty mieszkasz?). If you are a foreigner who has a basic command of the Polish language and who is used to the form “you,” that’s what you would probably say. In Polish, however, we would say “Where does Sir/Madam live?” (Gdzie Pan/Pani mieszka?). The elderly person would probably take the word “you” literally – meaning “ty,” and since in Poland relationships with senior people are rather formal, he or she would much likely take it as an offense.

The same goes with any business situation while talking to your boss or any superior authority. Imagine coming to a polish job interview and saying for example “Jak się masz?” (How are you?) instead of “Jak się Pan/Pani ma?” (How is Sir/Madam/). I do not think you would have any chance to get that job unless the person knows you are a foreigner and you are excused to make mistakes like that.

As weird as it can be, these linguistic implications work both ways. In other words, Polish people struggle with “you” as well. Why? Since we are used to the form Sir/Madam, it is very awkward for us to use the word “you” when speaking English to people we meet for the first time as well as elderly people or someone superior to us. Every time we say it, it seems inappropriate and disrespectful at the same time. That is how I felt at first when I moved to USA…until I got used to using “you” with everyone…

In fact, the feeling of awkwardness is far-reaching for Polish people. For example, it is not common at all or, better yet, it is extremely rude and unacceptable in Poland to be on a first-name basis with one’s boss. Whereas, for example, Americans do not seem to have a problem with that. Unless our boss simply states, “Please call me Steve,” we will continue calling him Mr. Smith or simply Sir. The same goes with any other relationship in our country. Even relationships between peers usually start as formal and then they gradually change to being the “best friends” type of relationship.

While studying in college in Poland, all professors would address students as Pan/Pani as well. If they would talk to me, they would say”Pani Kasiu”. As far as I know – they still do it. I know that for a lot of students it means that now they are adults and they are respected more than for example in high school.

It is good to have basic knowledge of social differences straight before setting off on the trip to Poland. If you do not want to come across as weird or rude simply follow this old adage: “When in Poland do as the Polish people do.”

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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