I went back to Brooklyn earlier this week, to visit an English class for adults at the Greenpoint branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. On the way, I stopped at the Polsko-Amerykanska Apteka, where a woman behind the counter was…
I have to admit, Polish is kind of kicking my butt. I am asea in nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative adjective and noun forms, and there are still three grammatical cases left to study. If I’m being honest (that’…
In Polish, I have just learned that men get their own plural personal pronouns, but women and things, such as bananas, share one. (I hope I am getting that right; I am pretty much non-stop confused these days.) At least…
Accent marks in Polish throw me. They show up in places where I don’t expect them. First, in consonants. I am most definitely not used to consonants with accents. They are especially audacious in the Polish word for “song”:…
I have just begun a book by John J. Bukowczyk entitled A History of the Polish Americans. I have been feeling as though my background in Polish history—beyond my college studies of World War II—is very weak, so…
Lately I am encountering Polish almost as much as I encounter Spanish. It has been surprising, since Spanish is ubiquitous in New York and Polish is not. Times Square Has Been Hopping This Summer According to the Modern Language Association…
This letter in Polish has been causing me problems: ę. Its pronunciation sounds radically different to me from source to source. Tea, Source of Pronunciation Challenges (This Came from One of My Lovely Japanese Conversation Partners, By the Way!) In Rosetta…
It is such a relief to have, once again, a good old-fashioned grammar book, complete with exercises. I am referring to the one I bought a few days ago, Basic Polish by Dana Bielec. I need all the help I…
Today I went to Greenpoint, where there are Polish bookstores, in search of another grammar book, this time with grammar exercises. Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn A Presumably Polish Restaurant I enjoyed a lovely walk down Manhattan Avenue, starting at the…
When I start a new language, I typically “like” a bunch of pages on Facebook relevant to it. Today on my Facebook news feed, I came across this news-story excerpt entitled “W sondażu Gallupa Obama przegrywa z kandydatem…
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