Pastor Dzef takes you into a language adventure. Learn Polish and sing along with the Lupinska sisters at the Royal VFW. Use these words in your English conversations and eventually you will become bi-lingual. Practice along with the Royal community. Watch for upcoming Polish language summer camps, Polish story time at the Royal Library and the Kielbasa eating contest at the Lunch Box Cafe.
Today we will put a few words together and create a simple conversation. This is something you can practice alone or with a friend. It is a simple conversation saying hello and how are you to a friend. Some of the words you already know…
Cześć (chesh) – Cześć is a casual greeting that’s commonly used to say “hi” or “bye” to friends and family.
Jak (jahk) – How
Sie (shouw) – A verb that can have multiple meanings depending on how it is used in a sentence. One of the fun things about the Polish language. In this conversation it means “you”.
Masz (mahsh) – Just as the above word Sie, Masz can have multiple meanings too. Won’t this be fun. In this case it means “you have”.
So if we put the three words together into a question we have “Jak sie masz?” Literally “How you have?” So if you think you can literally translate word for word from Polish to English, guess again. “Jak sie masz?” is the informal way of asking a person “How are you?”
Here are the words we can use to create the answer to “How are you?”
Bardzo (bahr tso) – Very (very simple)
Dobrze (dough bshay) – All Right, Good
Nie (nee yeh) – No
Za (zah) – For (remember Polish is non linear)
A (ah) – And
Ty (tee) – You (and no we cannot say “Jak sie ty?”)
So now we have the words. We can create a conversation like this:
Alice: Czesc Mark!
Mark: Czesc Alice! Jak sie masz?
Alice: Bardzo dobrze. A ty?
Mark: Nie za dobrze.
At this point you can continue the conversation in English or whatever language the two of you are fluent in. Maybe stop off at the Lunchbox Cafe for coffee and a bite to eat. Talk and work through the issues. Get to the bottom of the situation. Maybe have a piece of pie or an ice cream sundae. Then as you leave the Lunchbox Cafe you can finish the conversation.
Alice: Czesc Mark!
Mark: Czesc Alice
And that’s our First Conversation In Polish!
Polska (Poll skah) Poland
Niemcy (Nee em cee) Germany
Anglia (On glee ah) England
