I must be mad, insane, deranged even. Why? To prove my boyfriend’s dad wrong? For fun? Just because I can?
Actually, all of the above. See, they boyfriend’s father is half Polish, and takes great pride that he can actually speak the language. Me, I’m a languages freak - I can speak quite a few, and understand an awful lot more, and I enjoy learning languages. Now, the boyfriend’s father challenged me about a year ago, that there would be no way that I would be able to speak Polish before I reached middle age (bear in mind I’m early to mid twenties at the moment). So, I’m out to prove him wrong. I must be insane.
You are insane, but then you’re in good company. I wish I had the time these days to do something wacky like that! But I figure I should get straight the languages I know half-assed first.
(I’m jealous. Maybe you can start a Straight Dope Polish Word-a-Day thread? I’ll swap you for Russian if you want! I used to know about 20 sentences in phonetic Polish; worked for a law firm with lots of Polish clients, but only one Polish-speaking employee. It was lots of fun trying to take messages when she was at lunch.)
Thank you I figure that since I can speak or understand most Western and Northern European languages, why not try an Eastern European one just for fun. That plus the ego thing.
[QUOTE**(I’m jealous. Maybe you can start a Straight Dope Polish Word-a-Day thread? I’ll swap you for Russian if you want! **[/QUOTE]
Good plan. I say we do it, it’ll be fun. I’ll post it tomorrow after my first lesson.
Good luck! If it helps, I signed up for Czech classes once for an even sillier reason, and I seem to have survived the experience. (Of course, the only thing I can remember how to say in Czech is “I will tie your hands to the bed,” which is one of those phrases of, uh, limited usefulness. But I’m sure you’ll do better.)
Only thing I know about Polish comes from a friend’s account of the language when she visited Poland: she was astounded a 20-letter word could have three vowels.
So, umm, good luck.
And Pergau, when I saw the thread title, I too wondered if this was the place to talk about how to refinish my furniture.
Hey, Angua, have a great time. I’m more than a bit jealous. I know the Polish Cultural Center in Philly offers courses, but I’m horrendous with languages (years of French, and I still understand only basic phrases, but can’t put together sentences).
That sounds awfully Anglicized! Are you sure? In Russian, phonetically transcribed, it would be novost’ (emphasis on the first syllable; the apostrophe on the end denotes the soft sign, a palatalization that doesn’t exist in English – sorry!)
Polish is on my list, but fairly far down; I suspect that if I found a Polish girlfriend, that would change rather quickly. I certainly live in the neighbourhood for it… according to the last census, 12,5 % of the people in my ward of the city have Polish as a mother tongue. And sometimes they all seem to be living within three blocks of me.
Hmm… Lens polishing, nope don’t have the skill or patience for that, (but I’m happy to learn a language with 7 cases and three tenses, where the word changes its ending depending on its role in the sentence - the mind truly does boggle!). Mind you, the Poles make very pretty glass things.
Sunspace, thank you.
However, we still haven’t learnt the alphabet yet, or how to pronounce those pesky consonant combinations. Still, I suppose that’s next week’s lesson.
I figure that since I can speak or understand most Western and Northern European languages, why not try an Eastern European one just for fun. That plus the ego thing. 
