Enough! Whenever I'm watching a movie there's starring someone with polish surname and I just can't stand how godawful changed or badly pronounced it becomes by english speakers. I am going to put an end to it among the people of TL.net! If you have some polish friends in USA/UK or wherever, this might help you. If you don't... Well, you never know who you're going to meet in your life and if you feel like learning how to pronounce polish words then this blog is for you.
What this blog is going to cover: - basic reading of polish words (not that hard really, it's our grammar that kills)
What this blog is NOT going to cover: - understanding polish words (you don't have to understand to read correctly)
NOTE: If you can't see the polish letters I write in here, you could try and set your character encoding in the browser to either: Central European ISO-8859-2, Windows-1250 or UTF-8.
Part 1 - General Information
Most of you probably believe that polish pronounciation is a tongue killer and reading some words written in our language is all but impossible. You can't be further from the truth. It's easier to learn to read in polish than it is in english because we're using WYSIWYG system with basically just 1 exception (more on this later). Basically, all you need to learn is our alphabet and a couple of other things I'm going to cover here to read polish words or even whole sentences (most likely with bad accent but that's not what it's all about).
So, let's get on with it.
Part 2 - The Alphabet
Here is something I managed to scavenge on YouTube:
There are just 3 mistakes there: - the guy pronounces "ń" wrong as a standalone letter but gets it right in a word - word "późno" is written wrong (póśno) but pronounced right - city name "Kraków" is both written and pronounced wrong
Since we have the basics covered it's time for the next step.
Part 3 - Advanced Polish Writing
Like I mentioned before, polish is WYSIWYG language when it comes to writing/reading. There are however some special letter combinations that change the way you're reading them (just like in english).
So in polish we have the bi-letters: -ci -cz - read just like english "ch" as in "check" -dz -dź -dż - read just like english "g" as in "George" -ch (it's an extended form of h, not c) - read justy like "h" -ni -rz -si -sz - read just like english "sh" as in "shoe" -zi
And tri-letter: -dzi
They're used to soften/prolong etc. certain sounds and may cause some trouble. The most common are "cz", "sz" and "rz" (and they seem to cause the most trouble). "cz" and "sz" are really easy (as you can see above).
"rz" is more of a problem as it can be read in 2 ways: - either as "sz" - soft, always when it appears after the consonat - or as "ż" - hard, when it appears after a vowel or it's on the beginning of a word
Since it's hard (impossible) to write english counterparts for some of the other stuff, I'll just show you a song that uses a lot of them and a transcript from it's text.
Bo chodzi o to by od siebie nie upaść za daleko Jak te dwa łyse kamienie nad rzeką Chodzi o to By pierwsze chciało słuchać Co mu to drugie powiedzieć chce do ucha: Że po mej głowie ? czasem się ich boję - Chodzą słowa nie do powiedzenia... Nie-do-powiedzenia
Dzień dobry Kocham cię Już posmarowałem tobą chleb Dzień dobry Kocham cię Nie chcę cię z oczu stracić więc Jeszcze więcej dzień dobry Kocham cię Podzielimy dziś ten ogień na dwoje Dzień dobry Kocham cię To zapyziałe miasto niech o tym wie
Tu chodzi o to by od siebie nie upaść za daleko Kiedy długo drugie nie widzi pierwszego Bo gdy siedzi człek samemu z czarnymi myślami Człowiek rzuca słuchawkami Rzuca słuchawkami
Bo chodzi o to by od siebie nie upaść za daleko Nawet jeśli czasem między nami wykipi mleko Choćbyś nawet i wieczorem zasypiała zdołowana Chciałbym ci zaśpiewać z rana Móc ci zaśpiewać z rana Kochana...
Dzień dobry Kocham cię Już posmarowałem tobą chleb Dzień dobry Kocham cię Nie chcę cię z oczu stracić więc Jeszcze więcej dzień dobry Kocham cię Podzielimy dziś ten ogień na dwoje Dzień dobry Kocham cię To zapyziałe miasto niech o tym wie Dzień dobry Kocham cię Już posmarowałem tobą chleb Dzień dobry Kocham cię Nie chcę cię z oczu stracić więc Jeszcze więcej Jeszcze więcej Jeszcze więcej DZIEŃ DOBRY Kocham cię Podzielimy dziś ten ogień na dwoje Para-moje Para-twoje Onomatopeiczne Paranormalne Paranoje We Dwoje
Note: it's very hard to translate this text as it's basically a sung poetry so some words are just...
It's about not falling too far away from each other Like this two bald stones near the river It's about First person wanting to hear What the other Wants to say to his/her ear: That in my head, sometimes I'm afraid of them - are words best not spoken... Innuendos.
Good morning I love you I've already smeared you all over the bread Good morning I love you I don't want to lose you from my sight so Even more good morning I love you We're going to split this fire in two today Good morning I love you Let this crappy town know about it
It's about not falling too far from each other When the second doesn't see the first for long Because when people sit alone with dark thoughts People are throwing headphones Throwing headphones
It's about not falling too far from each other Even if sometimes the milk will boil over between us Even if you would fall asleep feeling down in the evening I'd like to sing for you in the morning Could sing for you in the morning Beloved...
Good morning I love you I've already smeared you all over the bread Good morning I love you I don't want to lose you from my sight so Even more good morning I love you We're going to split this fire in two today Good morning I love you Let this crappy town know about it Good morning I love you I've already smeared you all over the bread Good morning I love you I don't want to lose you from my sight so Even more Even more Even more GOOD MORNING I love you We're going to split this fire in two today Para-mine Para-your Onomatopeic Paranormal Paranoias Two of us
I hope it helps. If you have any questions just post them here.
Edit:
Brief summary for english speakers: polish -> english pronounciation
a - like the beginning of "halleluyah" ą - ohm (will be the closest one I can find) cz - check e - check g - Gregory i - finger (always, even if at the end of the word) j - halleluyah ó and u - shorter version of oo (pool) sz - shop w - video y - a bit like very
You can always just speak all of the ą, ć, ś, ń, ź, ż etc. as normal a, c, s... (won't offend anyone) with the exception of ó which is always the same as polish u.
Edit 2:
Part 4 - Exercise
Just got this crazy idea that might make all this knowledge sink in and provide a lot of amusement. Your task is to write an english sentence in polish (write a phonetic transcription for poles).
Sentence: I am trying to write this sentence in a way every pole can read.
Decydowalem sie aby uczyc polskiego rok temu, aby widziec jesli moge sie uczyc cos bez motywacji. Dzisiaj moge konczyc tylko ze to bylo decyzia genialna.
On October 08 2009 19:27 MoltkeWarding wrote: Decydowalem sie aby uczyc polskiego rok temu, aby widziec jesli moge sie uczyc cos bez motywacji. Dzisiaj moge konczyc tylko ze to bylo decyzia genialna.
Not that bad for a year of learning although there's still long road ahead of you
Ciekawy pomysł, kwestia ilu ludziom będzię się chciało tego uczyć, biorąc pod uwage niechęć amerykanów do nauki obcych języków, nawet jeżeli tyczy to się tylko czytania nazwisk ^^
On October 08 2009 19:28 igotmyown wrote: krzyzewski
nope not enough information to pronounce it correctly
Try something along: ksheeshevsky Won't be perfect, but close enough.
Edit: Usually the safest bet for english speakers when they encounter "rz" or "ż" is to pronounce it like your "sh".
It reminds me of this scene from an old polish comedy when the germans capture one guy and ask him for a personal data to fill out the form and he gives the fake name: Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz
On October 09 2009 04:08 beetlelisk wrote: I used my dictionary and internet to add something to OP... Polish letters are actually screenshots, that's why they are little off
Why would you use screenshots if no-one complained so far about getting unicode technobabble (ie: letters displaying as %$a3F!blahblah etc.)?
I got bored halfway through the alphabet video. I really liked your translation + video though. I was able to follow along really easily and the sounds aren't so bizarre because I can follow Croatian.
Edit: Your bi-letter legend above the video also helped quite a bit. I'd love to hear some more songs with the text accompanying it now.
On October 09 2009 04:08 beetlelisk wrote: I used my dictionary and internet to add something to OP... Polish letters are actually screenshots, that's why they are little off
Why would you use screenshots if no-one complained so far about getting unicode technobabble (ie: letters displaying as %$a3F!blahblah etc.)?
On October 09 2009 04:08 beetlelisk wrote: I used my dictionary and internet to add something to OP... Polish letters are actually screenshots, that's why they are little off
Why would you use screenshots if no-one complained so far about getting unicode technobabble (ie: letters displaying as %$a3F!blahblah etc.)?
Why not
The simplest way to do things is usually the best
On October 09 2009 05:19 Durak wrote: Your bi-letter legend above the video also helped quite a bit. I'd love to hear some more songs with the text accompanying it now.
The train is riding, evil carriages They're driving me to prison. The world has just four sides, And I am not in this world.
When I opened my eyes, Great sorrow overcame me. Tears have streamed down my cheeks, Then I understood, that
Black bread and black coffee, Obsessed with loneliness, Searching with their thought for happiness, Which name is freedom. [note: It's not really possible to translate it accurately, poetry is damn tough ]
Black black bread and black coffee, Obsessed with loneliness, Searching with their thought for happiness, Which name is freedom.
Younger sister asked: -"Mom, where is my brother?" -"Your brother is in a dark prison cell, Sitting out his sentence".
Black black bread and black coffee, Obsessed with loneliness, Searching with their thought for happiness, Which name is freedom.
Black black bread and black coffee, Obsessed with loneliness, Searching with their thought for happiness, Which name is freedom.
Then a guard enters the cell And starts to hit the prisoner. Young prisoner falls on his face, His heart stops beating.
And the blissful moment will come Death will take my breath away, They will carry my body away And in the prison cell there will be: other
Black bread and black coffee, Obsessed with loneliness, Searching with their thought for happiness, Which name is freedom.
Black bread and black coffee, Obsessed with loneliness, Searching with their thought for happiness, Which name is freedom.
Black black bread and black coffee, Obsessed with loneliness, Searching with their thought for happiness, Which name is freedom. [note: I also didn't really know if I should use "loneliness" or "solitude", you may substitute them if you think it fits better.]
'Cause I remember when I was playing in a Polish guild in Guild Wars a few years ago I went, "Who, you?" and they burst out laughing and told me about that :<
On October 10 2009 00:45 Southlight wrote: I think huju = + Show Spoiler +
penis?
'Cause I remember when I was playing in a Polish guild in Guild Wars a few years ago I went, "Who, you?" and they burst out laughing and told me about that :<
"Ty chuju" in polish = "You dick"
Penis is penis (just spelled differently). "Chuj" is a rude word
Edit: Which reminds me of some stuff we used to write in grade school. Tea Yeah Bunny Who You (but read it like: Tea Yeahbunny Whoyou) = + Show Spoiler [foul language ahead] +
On October 10 2009 00:45 Southlight wrote: I think huju = + Show Spoiler +
penis?
'Cause I remember when I was playing in a Polish guild in Guild Wars a few years ago I went, "Who, you?" and they burst out laughing and told me about that :<
"Ty chuju" in polish = "You dick"
Penis is penis (just spelled differently). "Chuj" is a rude word
Edit: Which reminds me of some stuff we used to write in grade school. Tea Yeah Bunny Who You (but read it like: Tea Yeahbunny Whoyou) = + Show Spoiler [foul language ahead] +
Is there going to be a guide to photoshopping Polish for dummies?
Joking aside, that's a very nice guide. I think the hardest part is probably going to be pronounciation without the proper exposure to actual polish speakers.
On October 08 2009 17:26 Manit0u wrote: ą - ohm (will be the closest one I can find)
It's kind of like if you subtract the -en from omen so you're just left with om.
that's the best one i can think of at the moment
Actually, it's quite similar to the name of english letter "o" or to "oh" as in "zero" (I hope I got it right). That's my conclusion after I gave it some thought ^_^
EPT
although there's still long road ahead of you ![[image loading]](http://www.ephotobay.com/image/screenshot357.jpg)
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