r/learnpolish

Dzień dobry drogie polacy. Dzisiaj chciał by porozmawiać o snu polifazowym. Teraz uczę się języka polskiego, dlatego przepraszam, jezęli będzie popełniać blędy.

Teraz o snu. W takim sposobie mamy cztery typa snu:

1. Siesta - 4-5 godzin snu w nocy i 1-2 godziny w czasu dnia. Myśłe, zę to łatwy sposób i mogie być korzysny dla ludzi, który mieszkają w ciepłych krajach, gdy w dzień jest gorąco.

2. Everyman - 2-4 godziny snu w nocy i 3 krótkotrwały bloki w dzień(30 minut). To już nie jest tak łatwe jak siesta, ponieważ musimy zasypywać aż cztery raży dziennie. Może być dobrze dla ludzi, który chcą podzielić swój dzień na 3 etapy, po sniadaniu, po obiadu i po kolacji.

3. Tesla - 2-3 godziny w nocy i 1 blok 30 minut. Ma takie nazwisko, ponieważ krąża plotki, że Nikola Tesla żył za takiem harmonogramem. Jeżeli wieć o jego historji, to można uwierżyć się w tym. Myśle, zę taki sposób jest ekstremalnie tiężko dla zdorowego życia. Ale bardzo osczędzą czas.

4. Uberman/Dymaxion - Nie ma długotrwałego bloka przes cały dzień. Tyłko 4-6 bloków po 30 minut codziennie. Nie wiem co musisz mieć za próbłemy, jeżely wybrał taki harmonogram. Pojedyncza, to jest najtiężki sposób z wszyscych.

Czy jest tutaj ludzi, który probowałi jakiś z tych harmonogramów? Jak czułiście kiedy nie spałi? Czy wartuje probować jakiś z nych?

It's one of those things in the Polish language that surprises me. I can feel what is right and wrong, but I can't explain why.

If I say „Ja tu jestem” (I'm here), we use the verb być, but when we make it negative, it becomes „Mnie tu nie ma” (I'm not here). So, is the verb mieć used instead of być?

It works for all grammatical persons:

• Ja tu jestem — Mnie tu nie ma
• Ty tu jesteś — Ciebie tu nie ma
• On tu jest — Jego tu nie ma
• My tu jesteśmy — Nas tu nie ma
• Wy tu jesteście — Was tu nie ma
• Oni tu są — Ich tu nie ma

When I think about it for a while, it gets even weirder. Who is the subject in each of the negative sentences? It's always „nie ma”. Is there some invisible person or force that can have us when we're present? It's a bit scary, to be honest. 🤯

Does anyone know the origin of this phenomenon and can explain it?

Dzisiaj przeczytałem w jednym z serwisów informacyjnych:

”Po kolejnym tragicznym wypadku autokaru z polskimi pielgrzymami wracają pytania o bezpieczeństwo podróży do Medziugorie. W ostatnich latach na trasach prowadzących do bośniackiego sanktuarium doszło do kilku katastrof z udziałem polskich autokarów. W nocy z soboty na niedzielę zginęło tam 12 osób. Siedmioro jest w stanie ciężkim.”

Wydaje mi się, że bardziej poprawne byłoby napisać „hercegowińskie sanktuarium” (od nazwy regionu) lub „bośniacko-hercegowińskie sanktuarium” (od nazwy państwa).

Been learning Polish for around 18 months. Finished Krok po kroku 1 last winter, halfway through book 2 now, maybe 2500 words on Anki. Cases I can survive most of the time. Aspect pairs still trip me up but I can usually pick something. Reading polskieradio.pl is doable if the topic is familiar.

Started doing weekly video calls with a Polish friend around a year in. Met her on HelloTalk during a stretch when I was in "I need to actually speak this before I completely lose the ability" panic mode. She's a graphic designer in Wrocław, wanted to practice English, so we swap thirty minutes each. She's not a teacher and mostly can't explain why things sound wrong. She just goes "mmm nie" and pulls a face.

The thing that took me way too long to see was diminutives. Krok po kroku introduces them somewhere in book 1 with the standard framing, kot → kotek, dom → domek, small or cute or affectionate. I learned the suffixes, filed them in a mental drawer marked "for pets and kids," and moved on.

Then I went to Kraków for a week in spring. Ordered coffee at a place near the Rynek and said "poproszę kawę." Grammatically clean, accusative, the whole deal. Barista gave me my coffee and I noticed the person behind me ordered "poproszę kawkę." Went to a bakery the next morning and heard people asking for "chlebek" and "bułeczkę." Nobody in three days ordered anything in the plain form.

Asked my friend about it on our next call and she laughed. Said "poproszę kawę" is completely fine and polite, poproszę already does that work. But locals almost always add the diminutive on top in casual places, and skipping it makes you sound like you're reading from a phrasebook. "Kawka" or "kawusia" isn't about the coffee being small, it's about you not sounding stiff. Her grandma orders "herbatka" not "herbata," her mom emails work colleagues asking if they have "chwilkę" not "chwilę," and if you say "podaj chleb" at a family dinner instead of "podaj chlebek" you sound weirdly cold. Same content, different social temperature.

That reframing broke something open. Once I noticed it I could not stop hearing it. Waiters going "sekundkę" instead of "sekundę," my friend's mom offering "kanapeczkę" at lunch, someone on a work call asking me to wait "chwileczkę" while she pulled up a file. It's not baby talk. It's the default polite register for anything transactional or friendly, and skipping the diminutives in those contexts marks you as an outsider even when your grammar is otherwise fine.

You can also overdo it. My friend said if I ordered "kaweczkę" or "chlebeczek" I'd sound like I was being cutesy or joking, and there's a whole layer of which diminutive fits which register. Kawka and kawusia and kaweczka aren't interchangeable, they sit on different spots between neutral-polite, affectionate, and joking. Nobody really teaches you that map. You pick it up by listening to what people actually say and adjusting until nobody makes a face at you.

Kind of curious what other register stuff people ran into.

For context English is my first language and I learnt a fair bit of German to about a C1 maybe B2 level. But my main struggle in languages is my dyslexia; because I don’t have a true grasp of English at times it’s hard to set a base in a new language.

So could anyone who learnt polish with dyslexia recommend me techniques or books they found helpful. Also I have a polish gf who can help for pronunciation and general conversation.

my first language is Polish but as immigrants to the US, my father spoke with us kids in English so he could practice more I guess and we couldn't go to Polish school as my father worked weekends and my mom didn't drive. So I'm just brought up hearing what I heard, picking up on stuff, and making sense of the language myself. Then the past 5 years since moving out I have really struggled keeping my Polish up as the only one I speak it to is my dog lmao. I'm learning more now as I want to visit my extended family for the first time in decades and while I await textbooks and am using apps, I appear to be a mess!!!! Are my sentences in the wrong order since the apps responses differ? My sentence order is closer to the English structure, I think. My mom says "either way is fine" and "they'll understand you either way" so I assume the way I'm saying these isn't the correct way? I'd love to speak properly and not clearly sound like a foreigner.... let me know please! (sorry for format, on mobile)

correct response: Czy możemy zjeść razem obiad?

my response: Możemy zjeść obiad razem?

correct response: Jesteśmy tutaj już kilka tygodni.

my response: Jesteśmy już tutaj kilka tygodni.

correct response: lle to jest tygodni?

my response: Ile tygodni to jest?

correct response: Ale jeszcze nic nie kupiłem.

my response: Nic nie kupiłem jeszcze.

ETA: yes i forgot the "but" in the last one as i typed it out here 😅

yeah

 Hi everyone — I’m working on a video about how to navigate life in Poland as a foreigner without getting scammed or caught off guard.

I want to make it genuinely useful, so I’d love to hear from real people:

What’s the biggest question, confusion, or problem you’ve had while living in or visiting Poland as a foreigner?

It can be about anything, Even if it feels obvious or small, I’d still like to hear it.

Your answers will help me make the video more practical and complete. Thanks in advance.

If I had to choose I would say Brzoskwinia for Peach.

Hi everyone! Wishing all of you the best of luck on the Polish B1 state exam, hope you all get great scores!
I have a question about the grammar section, specifically verb conjugations. Did any of you find a solid list of common verbs that usually show up on the test to memorize? It feels impossible to memorize every verb out there, especially knowing how strict the grading is, miss just one letter and you get zero points! How are you all tackling this?

Recently, i started learning russian but only on duolingo and i want to get better.

My (German) textbook translates both as unbedingt (absolutely, unconditionally, definitely).

Dziękuję za pomoc!

Hi guys, I'm a 15 years old native French, and I've been thinking about learning Polish lately, as this will be helpful for my future job, so if anyone could teach me, I could help them with learning French, whether for work, school, or travels, and know Polish, I'd be glad to help. It doesn't matter if you're starting from scratch or already know some French, I accept everyone.

I can mostly teach and learn through messages, calls if needed.

As for my level in Polish, I am starting from absolute scratch (not even A1). So if you're any interested, let me know down below 👇👇

which is better to use?

Hello, I’m (34m) hoping to find a native Polish speaker that would be interested in exchanging language lessons? Preferrably someone close to my age, interests in subculture, cinema, gaming, open to anything really!

Shoot me a message if at all interested, dzięki!

Hello! I’ve just started learning Polish. I’ve finished my first two lessons on Duo and… honestly feeling a little lost already haha. But I really want to learn! I absolutely love Poland, its culture, and especially Chopin 🤍

I’m currently a classical piano major. I graduate in 2029, and my graduation gift is a trip to Warsaw for the 20th International Chopin Piano Competition in 2030 ! I want to attend in person, visit the museum, see all the historic places.

I think English will work fine in Warsaw, but it would mean a lot to me if I could at least hold a simple conversation, or even just greet people properly in their language. It feels like the least I can do when visiting Chopin’s homeland.

So — any app recommendations? Books? YouTube channels? Anything that helped you as a beginner would be so appreciated! And if anyone here is Polish… maybe we could be friends? 🥺