The 3 of May is a national holiday in Poland. It is a celebration of the anniversary of the proclamation of the constitution in 1791. It was the first constitution in Europe, the second one in the world – after the American. The idea of the constitution was to reconstruct and strength the state by introducing a democratical way of governing the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and give more rights to the citizens, and develop a special program to protect peasants.
Unfortunately, the reformates’ could enjoy the victim of the constitution over the conservative groups only for 14 months. Under the pretext of defence the previous system and support the conservative opposition, a Russian Army attacked Poland in 1792. A desperate struggle to defend the constitution has failed. Poland fell under the rule of three neighbouring countries (Prussia, Austria and Russia) despite the Kościuszko insurrection (1794). Eventually, Poland lost independents for over 100 years. However, the spirit of the ideas of the constitution, the memory of the insurrection, a strong desire for freedom has never disappeared and after several uprisings and military activities during the First World War Poland regain its independence in 1918.
The May 3 was celebrated officially in 1972. Later on, it was banned by the occupants, but unofficial celebration has been continued to keep alive Polish aspirations for freedom. It was again made an official Polish holiday in April 1919 under the Second Polish Republic. During the communist time, it was removed from the list of national holidays, and in 1990, after the fail of the regime, the 3 May was restored and became the most important civil holiday. For Poles, the celebration of the May 3 Constitution is considered as a symbol of the best tradition of the history of the state and Polish culture.
]]>The birds are leaving Poland for the winter period and come back with the spring to the same place. If it happened that the stork is sick and cannot join the flock to take the journey over the ocean, the “hosts” take care of it during the winter.
Each year they are expected by the villagers and mostly welcome. People often install a wheel on the roof of the barn to encourage the stork to build a nest. In some regions, there is a tradition to bake special cookies (like a stork’s foot) to bring them back, in case of delay of their arrival. It is also magical practise to bring the spring.
]]>A kiss is primarily an expression of love, but also reverence, submission, respect and well wishes. It is the oldest way of communication, body language, overgrown rich symbolism. Kiss in Polish ‘całować’ is semantically associated with whole ‘cały’. This means not only the unity but also survival pol. ‘ocalić’.
The kiss, which farewells a knight or a hunter, was kind wishes and blessings ‘come back untouched ‘cały’. It was exchanged both by men and men and woman and men and had nothing to do with sexuality.
Sex free was also the kiss of respect. Kissing pop’s or bishop ring was the singe of reverence given to God. Kissing the national flag, sword blades, the Constitution belong to the gestures to show reverence to symbols.
In some countries, it was also a gesture of courtesy – like in Poland kissing lady’s hand in greeting and farewell. The custom is getting old fashion, but you can meet it even between young people.
The way of communication by a kiss is as old as humankind. It has been developing its meaning – direct and symbolic – with a culture of each language. Whatever it symbolize, the fundamental meaning of this gesture is expressing love with a strong sexual character, and that is why it is still celebrated as an international holiday. Why there are two different dates? It really doesn’t matter. Let’s kiss in the end and the middle of the year!
]]>All is calm; All is bright…”
The night of 24th to 25th December was celebrated long before Christ in all civilisations of the solar cult. The mystery of the night consists of elements of ancient agricultural rituals, All Souls Day celebrations, and Christian religion practices.
Christmas Eve night, in Polish Wigilia, opens a new period in nature, coming as it does around the winter solstice, and announces the birth of the ‘sun’ in the Christian religion – the son of justice, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
In Poland, Wigilia is celebrated especially solemnly. The mystery of the night appears in all aspects: time, place, food and people’s behaviour.
The signal to start the Wigilia supper is not dictated by the clock, but rather by the appearance of the first star in the sky, which reminds us of the comet that appeared over Bethlehem to announce the birth of Christ and guide the shepherds and the three kings to the stable.
The celebration takes place at home, where all the members of the family meet for the Wigilia supper. The ceremony starts with the opłatek, a thin white wafer, the symbol of the holy bread. Each member of the family – and guests, of course – takes a wafer, and they offer it to each other one by one, each breaking off a small piece and exchanging special best wishes for the coming year. The breaking of the symbolic bread is meant to bring peace to the whole house and provide the family with enough bread for the coming year to share with others. The wafer is even given to pets and animals at the farms, as they were present at Christ’s birth. There is an old belief that animals can speak at midnight.
After the opłatek, the solemn supper begins. This supper is unique. Firstly, it is meatless (a tradition connected with the ancient celebration of All Souls Day). Next, the menu in particular. It must consist of something from the garden (vegetable salads and a special dessert from poppy seeds); from the field (potatoes, grain, i.e. bread); from the orchard (fruit, nuts); from the forest (mushrooms, honey,cranberries); and something from the water (fish, especially carp and herring). There are thirteen traditional dishes on the table, as there were twelve apostles and Christ.
The table is covered with a white tablecloth under which is put some hay to remind us that Christ was born in the stable in poverty. There must always be one spare place at the table for an unexpected guest, a custom connected with the old belief that the souls of the dead members of the family might visit home that evening.
The traditional menu varies according to the region and family customs, but usually, for starters, there is herring prepared in several ways, a vegetable salad and cold fish. Then soup is served – mushroom soup or red barszcz (borscht) with traditional uszka (small, baked pierogi with mushroom stuffing). For the second course, there is usually fried or baked fish prepared in several ways: with a wine sauce, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, and so on, and served with potatoes and a dish of cabbage with mushrooms, or in some regions simply many kinds of pierogi.
There are two traditional Christmas cakes: makowiec, a strudel with poppy seeds, and piernik, a cakemade from honey with spices, cinnamon and ginger. There is also a dessert made out of ground poppy seeds with fresh cream, eggs, honey, raisins and almonds served with cookies. There should also be a cranberry kisiel (a kind of jelly) and compote made from sun-dried fruits such as plums, pears (and sometimes with figs). The abundance of food on the table should bring family prosperity for the coming year. The dishes made from poppy seeds, especially, symbolise plenty, bringing abundance and wealth.
After the dessert, there is time for singing carols and receiving Christmas presents. If there are children at the family, they await the arrival of Święta Mikołaj (St Nicolas or Father Christmas) bearing presents. If there are no children, the presents are put under the Christmas tree.
The Christmas tree decorations are powerfully symbolic. The lights bring God’s blessing on the house. The bright and colourful glass balls are to protect the house against evil and bring joy and happiness. The colourful chains are for strengthening family relations. The pierniki cookie decorations provide abundance, while apples bring health and beauty to the girls and women of the family. If you eat a nut from the Christmas tree, it has the magical power of bringing love to you.
The ceremonial Wigilia supper, the Christmas tree lights and the carol singing together create the extraordinary joyful climate of the holy night. The ceremony lasts till midnight when the whole family goes to church to Christmas Mass.
The next two days of Christmas are also unusual but don’t have this unique and magic charm of the Polish Christmas Eve.
What is your Christmas?
]]>“ The St Andrew Day –
Young girls hope and pray…”
29/30 November in Poland is the day of mysterious parties with the candles and future telling games, called Andrzejki (St Andrew Day)– the same as in the very past, but nowadays treated as a fun.
There are hundreds of ideas of how to find out about the future, namely the marriage, lucky or unlucky love and prosperous or poor perspectives. The most popular practices are wax pouring and shoe competition.
The most spectacular is pouring liquid wax into water. The shape which formed as the wax solidified is then illuminated to throw its shadow on the wall. The shape of the shadow allows for unlimited interpretation, which is fun for all participants.
The shoe competition is reserved for the girls only. All of them took off their left shoes and put them in a line one after the other. Then this line of shoes “walk” to the door, the last moving to the front on by one, thus walking forward. The girl who’s shoe reach the door first would be the first to get married.
Isn’t it a contradiction St Andrew’s Day and telling the future?
What Saint Andrew has to do with all the magical practices well known by young girls in all regions in Poland and Central and West Europe like Germany, Slovakia, Czech, Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Hungary, Rumania, Lithuania and even in Greece. Why this particular day allows young girls to discover the name of their future husbands, their chance for marriage soon, and all possible matrimonial details.
The ancient roots of the tradition
The worldwide extend of the custom proves its ancient provenance. Its roots go much deeper then Christianity back to pagan times when the time of the changing of the seasons was looked upon as particularly powerful, presenting the chance of special contact between the real and the spiritual worlds. It is significant that during this period as autumn starts to move into winter. All Souls Day is celebrated. People believed in special contact with the “other world” at this particular time.
When autumn moves into winter…
Christianity appreciated the spiritual character of this period and St Andrew’s Day coincides with the start of Advent in the Catholic Church. Advent, lasting until Christmas, is the time of reflection, and prayer to develop spiritual contact with God.
St Andrew’s Eve was traditionally the last day when dancing parties were permitted, and so it became the ideal time for telling the future. Naturally, St Andrew became a patron of young girls as a confidant of their hopes and prayer for getting married. The tradition of Andrzejki fortune telling was noted in the 16th century and is still known and practised in all regions in Poland., although nowadays the ceremony has lost a lot of it’s a magical and serious character and has been transformed into fun and games during St Andrew parties arranged by young people.
Ways of forecasting marriage
There were several ways of forecasting marriage, depending on the region, the invention of the participants – and the faith in its power. The most popular methods were those based on interpretation of the magical signs, which could predict husband’s name, age, appearance, profession, the direction he is supposed to come from, the power of his love, and fortunate or unhappy marriage, and so on.
Sweet dreams
One of the way of discovering the future husband was to interpret the girl’s dream from the night preceding the St Andrew’s Day. After the intensive praying to St Andrew, they expected to be shown their future husband during the night dream. The man they could see during the dream was the one they would be soon merry.
Wax into water
The favourite way of future telling was for a group of girls to pour liquid wax into water. The shape of the solidified wax would tell what the future husband would look like, what would be his profession, and so on…
Who is the first to get married?
During the girl’s St Andrew’s Eve gathering, they wanted to know for whom the church bells would ring first. The answer was the result of the shoe competition. The owner of the shoe which reached the door first would be the lucky one – the first to leave the house, i.e. to get married.
From which direction will he arrive?
To know from which direction the boy would arrive, the girls would leave the house for a while to listen to dogs barking. From the direction the dog was barking, the boyfriend was expected to arrive.
What is his name?
Before getting to bed, the girls would put pieces of papers with the men’s name on under their pillow. In the morning, the first piece taken out of the pillow was the name of the future husband. There were hundreds of ideas of how to find out about the marriage. Many of these disappeared or had only a local character.
St Catherine׳s Day for bachelor׳s – St Andrew’s for girls
In the past, the only participants of the St Andrew’s Eve could be young girls, usually of a similar age. Married woman and men were not accepted. There was another day for bachelors, 24 November, the night preceding St Catherine’s Day, one week before St Andrews Day on 29 November.
Andrzejki today
Although the tradition is not as strong as in the past, and many practices are completely forgotten, it has to preserve something of its spiritual character if at least a few of those practices are still celebrated (such as pouring wax, shoe competition). Nowadays young people celebrate the traditional meeting together on St Andrew’s Eve. The remains of the belief of a magical power of that night lend a special mysterious character for the parties, with the candles and future telling practices.
Today the traditions provide an excellent reason for entertaining social gatherings. Try to avoid planning to business do on that day, as you will be risking that your potential guests will rather be attending a private party organized by their colleague Andrzej.
]]>In numerous Christian countries, especially in those belonging to the Eastern Church, there is still a custom of having a feast on the ancestor’s graves. Some of the food is left for the souls.
In Mexico there is a similar habit, but the ceremony became a big colourful festival. There is something similar in the way Halloween is celebrated in USA and in many other West European countries as it is focused on fun – like the festival.
In contrary to Halloween, in Poland it is a day of nostalgy and memory of those who have left. All people visits the cemeteries with flowers and candles. In the evening millions of the flames enlightens the cemeteries and there are still a lot of people there. The TV and Radio programs are devoted into the memory of the famous people who have already left. This year we have unusually big number of victims.
Intercultural contacts change the situation. Young people also arrange Halloween parties, but the next day they spend visiting the cemeteries like their parents. The tradition is very strong in Poland.
]]>As a first – to remind the Europeans that there are about 225 spoken indigenous languages in Europe.
As a second – to make us aware that in the majority of Western European capitals there are 100-200 languages spoken, in London, it reached the level about 300.
The Council of Europe and European Union – the initiator of the EDL celebration – are convinced that: “ linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent, the Council of Europe promotes plurilingualism in the whole of Europe”.
Thanks to the celebration, the attitude towards diversity of languages and cultures are increasingly changing into more and more visible acceptation. Participants and organizers of the language celebration events make us aware that each language reflects its own way of seeing the world, individual identity and value and is the product of its own particular culture and history. From this perspective, all languages are equally adequate as modes of expression for the people who use them. It is proved by the comparisons of the rates at which children learn to speak, that no language is intrinsically more difficult than any other language.
The main purpose of the celebration of European Day of languages is to encourage 800 million Europeans to learn more languages, at any age, in or out of school.
As 225 European languages is a big choice, it will be easier to find the appropriate language to learn, if we see how they relate to each other. Most of the languages of Europe have common origins and belong to the large Indo-European language family. Due to the most member-languages and most speakers, they are grouped into three main families: Germanic, Romance, and Slavic. However, there are numerous languages in Europe with a different origin.
The Germanic language family has a northern branch with Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic and Faroese, as well as a western branch with German, Dutch, Frisian, English and Yiddish as its members.
The Romance language family has as its members Romanian, Italian, Corsican, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Occitan, French, Romansh, Ladin and Sardinian.
To the Slavic language family belong languages such as Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, representing the eastern branch, Polish, Czech, Slovak form a western branch, and to the south branch belong Sorbian, Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian and Bulgarian.
The Celtic family consists of Irish, Scots Gaelic, Welsh, and Breton, with revival movements under way for Cornish and Manx.
To the Baltic family belong Latvian and Lithuanian.
Separate families with only one member are Greek, Albanian and Armenian.
Basque is an exceptional case because it does not belong to the Indo-European family and its origins are unknown.
In the North we have the Uralic languages: Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian;
We find several Sámi languages, as well as other small languages in the northern parts of the Russian Federation such as Ingrian or Karelian.
The Altaic language family has representatives in the Southeast, notably Turkish and Azerbaijani.
The Caucasian family is spoken in a relatively small and compact area between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea and also comprises about 40 members, among them Georgian, and Abkhaz.
The Afro-Asiatic family includes Maltese, Hebrew and Berber.
All these languages use a small number of alphabetic scripts. Most languages use the Roman (or Latin) alphabet. Russian and some other Slavic languages use Cyrillic. Greek, Yiddish, Armenian and Georgian each have their own script. Non-European languages widely used on European territory include Arabic, Chinese and Hindi, each with its own writing system.
Polish language belongs to the Slavic group and represents its western branch-like Czech and Slovak. All those languages use the Roman (Latin) alphabet.
(based on Council of Europe resources: http://edl.ecml.at
]]>I went to visit my English boyfriend, so for the rest of my „holidays”, I was surrounded by the English language only. My boyfriend realised that my stay might cause difficulties and took me on a fantastic trip around the country. I was assimilating the language with the climate of the country, its history, arts, architecture, landscape and cuisine. During one month I learned more than during 3 years of studying English at school! During my trip, I discovered the secrets of successful learning a foreign language:
1. It must be thought in the country the people use it as a native language. So if you are in Poland to it is an adventure of a lifetime.
2. Motivation. If you don’t want to feel like a „stranger” – blind, deaf and mute – and have a strong need for communication, it is enough to open your eyes, ears and mouth.
3. Attraction. The best way is to discover the language and the country at the same time. If you use the chance to associate language with landscape, taste, smell, the town you live now, people you like, the language will be absorbed together with the air you breathe.
4. Cultural context. Each language has its cultural code, which has been developed by generations, it’s history and social structure, so it is unique and invisible from the first glance. That is why most foreigners suffer from cultural shock. The situations of misunderstanding are sometimes funny but might be painful and confusing as well.
As I still remember the feeling of being a stranger, I would like to be your guide on your way in discovering Poland and invite you to share your experience. I believe that understanding is the only way to force the Babel Tower and break down the cultural and language barrier.
]]>The contract abroad seems to be a fantastic opportunity to make the desire for travel trough. If you have the spirit of discoverer your time spent in Poland will be an adventure. Each day you are facing diversity.
Did you notice that your Polish colleagues don’t always great you with “How are you?” If so, it means there is no time for conversation, and then we just say “Hi”. In Polish, a question requires an answer and is an invitation for a conversation. You probably already have heard an answer in this kind of situation. It could be either an unexpected “ritual complaining” or good news.
More diversity you notice, more cultural awareness you receive. It is the first step leading you to cultural competency. If the Polish partners behave in a different way from what you expected, it means there is something to discover. Usually, they are funny stories, as good as pictures from your holiday. If you enjoy learning diversity, spending weekends in new places, meeting people – your time in Poland will be a real adventure.
If you are not a traveller keen in all what is new, willing to learn, taste and discover, then the contract abroad could be a hard experience, if not hell.
]]>The first one says that it is one of the most difficult languages. Polish is nearly on the top of the list; the higher position has only Chinese. I have never expected Polish will be placed next to the language used by the majority of the population. I must say – we are in a good company, especially that Chinese becomes more and more popular. The number of people learning Chinese increased dramatically during the last year. The reason is clear – it is the economy. The myth of the special difficulty of the language disappeared when the desire of speaking occurred.
The second myth says Polish is very difficult to pronounce. Is it really? Comparing to English, there is only one set of soft consonance (ś, ź, ć, dź) which has no equivalent in English. All the other are similar to the English ones (pol. sz like Eng. Shower, pol. cz like Eng. Chamber, pol. dż like Eng. Jazz, etc.). When spelling in Polish is regular, it is often unpredictable in English. Polish also has a stable accent, which makes the pronunciation much easier.
The third myth says that Polish grammar is very complicated. It is a trough that our language preserved the declination and conjugation system like the other Slavic language group when the German and Roman group of languages has reduced it. Although the cases and verb conjugation might be caused problems, we use only three tenses, when in English there are „only’ then! And what about the 57 rules of using the definite and indefinite articles in English, when in Polish the problem doesn’t exist?
It seems that the criteria for considering the language as difficult are not based on our knowledge about its system. Placing so different systems as Polish and Chinese one next to the other on the ranking list indicates that both are not popular yet, and as unknown got the etiquette „most difficult”.
Running the Polish language school for foreigners for over 13 years, I must say that the ability to learn Polish depends not on the nationality or special talent, but motivation. Despite the difficulties caused by the cases, most of our students can communicate without a problem. It proves that Polish is not as horrible as it is presented.
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