Thursday, November 28, 2013
Thanksgiving Day?
For me, everyday is Thanksgiving day, for waking up, for having the woman I have and for being in the place we want to be. In America today it's a day for family, turkey dinner and football. Family and football I miss but we're replacing the turkey with duck. I already told you the menu so no need repeating it again. Joan is in the kitchen now preparing the food and in about two hours we will eat.
It's been a rather quiet day, gray, cold and cloudy. For a brief moment we saw that little yellow thing in the sky, I think it's called the sun, but we knew it would go away quickly and it did. We had a guest earlier who has a business selling bottled water to several countries and it's always interesting talking with him. He was born in a small village south of Pozna艅 but now lives here. He comes over about once a month when he has time and we enjoy his visits.
Earlier I had a conversation with a lady from the Exchange who just came back from a trip to Turkey and she related her adventure to me. She also voiced her opinion on learning a foreign language and how different methods worked for some people and not others. We both agreed we're a little frustrated with our progress, her in learning English and me in learning Polish although she is far ahead of me in speaking. Of course, we don't really realize how much progress we have made. Even though we are told by others that we have made progress, it doesn't seem that much to us. It would be so much easier if we could just put a language chip into our neck like they did in the movie "Matrix" and instantly speak like native speakers. I don't know how long we have been speaking together, maybe 8 months or maybe even over a year but I really enjoy the time we have had together. I've been reading little stories to her in Polish and she helps correct my pronunciation and today, for the first time I think, I was able to read the story like an actor and put some feeling into the words. Prior to that I was just reading word after word in each sentence. In each story I learn new words but it's difficult to remember them and keep them in my vocabulary. Of extra value to me, she reads my blog and does the translation from English to Polish so if you read the blog on days when the Polish is perfect, it's because of her.
Dla mnie ka偶dy dzie艅 jest 艢wi臋tem Dzi臋kczynienia za to, 偶e mog臋 wstawa膰 ka偶dego ranka, za to, 偶e jestem z kobiet膮, z kt贸r膮 chc臋 by膰 i za to, 偶e jeste艣my w miejscu, w kt贸rym chcemy by膰 . W Ameryce jest to dzie艅 dla rodziny, z indykiem na obiad i pi艂k膮 no偶n膮. T臋skni臋 za rodzin膮 i pi艂k膮 no偶n膮, za to indyka zast膮pili艣my kaczk膮. O menu wspomnia艂em wcze艣niej wi臋c nie ma potrzeby powtarzania go ponownie . Joan jest w kuchni i przygotowuje jedzenie, wi臋c za oko艂o dwie godziny zasi膮dziemy do sto艂u .
To by艂 do艣膰 spokojny dzie艅 , szary , zimny i pochmurny . Przez kr贸tk膮 chwil臋 widzieli艣my ma艂膮, 偶贸艂t膮 rzecz na niebie , my艣l臋, 偶e to nazywa si臋 s艂o艅ce , ale wiedzieli艣my, 偶e zniknie szybko i tak si臋 sta艂o. Wcze艣niej mieli艣my go艣cia , kt贸ry ma firm臋 sprzedaj膮c膮 butelkowan膮 wod臋 do kilku kraj贸w i rozmowy z nim s膮 zawsze bardzo interesuj膮ce. On urodzi艂 si臋 w ma艂ej wiosce na po艂udnie od Poznania , ale teraz mieszka tutaj . Przychodzi raz w miesi膮cu , kiedy ma czas, a my mo偶emy cieszy膰 si臋 jego wizyty .
Wcze艣niej mia艂em rozmow臋 z pani膮 z Exchange Language, kt贸ry w艂a艣nie wr贸ci艂a z podr贸偶y do Turcji i zrelacjonowa艂a mi sw贸j wyjazd. Ona r贸wnie偶 wyrazi艂a swoj膮 opini臋 na temat nauki j臋zyka obcego i r贸偶nych metod, kt贸re u jednych os贸b si臋 sprawdzaj膮, a u innych nie. Oboje uznali艣my, 偶e jeste艣my troch臋 sfrustrowani naszymi post臋pami, jej w nauce j臋zyka angielskiego i mojego w nauce j臋zyka polskiego , cho膰 ona znacznie lepiej radzi sobie z j臋zykiem m贸wionym . Oczywi艣cie nie bardzo zdajemy sobie spraw臋, jak wielki post臋p zrobili艣my . Chocia偶 inni m贸wi膮 nam, 偶e zrobili艣my post臋p , to nam nie wydaje si臋 to takie oczywiste . By艂oby o wiele 艂atwiej , gdyby艣my mogli po prostu umie艣ci膰 procesor j臋zykowy w naszej szyi , jak to mia艂o miejsce w filmie " Matrix " i od razu m贸wi膰 jak native speakers . Nie wiem , jak d艂ugo ze sob膮 rozmawiamy , mo偶e 8 miesi臋cy , a mo偶e nawet ponad rok , ale bardzo lubi臋 ten czas , jaki sobie po艣wi臋camy. Czyta艂em z ni膮 troch臋 opowie艣ci w j臋zyku polskim , ona pomaga mi poprawi膰 moj膮 wymow臋 i my艣l臋, 偶e dzisiaj po raz pierwszy by艂em w stanie czyta膰, jak aktor i w艂o偶y膰 w s艂owa troch臋 uczucia . Wcze艣niej w ka偶dym zdaniu czyta艂em s艂owo po s艂owie . Z ka偶dego opowiadania ucz臋 si臋 nowych s艂贸w, ale trudno je zapami臋ta膰 i zachowa膰 w moim s艂ownictwie . Dodatkow膮 warto艣膰 dla mnie stanowi to ,偶e czyta mojego bloga i t艂umaczy z angielskiego na polski , wi臋c je艣li czytasz bloga w te dni, kiedy polski jest dobry, to z jej powodu .